This time’s challenger… Top Dumpling (項鮮湯包) versus the existing champion of the best xiaolongbao (in the Justine world), Jia Jia Tang Bao (佳家湯包). 

We showed up to this little restaurant, situated next to City Shop in the basement of a shopping plaza on Tianyaoqiao Lu in Xujiahui, with our sleeves rolled up and ready to get down and dirty, to eat.

The intimidation conveyed by these Chinese masks is offset by the cheerful face of Top Dumpling.

Even though the menu is completely in Chinese, there are some pictures on each page to guide you through deducing the contents of each list. I was perfectly content with my order of wonton soup, until my eyes fell upon the tantalizing item of EGG YOLK XIAOLONGBAO (in Chinese it’s something like 蛋黃小龍包). Anyway, at about 9 RMB per “cage” of 6 xiaolongbaos, an extra order couldn’t hurt, right?

I don’t know why I like egg yolk xiaolongbao so much. It basically has more of a salty egg blended with minced pork, wrapped up in a delicate flour skin. The filling had a good flavor, with plenty of soup. The skin felt a little hard and tough, but it was pointed out that I let the dumplings sit too long before eating. I’d rather that than the appearance of a flaming sore on my mouth from the scalding soup that explodes from the depths of each xiaolongbao!

In conclusion, I still name Jia Jia Tang Bao as champion because of the smaller, bite-sized goodness of each dumpling. For me, the JJTB dumplings are actually sized to be eaten in one bite, unlike the ambiguous too-big-for-one-bite-but-a-little-too-small-for-two size of the Top Dumpling XLB’s. But that’s just my pure opinion. To be perfectly honest, most xiaolongbaos taste the same to me.

Basement of 131 Tianyaoqiao Lu, near Xingeng Lu. 4 minute walk from the Xujiahui Line 1/9 Metro Station, Exit 10.

I might have just had the best xiaolongbao (小龍包: meat-filled soup dumplings) in my life. This afternoon, my friend Joyce brought me to this hole-in-the-wall two blocks from People’s Square, promising me a tasty experience. And boy, did it deliver.     

When we spotted the entrance to the restaurant, there was a line about 20 minutes long. I mean, it was a weekday at 1pm! I guess that’s a good sign, right?

The anticipation made the meal even better. The menu isn’t exactly extensive, with about 8 different types of dumplings, some soup, and soda. We ordered two “cages” of 12 dumplings each: egg-yolk xiaolongbao and crab meat xiaolongbao. Both were a perfect combination of thin dumpling skin, just the right amount of flavorful soup, and  minced pork. And they were actually bite-sized, which made it all the more better.

Egg-yolk xiaolongbao. Probably the best thing ever - and even better with a dash of vinegar and spicy sauce!

Anyway, highly recommended.

Jia Jia Tang Bao: 90 Huanghe Road, near Fengyang Road. Close to Exit 9 of the People’s Square Metro Station.