Hi-lai Shanghainese Dumplings 漢來上海湯包 @ Taipei

This is an unfamiliar chain that I came across for the first time at Dream Plaza, selling a very familiar food, xiaolongbao. Instead of calling them XLB, the soup dumplings are called, simply, soup dumplings.

Hi-lai Shanghainese Dumplings 漢來上海湯包 is an off-shoot of the Hi-lai group from the southern part of Taiwan making its foray to Taipei, selling soup dumplings at the hallowed ground of Dintaifung who made XLB famous around the world. It is no surprise that they would be compared with DTF for the XLB.

冰鎮醉雞 Drunken Chicken in Shaohsing Wine

It wasn’t a good start at all. Their drunken chicken was quite measly and slightly bitter because they have burnt the Shaoxing wine.

清炒絲瓜 Stir-fried Loofah

My favourite Taiwanese vegetable, the loofahs from Formosa are sweet and crunchy and not fibrous. You cannot fail when the loofahs are these fresh and good.

酸辣湯（辣味）Sour and Chilli Soup (Spicy)

The translation of this dish is quite comical, but the commonly known hot and sour soup can come either classic (that’s non-spicy) or spicy. So if the soup is non-spicy, then it’s just a sour soup? It was quite watery, and not so much ingredient.

招牌小籠湯包 Pork Soup Dumpling

Now for the main fare, the classic Xiaolongbao aka Shanghainese soup dumpling. They both have 18 folds, look similar in terms of size and come in similar bamboo steamers. But that’s where the similarities end. These dumplings came lukewarm and were quite dry. The pork had a porky tastes.

黑松露雞肉湯包 Truffle and Chicken Soup Dumpling

The truffle version came with minced chicken instead of pork, but it had the same flaws – came lukewarm, too dry and an artificial truffle taste.

蟹粉生煎湯包 Crab Meat & Chicken Bun

Cold and dry.

擔擔麵 Dan Dan Noodles

The dandan noodles tasted like supermarket peanut butter diluted and mixed in the noodles, nothing like the dandan noodles I have in proper Szechuan restaurants.

Not recommended, there are many other ones that are way better in Taipei, even if they are not DTF. The only saving grace was the service.

Hi-lai Shanghainese Dumplings 漢來上海湯包 台北Dream Plaza店
台北市信義區松高路11號B2
Tel : +886 (02) 2722 0892

Visited Aug 2025