scallion oil noodles – Michael Eats

Tasty Eats at IBUND Classic Shanghai Potstickers

Published on November 8, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5457 Yonge Street, North York
Website: https://ibund.net/

It’s always nice when the name of the restaurant tells you exactly what to order. IBUND Classic Shanghai Potstickers (there’s a name that just rolls right off the tongue) has a pretty broad menu of Shanghai classics, but obviously, you’ve gotta try the potstickers.

There’s no description for anything in the menu, but everything you need to know about the Juicy Pork Potstickers is right there in the name — they’re stuffed with a generous amount of nicely-spiced pork, and they are indeed quite juicy. They’re almost at soup dumpling levels of juiciness, and they’re really satisfying.

There isn’t a single thing about them that I’d change — the wrapper isn’t too thick and has a great texture, they’re perfectly fried with a nice crispy bottom, and the pork inside is thoroughly tasty. They’re the restaurant’s specialty, and you can tell. Seriously good.

I also tried the Shanghai Style Pork Mooncake, which the menu notes is recommended. Between the flaky dough and the ground meat filling, this kinda felt like a Chinese version of a Jamaican patty. I enjoyed it, even if it’s not quite on the level of the potsticker (but then what is?).

Finally, I tried the Shanghai Eight-Treasure Spicy Noodles, which you can get dry or with soup (I went dry). Oddly, it’s not spicy at all, but otherwise this featured chewy, pleasantly salty noodles (I’m pretty sure the dry noodle base is their scallion oil noodles) topped with a slightly sweet, meaty topping. I legitimately have no idea what that meat was (or if it even was all meat — some of the pieces seemed like they weren’t?), but it was tasty.

Disappointing Fried Bao at Zheng’s Juicy Fried Buns

Published on November 14, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4750 Yonge Street, North York (in the Emerald Park food court)
Website: https://baogong.business.site/

Last year, I checked out Sang-ji Fried Bao and tried the scallion oil noodles and the sang-ji bao (fried soup-filled pork buns). I thought it was tasty enough, but nothing particularly mind-blowing.

Well, I just had the exact same meal at Zheng’s Juicy Fried Buns, and suddenly I’m appreciating Sang-ji Fried Bao so, so much more.

Here’s a one word review of the meal I just had: yikes.

I started with the scallion oil noodles, which tasted like plain instant noodles tossed in a whole bunch of soy sauce (and a buttload of oil); it was greasy and one-note salty with absolutely none of the sweet complexity you associate with this dish. The deeply caramelized scallions were present, but they couldn’t do much to fight the face-punch of saltiness from the noodles themselves. It doesn’t help that the undercooked instant noodles were a complete bummer to eat.

The pan-fried buns weren’t much better. The wrapper was thick, gummy and unpleasantly doughy, and the would-be crispy bottom was actually just dry, like a stale cracker. The soupy filling was completely bland (it needed a lot of vinegar to be even remotely edible), and the pork was surprisingly tough and flavourless.

Sang-ji Fried Bao is about two kilometres north of here, and trust me: that’s the one you want. There’s no comparison.

Tasty Fried Dumplings at Sang-ji Fried Bao

Published on October 8, 2018September 5, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1 Byng Avenue, North York
Website: None

Sang-ji bao are basically like a traditional soup dumpling’s (a.k.a. xiao long bao) more rugged cousin. They’re pan fried, with a slightly thicker skin and a dark brown crust on the bottom. Soup dumplings are delicious, but if you want something a bit more hearty, sang-ji bao’s got your back.

And as you’d probably guess from the name, Sang-ji Fried Bao specializes in the stuff. I was pretty excited to try it.

We started with the scallion oil noodles, an absolutely delightful flavour-bomb of oily (but not overly greasy) noodles topped with peanuts and fried scallions. The peanuts offer a nice crunchy contrast to the chewy noodles, and the imposingly dark fried scallions are packed with flavour and immensely satisfying.

I liked this dish even more than the fried dumplings.

The sang-ji bao were certainly nothing to scoff at — they’re pleasingly porky and packed with scalding hot soup. The wrapper is a bit too thick, however, and the whole thing is a touch on the bland side.

Still, it’s got that satisfyingly crispy bottom, and the whole thing is tasty enough, even if it’s not the best version of these things that I’ve ever had.