2015 has quietly been a good year for St. Louis' Chinese food scene. We lost the always interesting Szechuan Pavilion (again), but we gained Tai Ke Taiwanese, Yummy17, Private Kitchen, Lona's Lil Eats (in late 2014, really), and revamps of Lulu's, Jia Xiang, Corner 17, and Joy Luck Buffet. Lona's has enjoyed continuous hype and publicity since they opened, though Private Kitchen seems to be the Asian restaurant du jour. The concept is unique to St. Louis, as far as I know, in that it's reservation only, you must place your order beforehand (they pick up the ingredients the day of your visit), and it's operated and owned by a husband and wife. He's the chef, she's front of house.

As soon as the reviews, Tweets, and Facebook posts started popping up about Private Kitchen, I knew I had to go. There was so much hype, it had me wondering: is this The One? Will St. Louis finally have a Chinese restaurant that will put all others to shame?

I've visited a few times now and I'm going to have to say no, this is not that restaurant. At this point, without having tried Corner 17 or a proper meal at Tai Ke, I would say that it does go in my Top 3 Chinese restaurants in town, along with Yummy17 and Jia Xiang.

The food is Shanghaiese, which often (but not always) means a heavy reliance on sugar and sweetened sauces, and that is my biggest qualm with it: it's just too sweet for my taste.

Their xiao long bao (soup dumplings) are easily the best I've had in St. Louis. If you don't know about soup dumplings, read this. Private Kitchen's don't hold a candle to Din Tai Fung or Paradise Dynasty across the world, but they're more than passable. The skin is soft but sturdy enough to hold the piping hot soup and meatball and the soup itself has almost a truffle flavor to it. If you've never had a soup dumpling, these are a must try.