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Top Shanghai Cuisine Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
8100 Ackroyd Rd#120
Richmond, BC V6X 3K2
Neighbourhood: Golden Village
(604) 278-8798
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
45 reviews for Top Shanghai Cuisine Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"Highly recommend this place for the Xiao long bao." In 12 reviews -
"...bao, meat buns, stir fried rice cakes, vegetable dishes..." In 3 reviews -
"...perfect and went well with the steamed bok choy and rice." In 2 reviews
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45 reviews in English
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Review from Amy P.
Vancouver, BC
2/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
Had lunch and dinner here. Both times were good.
The steam dumplings are delicious. The pan fried buns are just as good. Plenty of soup in each bun.
Service is standard Chinese service. Don't expect too much. -
Review from Helaine C.
Marpole, Vancouver, BC
5/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Like every other reviews, this place has the best Xiao Long Baos! Their food overall is quite decent. Fried buns, hot sour soup, spicy wontons, etc. very yummy. I'm just not a big fan of the fried dumplings, the "skin" is too thick... not sure if I'm wording it right. I feel full after eating one lol!
Service... no... I don't like their service. They don't smile. Its like when we called on one of them, they shot us a look like we owe them money or sth. They aren't friendly. They take your order sheet and literally sped off (we wanted to order sth not on the sheet).
The seating arragement is outrageous. They pack the restaurant like your storage room. There's only 2 aisles you can walk down and if you sit in the "mid section", your ass is pretty much touching the person behind you. There's no space to move at all. You're better off on the tables next to the walls, BUT if you're the table right next to the doors... I don't think you'll be enjoying your meal. There's pretty much no waiting area in the restaurant. You open the first door and if you don't look forward, you might get your head smacked from the person walking infront of you opening the second door. -
Review from KAI G.
12/8/2011
here's how my convo went:
ME Hello do you take CC?
Them: yes we do minium $50
ME: Do you take USD
Them: Yes, at rate of 1USD = 80C CAD
Me: Are you aware that the USD is worth MORE than the CAD
I know the USD was worth maybe like 0.95 CAD at some point, but 1USD to 80CAD, are you out of YOUR MIND. you are worse than the rates at the stands at major airports.....
Sorry aint coming here for food if you are giving me such a SHi&&Ty rate and ur refusal to have a limit on CC. -
Review from Jeff S.
Vancouver, BC
3/17/2012
This is home style, so don't expect a white table cloth. Lot's of authentic tasty dishes. The Xia Long Bao is more than acceptable.
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Review from Connie C.
9/22/2011
Best xiao long baos here. I like it better than din tai fung's. Their jajiang mien (which my husband gets at almost every chinese and korean restaurant that has it on their menu) was different, but delicious. The beef and pickled vegetable cake was gross. Don't bother with that. Definitely come for the xiao long baos though.
And remember, it's cash only if the bill total is $50 or less. -
Review from Daniel C.
7/25/2011
My first time in Canada and my very first restaurant in Canada. Came here for Xiao long bao(friends recommendation). Came here around 4PM on a Thursday and the place was empty. We chose our table and proceeded to order Xiao long bao (3 orders to start).
Note: If you can choose to not sit near the entrance, then do so. As this place gets busy, people will be walking back and forth and standing over your table near the door and the wall on the same side as the door.
The Xiao long bao was the best I have personally had being that I've only tried it in Orange County. They were a good size, very juicy, and very hot and fresh. Also ordered the onion pancake and a beef vegetable dish. All were good, but I enjoyed the XLB the most. So this being the first place I ate, passed up Dim Sum the last day to eat here before my drive back to Seattle. Amazing, ordered so much.
The servers here are not the greatest. You really have to flag them down whether it is crowded or not. Also when it is slower, place your order ahead of time for additional XLB or you'll be waiting awhile. Highly recommend this place for the Xiao long bao. -
Review from Jonas T.
6/27/2011 7 photos
Xiao long bao - big, juicy, meat not too fatty, and not greasy at all - so if that's what you like, then you'll love it here. The crab ones are really good too.
JONASAPPROVED! -
Review from Joy H.
6/4/2011
We were craving some xiao long bao and after some yelp searching decided to try out this place.
