Xiao Long Bao, Soup Dumplings, Mini Shanghai Steamed Buns! Whatever you want to call them, go-in does them and I'd say they do a damn fine job at it. I seriously can't get enough of them, especially when I travel to Hong Kong and China. So when I met up with a few friends and decided where to eat in Chinatown, go-in was suggested. Looked at the menu, saw the soup dumplings...8 for $8.80!! So it was instantly decided that we eat that.
The waiter assumed that we were mandarin speakers (which happens all the time) so I didn't really understand what she was telling us and it turned out she told us to sit anywhere hahaha. The bowls were a bit dirty so I didn't use mine. We ordered the soup dumplings, steamed and fried pork dumplings. The wait was definitely worth it. The main attraction, soup dumpling, came first and I was pretty impressed by its size. It's not the typical undersized ones commonly found in less great chinese restaurants.
I really couldn't wait to eat but with a bit of self restraint I took a photo first. I learnt this from watching Eddy Huang (youtube search him)- pick up soup dumpling, sit it in the vinegar and let it chill. Apparently it's the way they do it in Taiwan, where he's from. I tried this method and prefer it, because normally I'd bite straight into it and burn my mouth. If you can, try to eat it in one bite too, so satisfying! I could tell these are pretty legit. The outer wrapping is not too thin that it falls apart but not too thick that it's doughy. It's doneness was just right which is important (kind of the al dente analogy). The meat is so juicy and melts in the mouth but the soup was absolutely awesome. So much porky goodness and umami. The acidic tang from the black vinegar bath takes it to the next level. I add chilli oil to mine because chillis. It's so good that I could eat this stuff everyday.
The pork dumplings were good too, especially the fried ones. It seemed to be a variety of pork dumplings as the first one I ate contained pork and Chinese chives (aka garlic chives) which I'm not a huge fan of but the next one I ate was pork and cabbage (I think) with ginger which I loved. I like how they're cooked, steamed then pan-fried on the bottom side only so you get two textures. That's how it's traditionally done and how I'd cook them at home. Much better than the extra greasy ones found in Chinatown.
Having eaten soup dumplings in a few different countries, go-in is surprisingly decent for good old Adelaide (which doesn't have it's own Din Tai Fung or other internationally famous yum-cha). Definitely not the best but I haven't had it in so long that I longed for the taste. We ordered in total 2 serves of dumplings (30) and 8 soup dumplings which amounted to $8-9 per person, what a pleasant surprise (perfect for after uni dumpling feasts). I'm definitely coming back and ordering a few serves of soup dumplings just for me! Huge props to the chef for doing it properly, it really shows in the final product. read more