It's been a while since I ate out.
The benefits of being in between jobs is you have some time to catch up with people during the week. Today my boyfriend, his parents and myself headed to Springvale, to a restaurant we have been trying to take his parents to for some time.

Whilst the place might look a little, as we say "dodgy", the food and service is always reliable and hard to beat. We have tried ordering the same things at different places, but are always drawn back here.

First up we started with "Dan Dan Noodles":

We often refer to it as spicy bolognese. Fresh egg noodles with bean sprouts and very spicy sauce that covers the mince. It also has a slight sweetness to it which helps to deal with the spiciness.
Before eating, you give it a good stir so all the noodles are covered in the sauce and then you can dig in. Even though I love and can handle spicy foods, my nose was running whilst eating this one!

Next up we got some "Pork & Prawn Wonton Soup":

To be honest, the wontons mum and I make taste better, but this was a bit of a different flavour, and was still good. We all agreed this was our least favorite dish, but we all still enjoyed it.

Next up was the big specialty, "Pork Fried Dumplings":

To tell you how good they are, we only ordered one plate to begin with, and then ordered another plate half way through. We could have ordered a third plate but we didn't want to make ourselves sick.
There is something about the way they make them here that makes every other place that tries to make them taste mediocre. The dumplings are fried to a perfect crsip with a filling that is just delicious. You then dip them in the special vinegar and you forget that they are covered in oil and not very healthy. Once you try the dumplings here you will only then understand why I travel out of my way to eat these.

We often buy the packs of frozen dumplings to take home and cook ourselves, and at only $6 for 15 pieces, you can't go wrong.
Lunch for the 4 of us only came up to $31, including chinese tea. That's not even $10 a head, and we were all full!

Shanghai Gourmet
Shop 25 & 51
268-274 Springvale Road
Springvale VIC 3171
Ph: 9546 0862

Closed Tuesdays.

*UPDATE 16/4/09 : This restaurant is no longer open.