We went for brunch on a Monday morning and was pleasantly surprised to see at least a couple tables filled already (always a good sign). The menu is huge (they don't have a separate lunch vs dinner menu) so it took us a while to decide. We got the traditional pork xiao long bao and the Shanghai stir-fried rice cake.
The xiao long bao were some of the best that we've ever tasted (compared to Din Tai Fung and Shanghai River). My husband kept drooling over each bite! It's about $1/dumpling, but they were just super tasty! The Shanghai stir-fried rice cake was also very flavorful. It's covered in a brown sauce that looked like it would be overwhelming but it was so perfect!
There's only 2 waitresses in this huge restaurant, so service may be a little lacking. But I'm all about the food and don't care so much about the service and so will be back for some more tasty treats! -
Review from Alan B.
2/13/2011
I have heard about this place when I am in Canada, and from friends in Seattle.
So I decided to give this place a try with my wife and few friends from Canada.
The food is amazing. No questions ask.
But, seriouly the service sucks ass.
The servers gave us bad bad attitude. One our friend wants to order a "Tum Yuam" and because the server had a bad accent so we were having a hard time to understand. So her attitude went to the bottom.
But you know what, we know this is a chinese place. So we are not going to expect too much of a good service.
She described the "Tum Yum" like it's small, and good for one person so we ordered one, but other friend decided to have an another "small"
bowl size.
We grabbed another server and asked to have two small bowls instead of one. She started to "Aruge" with us, saying "DO YOU WANT TWO ORDERS?" "WHATS TWO BOWLS?, THAT MEANS TWO ORDERS" and she walked away. (with an ugly look)
And when the orginal server came over with two bowls. It was actually pretty good portion.... and she said "I ORDERED ONE FOR YOU GUYS, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU GUYS ORDERED TWO". (with an ugly look)
WTF........ WOW....... we don't need to come here to be a customer and being bitched by them.
So we did something we never did at any place before. We left with out any tips.
I actually felt bad for not tipping them, but still I don't realy think they deserve any. -
Review from Henry B.
Vancouver, BC
Highly recommend their pan fried dumplings! After reading all the reviews, I wanted to try this Shanghainese restaurant which is right across Dinesty. I love Dinesty but I've already been there many times, so it's time to try something different. We arrived around 8 pm without any reservations and the waitress asked if we wanted to share a big table with another party, we agreed since it'll cut our wait time considerably.
We ordered the XLB as it would be criminal to omit while eating in a Shanghai restaurant. The quality of the XLB will basically tell you the quality of the restaurant. It was pretty good, lots of juice inside and very flavorful. But, I found the skin to be a little thick especially on the top node. I like the fact they used a very thin radish as a base for the xlb to sit on while steaming. This prevents the xlb from ripping when you pry it off the steaming tray. Awesome idea instead of just using paper. I also noticed they used white vinegar instead of the traditional black variety for dipping the xlb. There was hardly any shredded ginger in the vinegar which was also a mystery to me. A good combination of vinegar and ginger are essential to bringing out the full flavour of the xlb. Come on guys, you got to put more ginger in the vinegar. Other dishes ordered: fried ribs(bit dried and lack flavour) and beef with vegetables which was very tender.
The highlight of the night was the pan fried Shanghai dumplings. It was just marvellous; golden brown crunchy bottom with a lot of juice inside. When I bit into the dumpling, the juice actually squirted out like water from a hose. I liked the dumpling much more then the XLB.
Many reviews had complaints about the service but it's not really different then any other Asian restaurants. They are very busy, so don't be shy about flagging someone down with a little assertiveness. The most important part of a restaurant to me is the quality of the food and the service is just a minor part of the dining experience. I just need them to bring the food quickly to me, ASAP! The food is the show and the service is the co star. -
Review from Theresa W.
Vancouver, BC
1/17/2011
I was browsing for some dim sum in the Richmond area, when yelp gave me this option for lunch. Suddenly, I had a craving for Shanghai food! We got there at 11:30 on a Sunday, and the place still had a few seats, but by the time our food arrived there were people waiting outside the door!
