上海小籠包 in English is known as Shanghainese Soup Dumpling or Shanghainese Meat Dumpling. These dumplings originated from Shanghai, China (上海) and when they are served, they are placed in “small steaming baskets” and that makes their name (小籠包).
In Penang, there are many places that served Shanghainese Soup Dumpling. However, those that serve quality soup dumpling the price will be very high while the one that serve relatively cheaper soup dumpling the taste is not up to standard.
The place that I am going to introduce below serves great Shanghainese Soup Dumpling, yet the price is the most reasonable you could find in Penang. The name of this restaurant is Viva Dim Sum Delight.
It is not hard to locate Viva Dim Sum Delight corner. Previously it was known as SeahorseFood Court situated beside Chinese Swimming Club in Tanjung Bungah and now it is named as Viva Local Food Heaven and one of the corners is the Dim Sum Delight.
Shanghainese Meat Dumpling (小籠包-RM4.80), this dish is one of the most delicious Chinese delicacies. It is an art to make Shanghainese Meat Dumpling. The general idea is to dip the minced pork balls into pork ribs stock and freeze them. The next day, they are taken out to be individually wrapped into thin flour skin. The dumplings will be steamed to perfection and served in a steaming basket.
Once they are steamed, the meat dumplings would look like any other normal dumplings except that they look slightly watery on the exterior.
Once you have your first bite, the soup from the dumpling will flow into your mouth. Beware when you eat it as the the soup might be hot. The soup from the stock was thick and delicious while the meat was full of flavour.
The “must-have” condiments when serving Shanghainese soup dumpling - ginger slices and vinegar.
The proper way to savour Shanghainese Soup Dumpling is illustrated in the comic below. (Click on the picture to enlarge).
Steamed Bun with Butter Cream & Egg Yolk (特制流沙包-RM4.80). Besides the Shanghainese Soup Dumpling, the steamed bun with butter cream and egg yolk here is also a must try dish.
A bite on the bun will make it burst with milky butter cream like volcano lava. It was hot yet delicious. It is one of my favorites.
Shanghainese “Mistress” Bun (上海二奶包-RM4.80), if you lick other’s mistress’ bun I can’t guarantee your wife will not tear you off. However, if you lick and suck Viva’s mistress bun, your wife surely won’t scold you and in fact she might encourage you to go for more.
The filling of the bun is made of some nice custard-like buttery corn cream.
Baked Hong Kong Style Polo Bun (香港菠蘿包-RM3.80). Besides the “mistress” bun, you could also get some delectable buns with some sweet crust on the surface and barbecue pork within it.
It is indeed a very unique type of dish. However, I personally prefer the inner with creamy butter instead.
Traditional Steamed Glutinous Rice (古法糯米雞-RM3.80), the glutinous rice was stir fried prior to steaming it with pre-cooked chunks of chicken, Chinese sausage and barbecue pork.
Overall, the taste of the glutinous is acceptable, except that I am not sure is this is the traditional method of preparing it. To me, I find the rice was slightly on the sweet side and the rice was a bit too watery. If the rice was covered with some mushrooms and was less sweet, it would be perfect.
Scallop and Fish Roe Dumpling (鳳眼帶子餃). The dumpling is made from the combination of large prawns, topped with scallops and garnished with fish roe, spring onion stalk and a leaf of coriander.
It was one of the acceptable and edible dim sums. Most importantly the large prawn was fresh.
Dragon Whiskers Roll (龍鬚卷). Inside the deep fried rice noodle were blended avocado, custard cream and butter.
The rice noodle was crunchy while the inner stuffing was sweet and creamy. It was indeed a very sweet delight and was very good for the sweet tooth, but is not my cup of tea.
Steamed Bun with Premium Lotus Paste and Egg Yolk (蛋皇蓮蓉包-RM3.80). There were plenty of finely ground lotus paste and a big salted egg yolk inside the bun.
I just love the salty egg yolk but not the sweet base lotus paste. If the sweetness can be minimized, it would be my top choice.
Steamed Bun with Supreme Barbecued Pork (蜜汁叉燒包-RM3.80), the usual steamed bun stuffed with barbecue pork. This dish is available at almost any dim sum restaurant.
The taste of the barbecue pork was very normal and standard. I have not much comment on this dish.
Crispy Dragon Roll (香脆升龍卷-RM3.80), a giant prawn was wrapped with tofu skin and then deep fried and made into the shape like dragon tails. They were then dipped with mayo sauce and mustard.
The sauce was nice but the tofu skin had been soaked with too much oil when it was deep fried which made the dish too oily.
The price list for the dim sum dishes are as below (click on the picture to enlarge).
The chef was like attending meet-the-press conference when all the bloggers were asking questions.
The assistant chef was helping to answer some of the questions as well.
While the chefs were busy answering the questions, some of the food bloggers were happily browsing someone’s iphone.
Overall, the taste of the food here is acceptable. In fact, some of the selected dishes here are the must-try type. As for pricing, some of the dishes here are very reasonable, while some are not that value for money. My advice, choose wisely for the dishes before placing order. There will be an add-on for RM1.00 for each person when dining in. There are no worries about parking space availability.
Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):
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Quick Facts:
| Family Friendly |
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| Pork Free |
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| Credit Card |
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| Smoking |
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| Private Room |
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| WIFI Available |
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Operation hours: 6:00am – 2:00pm (7 days a week)
Contact: 04-890 2549
Address:Lot 303, Jalan Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Penang, Malaysia.
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