David's Country Shanghai #dlaunch

If most of your friends on Instagram or Twitter are food bloggers, you would have heard of the #dlaunch movement that kicked off in early June several weeks back.

Food bloggers were sent some "clues" via snail mail... and were asked to guess what #dlaunch was all about.

I spot with my little eye a bamboo steamer, pork belly, teapot and the hat icon in my clues. My guess was inevitably "a new one chef hat Chinese restaurant".

Whilst my guess wasn't spot on, I wasn't entirely wrong either. #dlaunch isn't the opening of a new Chinese restaurant, but instead the relaunch of David's Country Shanghai restaurant.

I had saved several pictures to post exclusively on my blog... but unfortunately, my iPhone 4S died the very next morning following the relaunch dinner. BOO!!! :'(

Apple couldn't reboot my phone, so they very generously replaced a new one for me... Unfortunately though, all data and pictures taken were gone and I only have pictures from Instagram to share with you. 

Tucked in a hidden lane way, David's Country Shanghai serves authentic Shanghainese cuisine and has been awarded with 10 chef hats since 2002. Such an achievement only goes to show the consistency in food excellence that David's has taken pride in.

The first course to kick off the dinner was the spiced oolong tea quail eggs with beancurd and wolf berries. I loved how aromatic the eggs were with the incorporation of oolong tea and soy sauce. I am going to try to replicate this dish at home.

Next was the spicy beef with white radish and cucumber. All of the elements were very well combined and was quite yummeh except that it was slightly too spicy for my liking. Wish I had better tolerance when it comes to spiciness!

I surprisingly really enjoyed the "green n' red" which I found was simple yet delicious. I expected the mix of green soy beans, bok choy and chilli to be spicy, but thankfully it wasn't. In fact it was refreshing and I couldn't help taking more than 3 servings!

The soft boneless drunken chicken marinated in Chinese wine served with green soy bean was tender and tasty.

I'm not used to having drunken chicken served cold, as the few times I've had them in Malaysia, they were served warm. But I would guess that this is the authentic way of serving it as fellow Shanghainese blogger, Jenny from Ichigo Shortcake did authenticate that.

The last entree was the DIY shredded duck and veggie wrap. I've never had this version of the duck wrap before as my family and I are big on Peking duck wraps. But I've to say I thoroughly enjoyed this dish.

Instead of crispy duck skin, David's version was shredded duck cooked well with vegetables, namingly bean shoots and capsicums. It was so good and went well with Hoisin sauce and the Chinese pancake which was perfectly thin.

We kicked off our mains with the 'one bite' soft shell river prawns. The first time I had these crunchy, deep fried prawns was at Golden Fields and then Chin Chin - both of which I really loved.

David's version lived up to my expectations and I really liked how the prawns was crisp to perfection and full of flavour. 

The tofu and field mushrooms was really delicious - the tofu was as smooth as silk, and the different types of mushrooms were excellent elements to pair up with. Next time my dad suggest restaurants with nice vegetarian dishes, I know where I can bring him.

And then to the dish I waited all night for, the sticky pork belly with chat potatoes which in my opinion was the highlight of the night. The pork belly was tender, juicy, and was intensely flavorful.

This dish brought back nostalgic memories as it tasted very similar to the Malaysian version of tau yu bak (braised pork belly in soy sauce) which is usually served with boiled eggs.

Next up we had grandma's 8's which was a combination of Shanghai medley of scallop, shrimp, pork, chicken, chestnut, cashew, bamboo and shitake.

I totally did not expect this dish to turn out spicy, and I had to down few cups of tea but could still feel my lips stinging.

Another dish was the soy peppered beef with potatoes and baby carrots whole chillies. The beef was well cooked and very tender, and tasted very much like a home-cooked dish. Nothing too spectacular to shout about, I have to admit.

One of the last dish was the peasant's crab which I found was slightly overcooked and had a mix of egg yolk? This mix of diced scallops, fish and egg white tossed in the wok is meant to taste better than that of crab's meat but it isn't quite there yet.

Of course, we wouldn't end the night without desserts. ;) We were served with red bean and black sticky rice pudding sitting in a bed of osmanthus jelly which I really like that it wasn't too sweet.

The portion is quite big and can be quite filling a dessert so I'd definitely recommend that you share with your dining partners.

The final dish to wrap up the night was the traditional Chinese almond pudding which was topped with crushed black sesame seeds.

I didn't quite enjoy this as I felt like the whole dessert was overwhelmed by the strong almond flavour.

The food was all in all really delectable and I can definitely see myself returning to David's with my bunch of friends. 

I would recommend David's and would love to know if you find that there are any other dishes I should try. ;)