Since it was just the two of us, I decided to order small dishes instead of large plates, but my appetite got the better of me and we ended up getting 4 plates of dumplings and one tan tan noodle dish. The hot and spicy wontons weren't as good as I hoped, but the xiao loong bao and the pan fried dumplings were amazing. They were so juicy and crispy on the outside, I was in heaven! The noodles used the same sauce as the wontons, so they weren't as good either. Overall, the place has amazing dumpling dishes, and there are quite a few other things I'd like to try when I go back. The price came out to $30, but we have more than enough to last us for dinner and then tomorrow's lunch.
The place only accepts credit cards on orders over $50, so bring cash if it's a small crowd :) -
Review from Jason R.
11/28/2010
dumplings dumplings dumplings!!!
One of the best dumplings I've had....both natural and fried. The Chinese donuts with pork and wrapped in rice is always good. We also had the specialty chicken which we always choose the cold one, it never disappoints.
Ok back to the dumplings, they are good size and served nice and steamy hot. One bite releases all the extraordinary crab and pork juices. My mouth is watering just writing this review. There are only 2 ladies making the dumplings, which is simply amazing. Man I wish I could have these dumplings every day of my life. For now I'll just have to come to Top Shanghai everytime I'm in Richmond, which is well worth it!Listed in: Vancouver Canada good eats!
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Review from J K.
7/17/2010 6 photos
We walk in and they take forever to get us a table even though it's only half-full. -1
We sit down. They give us no menus. -2
The menus have funny engrish. +1
The waitresses seemed to be ignoring us on purpose. We had to flag them down. -2
The waitress questioned everything we ordered.
Me: "We would like fried pork buns".
Waitress: "Fried pork buns have pork in them. Are you sure?"
Me: "Yes."
Waitress: (Points at item on menu) "These here? These are fried."
Me: "Yes. I would like the fried pork buns." (Now I'm starting to second guess myself.)
Waitress: "Are you sure? One order - 6 bun."
Me: (Now I'm thinking I'm missing something) "Um, yeah. Yeah, fried pork buns. Six. Sounds good."
Waitress: "Are you sure?"
It was like this with every order we made. And we ordered 10 items. -1
But the food was awesome. Seriously awesome. +5Listed in: 5 Stars
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Review from Mona N.
7/6/2010 1 photo
Growing up my family thought there was something wrong with me, as I am perhaps the only Asian in the world who dislikes Chinese food.
Over the years, I've tried Chinese food time and time again. Abroad, domestically and even home cooked but nope. Still not a fan. I dislike XO paste or sauce, lemon/orange anything, chow mein, chow fun, baos, sticky rice, moo shu [whatever]. 99% of stir fry is gross (tastes like the wok), sweet and sour anything makes me ill. Even dim sum is boring. Seriously, most dishes are chopped up chicken, minced shrimp or minced pork or a combo of minced shrimp and pork wrapped in five different ways. Zzzzzzz.
Enter Shanghai cuisine and my entire perspective flipped. Everything is delicious, xaio long bao particularly, and became instantly addicted. The past few years, I've had xlb in: New York (Manhattan and Queens), SF (SF, Millbrae, Cupertino and San Mateo) and LA with Shanghainese, Taiwanese, HKnese and Japanese friends. As much as I love XLB, I still hadn't found pork xlb with the perfect fat ratio or flavorful crab xlb without it being fishy. Well. This place has the most phenomenal filling, soup and dipping sauces for the pork AND crab xlbs. Thus, five stars for a big hot steaming pile of WIN. I did notice the skin is just a touch thick but the combined deliciousness outweighs any of the nit-picking I'm tempted to do. Since there were only two of us, we didn't get to try too many dishes but the drunk chicken was one of the best I've ever had.
As for the service: really people? Who cares -- just flag down or yell for attention like everyone else does. It's a high volume restaurant. It's not like the servers are sitting around being lazy. Jeez. Get over it and respect their hustles!
ps: Several friends told me Din Tai Fung has the best xlb in North America but sadly, I've yet to try it. Anyone who's had both care to offer feedback??? -
Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
3/9/2011
We arrived nearing NINE Thirty in the evening on a Friday night. Half the restaurant was full and one of the first things we were told was that they close at TEN Thirty. That's plenty of time as the second Lady bringing us Tea said.
Chinese Resto decor as per typical but this one had Walls full of Food Photos almost making the Menu obsolete. Food Photos remind me of Hole-in-the-Wall Chinese places rather than fitting for the decor here but nonetheless it helped make decision making easier from the large Menu item selection.
