Shanghai Cuisine
“We came in tonight and ordered the xiao long bao (very good!), kung pao chicken (it was okay) and the braised pork shoulder in brown sauce.”
“There's a big mix of non-asians and asians here, and seemingly, quite a lot of tourists.”
“We also ordered a plate of bok choy which seemed to be sautéed in a flavorful light sauce.”
Shanghai Cuisine
Take-out: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Great place to visit in the summer because they open up their restaurant to the outside. There is a nice park across from the restaurant that is a unique view from the typical busy street corner or concrete buildings. If you're a fan of moo-shu pork (mu shu pork) they have some of the best in town. Their pancakes are thicker than your average thin pancake. Their prices are average and their lunch portions are a little smaller than my liking.
When I come to Chinatown in the city I always anticipate that the traditional places provide tea. This place did not provide tea, which immediately displeased me off the bat, because it was something I expected to receive at the restaurant. Most likely won't go back here again.
Recently, Shanghai Cuisine underwent a remodeling and a revamping of their menu. I revisited to see what the changes would entail, both hopeful and anxious. I had really loved visiting SC for many years and didn't want the old school charm to vanish.
When I arrived, I was crestfallen. Perusing the menu, the beloved "Shanghai Authentic Dishes" section of the menu vanished. Many of the interesting and authentic appetizers and entrees had disappeared. Indeed, classics like "stir fried eels with yellow chives" were replaced by a more muted and hackneyed "chicken with lemon sauce." My brain, nonplussed and abuzz with confusion, tried to fathom what had happened to the delicious old school dishes of old Shanghai Cuisine.
The waitress came over, and some of that charm came back. Instantly, she started cracking jokes in English, Cantonese, and Spanish to us, jokes that she may have learned for other people, perhaps tourists to the city. I queried her about my beloved eels with yellow chives, and she said she could do a special order for us. We ordered strong tropical drinks with rum and delicious sweet juices and served in pineapple-shaped porcelain. The food came, we dined, and the same joy I had experienced years ago came back again.
All in all, the meal was exceptional and delicious. My sole piece of advice is to try not to order American Chinese dishes such as chicken with broccoli, but try and be more adventurous and get some of the other dishes. The chef is apparently a superstar of Sichuanese cuisine (dishes that are dotted with spicy, hot chili oil as a condiment and sauce, heavy with cumin and other central Chinese spices), so that stuff is good as well. I love their soup dumplings (crab meat is the best!) and wine chicken as appetizers. If you're more adventurous and Type-A, maybe you can ask them what they can make from the old menu, and under pressure, they might bring it back eventually. But the best part of the meal are their boozy rum-based tiki drinks. They both delight and pander.
Authentic Chinese cuisine but for white people LOL.
Walking in to Shanghai Cuisine, I was taken aback a little by how I was one of the few actual Chinese people in this restaurant. My inner monologue went "Ohh f***k! I came into a faux Chinese restaurant that actually caters to non-Chinese people!!"
But, the place actually looked nice enough and more importantly clean, so I figured why not? I can nitpick about how Americanized the food is here later.
My waitress only deepened my fears. I spoke to her in Chinese and I know she understood me, but she responded to me in English. Also I could hear the cooks in the back speak perfect Cantonese so yeah, they all speak Chinese here obviously. So now I was thinking uh-oh, the manager or owner here must have demanded that the staff speak to the patrons in English. So now I'm thinking to myself the food here must be bad. Still, I'm already here and it would look really rude if I up and left after talking to her. So, I politely ordered the pork shu mai and the Shanghai Lo Mein, two orders I pretty much knew were mistake-proof even if you order them from an Americanized Chinese restaurant.
All my fears and doubts were eliminated once my food came out. The shu mai were plump and savory, every bit as good as the dim sum at those old school Chinatown restaurants my mom used to take me to. The Lo Mein noodles were fatter than what I was used to, but then I just attribute that to the differences between southern Cantonese cuisine and Shanghai cuisine. Think of the difference between say fettuccine and spaghetti, that was the size difference. Still, it was wonderfully executed, with a nice blend of ginger, garlic, and soy sauce all coming together.
After I paid my check, as I got up to put on my coat and leave an older Chinese gentleman (who I guess must be the manager) graciously sent me off with "Shei Shei" and a wink as an acknowledgement that he appreciated that a fellow countryman liked his food.
Stirred fried shanghai noodles were bleah. It was loaded with MSG. The flavor was a little off. I should've known when I first walked in, the restaurant was emptying during lunch time. Probably won't be back anytime soon. No thanks.
I came here for lunch because I was in the mood for soup dumplings. Being my first time here I didn't know what to expect. I was seated right away because the place was pretty empty. The waiters were arguing over who was going to wait on me. lol
I ordered the crab and pork soup dumplings and a chicken and broccoli lunch special. Now I've had soup dumplings in the past and I absolutely love them. These here however were just okay. The chicken and broccoli was exceptional. If you want a real good soup dumpling you have to head out to flushing queens. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
My bill came out to roughly $14.00 they do not accept cards. Cash only guys. There is an ATM located in the restaurant. Overall the food was good and if I'm ever in the area again, I will return.
This wasn't too bad. Made the mistake of coming here during Chinese New Year. Which would have been great, but there was outrageous traffic.
In any case, the wait wasn't too bad, and I didn't feel like we were rushed out too much (And more than you generally are in these kinds of places). We came here specifically for soup dumplings, and unfortunately, they were only mediocre. The soup inside was delicious, but the dumplings themselves were too thin and most of the soup had flowed out before we could eat them.
AND, they did dodgy things about adding a service charge without even telling us and the tea was only mediocre. Really, there wasn't anything too bad about it, but I won't go back. There are other places in Chinatown that have better food and a better experience.
I came here and got a dish of Shanghai thick fried noodles. The taste was good (right amount of salt, oil, etc.), though it could have used some more vegetables. (All it had other than noodles was some pork strips and spinach.) Not bad for the price.
3.5 stars
When you see Chinese lanterns, you know you're not in an authentic Chinese restaurant. And there were no other Asians. Another give-away. My first thought, "Oh this place is cute, so it must not be authentic." The cute aesthetics are to draw in the non-Asians and tourists. Real Asians don't care about fake Chinese lanterns. That's how I see it, anyway.
The edamame were overcooked and tasted of vinegar. Water poured out with every bean. My fault for ordering edamame in a Chinese restaurant. Shanghai dumplings had way too much ginger. Vegetable crispy noodles were misleading because the noodles were drenched with sauce and not crispy at all. I did not like the sauce; it was too tangy and there was wayyy too much of it. The only semi-edible thing was the sticky rice shu mai. I anticipated regular pork shu mai with sticky rice incorporated into the filling, but it was just sticky rice wrapped in wonton dough. Not great, but edible. Very dry. Regular shu mai is usually moist from the steam, but this one was super dry. All in all, would not recommend.