I went to Auntie Qiu Kitchen again. This time, I met Auntie Qiu herself. She served us complimentary Pork Potstickers (鮮肉鍋貼) and Pan-Fried Pork Buns (裘家生煎). Thank you, Auntie Qiu. I realized that the fried buns I gave 4 stars in the last review actually deserve 5 stars. After I chatted with some high-level pan-fried bun restaurant owners from Shanghai, they told me that the portion of the filling is not the key. The shape is. It should be round, fully round. Auntie Qiu's fried bun matches the criteria. Okay, let's give it 5/5. The potstickers tasted no different compared to the fried buns. Only the shape is different. This is how they do it in Shanghai. Same filling and skin, just a different shape. Anyway, they're also worth 5/5. Hot and juicy. By the way, thirty years ago, not only the filling but also the dough was different for fried buns and potstickers. Last time, we tried almost all the dim sum at Auntie Qiu's Kitchen. Averaged between 4/5 and 5/5. This time, let's try some real dishes. The Oil Ring Eel Paste (響油鱔糊). What a strange name. Why not call it sizzling eel? I give it 4/5. The cooking was very good. Flavor was on point, not fishy at all. Only issue: the raw eel was overboiled during slicing. Still, worth 4/5. Braised Vegetarian Chicken (素雞澆頭): 0/5. Sorry, it's a zero. There were 3 pieces in the dish. The total thickness was barely normal, and they were chewy. WTF. Why is vegetarian chicken chewy? Shredded Pork and Snow Cabbage (雪菜肉絲澆頭): watery, not stir-fried, tasteless. 0/5. Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs (糖醋小排): 4/5. Not bad. It's not traditional cold Shanghai-style ribs. It's deep-fried and dipped. Good taste and texture. Jellyfish with Vinegar (老醋蜇頭): strange texture with strange flavor. The jellyfish was too hard and too dark in color. 3/5. Shanghai Smoked Fish (燻魚): 0/5. If I could give a negative score, it would be -100/5 or -1,000/5. We each tried one piece. Nobody could even bite it. It was too hard and sticky. The texture didn't even feel like fish. Who would pay for this? By the way, Shanghai "smoked" fish is supposed to be deep-fried, not actually smoked. Braised Pork in Brown Sauce (家常紅燒肉): 3/5. Not bad, but the pork had hair on it. Taste was good, but... hair. Sweet Fried Shrimp (油爆蝦): I was told this was also complimentary. It was obviously specially decorated. But it wasn't good. Too dry, over-fried. You couldn't feel any tenderness or juiciness at all. The shell was crispy. Auntie Qiu recommended eating it with the shell. The flavor was right, but the fry was way overdone. 3/5 is the highest I can give. All in all, the dim sum is worth 4/5. The stir-fried dishes only 3/5. You got me? read more