小龙包

I haven't posted in a long time, mainly because China blocked access to blogger, but I'm not going to deny that I am also very lazy. However, since I'm stuck in an ugly dorm room I thought I would write about something, and what better thing to write about than the tastiest Shanghainese treat ever?

Friends, meet the 小龙包 (xiao3 long2 bao1)。


Unlike traditional 饺子, these bad boys also have soup inside of them. So to eat them, you poke a hole, suck out the soup (the Chinese love to slurp very loudly to show their enjoyment) and then eat the rest.


They usually come in a little bamboo basket like the one above. I'm not sure how many people usually eat, but I like to consume at least 15 at a time. Yes, I know I'm a glutton.


My favorite soup dumplings come from Din Tai Fung (unfortunately, the only restaurant they have in the US is in LA). In Boston, you can go to Chinatown's Taiwan Café, and in New York you can go to Joe's Shanghai (there's one in Chinatown, another on 56th between 5th and 6th, and another in Queens!).


The end to a delicious meal! Now who wants to go eat some xiaolongbao with me?

classying it up on south beach

Girls' evening (i.e., me, Faequa and my mom) getting pedicures at Bliss and dinner at Nobu...plus failed attempt at getting drinks at the Delano. Nobu was cool and the food great, but the decor was a little on the shabby-retro side with really low ceilings, so I wasn't too keen on it. The food also seemed to be lacking compared to the restaurant in NYC.

Some sweet champagne cocktails...

Mom's fave: rock shrimp. Which was not nearly as good as the rock shrimp in NYC.

Banana ice cream tempura.

Swing at the Shore Club.

Cool light at the Delano. So the Delano is usually kind of subdued and classy apparently (dunno, I've never been), but on the night we went, it was... well, it was crazy. Loud-chicks-in-thong-bikinis-and-high-heels crazy. I've never seen so much booty before.

Apparently you can have romantic dinners on the pool at the Delano. Check out the cute wrought iron chairs and table situated in the water.

The Delano also has sweet wheelbarrow chairs so you can take dorky pictures like these.