Fried Pork Bun -
Noted as their specialty item, I'm glad nobody was sitting in front of me as my bite squirted Juices 15cm away. Good.
Xiao Long Bao -
Made beautifully thin wrap but the Soup within was light flavoured, quite gelatinous and too sweet for my liking. I usually refer to Meats with savouriness which is lacking here. Good.
Sweet Fermented Rice with Rice Flour Balls(Osmanthus Wine) -
Needing 20min preparation which I'm aware as I've had this elsewhere. It's a clean semi-sweet soupy Dessert that is a nice ending to the meal. Good. -
Review from Amanda K.
8/23/2010
My family and I came here for lunch when we came here to visit the anthropology museum for my global history project. We had heard about this restaurant before, and wanted to try it out.
We came during the lunch hour, which meant lots, and lots of people. Around the restaurant, there are electric boards that light up and show items from their menu.
The menu here consists of typical Chinese and Hong Kong foods. Xiao long bao, meat buns, stir fried rice cakes, vegetable dishes, animal organs, and all types of other yummy snacks.
While we were here, we enjoyed typical China restaurant treatment. It was loud, bustling, and frantic. Not bad, pretty interesting experience actually.
Back to the food, we ordered: pork xiao long bao, pan fried meat buns, animal organs, Shanghai styled rice cakes, and their special drunken chicken.
The pork xiao long bao had a thin outer dough, with a nice and juicy filling. The pork was perfectly spiced, and it wasn't just mush. A good spoonful of ground pork. The soup was piping hot, and there was just the right amount of it. The pork wasn't drowning in it, nor was there just a single drop. I actually think it was better than some of the xiao long bao I've had in Taiwan.
The pan fried meat buns were my favorite! Crispy bottoms, and a soft and fluffy outer dough. The filling was spiced just right, like the xiao long bao. The green onions and sesame seed garnish made it awesome.
The animal organs were my next favorite, each piece was a different part of a different animal. Slightly spicy, kind of addicting, savory, and yummy!
Shanghai styled rice cakes were some of the most delicious I have ever tasted. A little bit on the salty side, but not overboard. I like the veggies, and little pieces of meat throughout the dish. The rice cakes were cooked nicely, and al dente.
The drunken chicken's sauce was amazing, and like nothing I've had before. I don't normally like this style of chicken, but this was pretty darn tasty!
I'm coming back for more!Listed in: Feeling Asian?
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Review from Mary Q.
8/18/2010
Ok maybe I was expecting too much after Shanghai River hit a homerun for me but this place just didn't hit the mark. Came here for dinner on a Sunday and was just not impressed. We were sat at a small table near the entrance so it was a bit disruptive as customers would come in and out of the place. The entire time the waitress staff were really loud trying to organize the crowd that came in for dinner. It seemed like they had a lot of empty tables that were reserved but no costumers showing up to honor those reservations.
Onto the food ... we ordered the sheng jian bao, braised pork with spinach over noodles, and braised eel (not sure if English translation there is correct). The sheng jian bao was not bad but by no means amazing, I felt the meat filling was a bit bland and the dough on the outside was too thick and not crunchy enough. The braised pork was not that flavorful and was a cheap cut of meat, not impressed. The braised eel dish was a bit too salty but was OK if eaten with rice. At the end I was just sad that we didn't go back to Shanghai River again, lesson learned! -
Review from Laura P.
2/17/2010
Tried to eat here after walking around the Richmond O Zone but it was packed with other parties who may or may not have been celebrating the Olympics. I felt that our small party would not get seated for at least an hour as the tables were all full of larger parties.
The next day we were pooped out from Olympic events but thought we could possibly order carry out. Big mistake. They were pretty shocked that we'd even ask.
Seriously? No to take out? Is their food that awesome that it can't touch take-out containers? -
Review from Maria L.
The first time we tried to eat here, it was so packed with Chinese people that we couldn't even flag down a waitress.
I was hungry. And, with hunger, comes the irrational flood of emotions that accompany being thwarted in ones quest to obtain food.
It was not a good night.
But we persevered. We left and came back the next day.
We were offered a table right next to the door. In the dead of winter.
We humbly said, "Yes, please."
But under my breath, I said, "This better be effing worth it. #$^#(&!"
It was. It was effing worth it.
