Dinner at Shanghai Village Dumpling and Dessert house.

I went out for dinner last night with my friends. There were four of us. We met up at 6pm at the RMIT Student Union because this is where they work. First stop was Shanghai Village Dumpling- a small place in Chinatown that is really popular. They are ranked number 78 on the Urbanspoon website with over 662 people voting for the place.
My first impressions of the place that it was dirty, dark and dingy. But the place was really busy.I wonder why, especially if it is dirty, dark and unhygienic? The toilets were really dirty with no soap in the soap dispenser. It looked like it had been like that for days. It is also very noisy with no noise cancelling walls and things to make it a bit quieter.
The service was quick and you choose your tables.You also have to get your own cutlery, tea and serviettes from one corner of the room. The tea was free by the way, but it was lukewarm. I think it had been sitting there for a while.
The guy that served us looked dazed. A few times when we tried to call him he didn't acknowledge us. Oh yeah and don't bring champagne as they don't know how to open it. One of friends said that the last time when they were there a champagne cork hit him on the head.
The food was cheap; about $12.50 per person for seven dishes. We ordered some soup dumplings which had the right amount of moisture in it. We also ordered the spring onion pancake which was a little too thick to be one. I loved the salt and pepper squid that we ordered. Someone at the next table said that they were really good and it is hard to fault them.
We ordered a couple of dumpling dishes to share. They were filling. I loved the veggie ones the most. The noodles were just ok. The sauce was a little too sweet for my liking.
I highly recommend this place to students as it is cheap and very filling. But make sure that you share the dishes as one is way too much for you.
Because this place is really cheap, only cash is accepted as payment.

Later on after dinner we headed to Dessert house in the Mid City arcade. Here they have some yummy desserts as well as mains. I have been there a few times during my stay in Melbourne and I cannot fault them. They do have a really good deal of buy a main and get the drink for a cheaper price. Mains average around $7-$11 and desserts are $5- $7.
I had the mango with cream ($6). It was tantalizing, but it didn't have a lot of cream in it which is good, because i like not much cream in desserts. The mango was really fresh.
I got to try Friend A's grass jelly dessert and loved it. I loved the taste of this and he did too.
This is another place that I'd recommend to students and to Fil from Eat and be merry for tommorrow we diet. Oh and by the way they only take cash for this place.