I was invited to try out the newly renovated and rebranded Crysta Jade Shanghai Delight in Vmall, Greenhills. Silly me I didn’t even notice the new look since the last time I’ve been in there was in 2010 when they just opened and the lines were long. Even though I haven’t been in their restaurant for a while we often take out their food usually for Saturday lunch.
Crystal Jade is a restaurant chain from Singapore. They have branches all over Asia and even San Francisco. They have several concepts like fine dining, specialty restaurant, casual dining like this branch and bakery & cafe.
We sat in this cozy corner nook with a round table which is the best for communicating with friends and sharing food.
I was surprised that they now have different flavors of xiao long bao. The classic filling is ground pork.
I wonder why the different xiao long baos were not uniform in size. Some had more filling than others. Green is vegetable and dried beancurd which I tried last and turned out to be quite good. Next to it on the right is the darker orange and filled with spicy chicken. It wasn’t as good as fatty pork but it had a nice spice to it.
I was most excited to try the yellow which was cheese xiao long bao unfortunately I didn’t taste any cheese. I was told by my host Kenneth that it was unusual since that was the bestseller and usually you could taste the cheese oozing out. He promised to have the production checked for consistency.
The pink or spicy beef xlb was a bit tougher than the rest while the lighter orange stuffed with shrimp was not bad at all. I guess I still prefer the classic pork xiao long bao to be my favorite. I am curious to try their black truffle and foie gras versions too.
I never liked spicy & sour soup (also called hot & sour soup in other restaurants) so Rochelle did the tasting for me. She simply loved the strong sour soup with just enough spiciness. She said it was very well balanced and one of the best she has tried.
When I looked at my post in 2010 I saw that we also ordered the next two dishes. Order this eel and don’t tell anyone what it is. Let them try it and watch them smile and munch the sweet, crunchy pieces. Believe me no one will suspect that they are eating eel.
I’m not supposed to eat spicy food since it aggravates my acid reflux but I can’t resist their super chewy ‘al dente’ hand tossed noodles with chicken and loads of spicy sauce. I just put a little sauce and I’m happy. This is our regular take-out dish since it is eaten cold. I just wish they had a another soup-less cold noodle dish that wasn’t spicy. This is a MUST order.
I wouldn’t be surprised if meatballs originated in China too just like noodles/pasta. In this case the meatball in a giant pork and mushroom mixture popularly called ‘lion’s head”. I couldn’t pinpoint the spices used but the taste was complex and unique. The giant meatball was soft but not mushy.
My favorite new discovery was the beancurd and seafood in hot stone pot. It wasn’t spicy at all but the sauce was so flavorful I can imagine just eating this with a bowl of white rice. The fish, squid and shrimp were all perfectly cooked too.
I’m never too full for mango, sago & pomelo dessert. I just wish it was more chilled.
It’s funny that only after consuming as much as Rochelle and I could finish and having small talk with our host Kenneth that I realized I knew him through his brother, wife and sister in law. Small world right? Thanks for the delicious meal Kyu and nice to finally meet you.
The next Saturday I ordered more take-out from Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight.
The pork and veggie wanton in soup is one of our regular take-out dishes too. The dough of the wanton is the perfect thickness and the filling is yummy. You can order this with noodles too.
They call it carrot cake in Singapore but locally we know it better as radish cake. I like their version.
The fried pork rib was a surprise treat. Simply fried but very well seasoned. This is now added to my Crystal Jade favorites.
Whenever I eat in a Shanghainese restaurant I order my childhood favorite braised pork belly with preserved vegetables. This version lacked veggies and the sauce is a bit thicker than I’m used to. It’s not bad at all but I still like the one in Hak Ka Hut in Hong Kong more.
Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight
Unit 117-121 V-Mall Greenhills Shopping Center, Greenhills, San Juan City, Philippines
telephone: (02) 570 5233 / (02) 570 6912
Monday – Sunday : 7:00am – 10:00pm
Breakfast : 07:00am-10:30am
Shoot First Eat Later 