Shang Kitchen opens on Magazine Street
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The soup dumplings are color-coded at Shang Kitchen. Video: Chelsea Brasted/Axios
Shang Kitchen offers a new way to explore Chinese food in a growing stretch of Magazine Street with great examples of the cuisine.
Why it matters: Housemade soup dumplings! Need we say more?
The big picture: Shang Kitchen is the "dream restaurant" of chef Kelvin Chen, according to Ian McNulty of The Times-Picayune.
- Chen got his start in restaurants in China, but he's worked and lived in the U.S. for 26 years, McNulty reports.
- Chen named Shang Kitchen for his hometown of Shanghai.
The vibe: You get a hint of the gorgeous restaurant before you've even entered thanks to the wall of Chinese paper lanterns outside the door.
- Once inside, colorful paper lanterns hang like upside-down umbrellas amid an orangey school of koi fish that swim across the ceiling.
- You can also watch each of the restaurant's dumplings come to life with a glassed-in view of the kitchen.
Dig in: On a recent visit, we loved the soup dumplings, which arrive color-coded for each of the pork, chicken, crawfish, crab and truffle flavors.
- Another favorite was the Zhajiang noodles. Our server mixed the dish tableside, blending together fresh bites of pepper with a spicy ground beef.
- And don't miss the veggie menu at the back, which has a Taiwanese cabbage dish that arrives in a sticky-sweet sauce and still sizzling in a dry pot.