The soup dumplings here are @&#^!&^*&!@^# INCREDIBLE. I still have the burns on my tongue and the roof of my mouth to prove it. -
Review from Jeff L.
Vancouver, BC
10/22/2009
5Star - food
3Star - service
i dont care if monkeys are serving me, as long as the place is clean, and the food is awesome then im givin it two big thumbs and two big toes up ...
This is one of my favorite places that i frequent. Basically everything is good here. So i suggest goin with a larger crowd that way you can order more dishes and sample a bit of everything. Dont ask me for specific dishes, i usually just get the server to follow me around the restaurant as i point at the dishes on other ppl's tables and shout "order".
Be sure to order the "sew long bao" they are orgasmic - freshly made and will definitely get u really wet... i mean that literally, so be cautious when biting into them and not lettin the juices rain on u and your neighbors. happy eating!
i certify this place to be fan fuckin tastic. -
Review from Emily L.
Vancouver, BC
4/20/2009
I usually come during the morning for brunch dim sum so I can only comment on their dim sum...
Food: Top Shanghai Cuisine Restaurant has really really good food. I recommend the Xiao Long Bao (really delicate with fresh and tasty pork and soup), Chinese doughnut (crispy on the outside and warm and soft inside), pork potstickers (pan-fried with really tasty pork) and smoked pork sesame pastry (crispy pastry filled generously with smoked pork and preserved vegetables)
Value: Some dishes are more pricey than others- the smoked pork sesame pastry and the xiao long bao...but I guess others restaurants charge more for those anyways.
Service: I'm warning you right now...this place has REALLY BAD SERVICE. I'm not even kidding. Waitresses have an "I don't care" attitude and a "take it or leave it" attitude when you are unsatisfied with a certain table or something.
Ambiance: Really crowded, tables are close together...typical asian restaurant feel...I wish their waiting area was bigger because I always feel uncomfortable sitting near the door when people are literally standing right in front/next to you watching while you pop a xiao long bao in your mouth...
All in all, great food....but be prepared to get some abuse from the waitresses. -
Review from Silvia C.
Vancouver, BC
6/12/2010
I was in the mood for XLB. So my sister and I found ourselves here on a late afternoon. They are worth the rave given by yelpers.
But on this afternoon we experienced a brothless XLB....I didn't even THINK this was possible. By the time I brought this to the waitress' attention we had already eaten 2 each. She looks at us as if we're lying, then bellows two tables away to another waitress and repeats what I told her. They are now both at my table examining the dumplings. One asks the other, "So then what?" I respond, I would like the order replaced. The younger waitress looked dumbfounded, the older/experienced waitress looked exasperated.
Essentially, the entire waitstaff is informed about the debacle and I deflect the stares. I can only hope that the second steamer of dumplings were unmolested..... -
Review from Reena M.
3/19/2010
Perhaps I'm not very familiar with Shanghai cuisine. Actually it would be interesting to come here with someone who knows what they're ordering. I'm sure that half their menu doesn't even have Engrish translations!
However, what we did get was tasty, flavourful, and the service was kind. Fried noodles with shrimp and vegetables, and diced chicken with cashews. The noodles were different from what I was used to in Chinese cuisine: the typical yellow egg noodles.
Nonetheless, I'd give it another shot. -
Review from Stephen Y.
Vancouver, BC
2/21/2010
Reservations high recommended esp on wkds...
Strip mall parking - quite convenient
XLB - not as good as I had expected... more fatty proteinaceous goop than soupy inside the "bao"
The place is "famous" for "drunken chicken" - I thought it was OK, slightly salty and actually kinda old and tough
We enjoyed the fatty meat w shanghai Bok-choi and especially the awesome "fake" crab meat (egg white) with broccoli (but still not as good as WIng's !!! O I miss Wing's !!!!!!!)
The spare ribs - not bad at all but my sis claims the equivalent at "Shanghai Rivers" is more "vinegary" and yummier even though she took half our my ribs home
Others complain about poor service - it's actually not that bad - just have to grab the attention of the waiters. However, our food arrived promptly and frequently.
Overall not bad, less polished than "Shanghai River" but I think the two places complement one another and i have to frequent both to continue my comparative study.... -
Review from Pauline L.
8/9/2010
I'm giving the super star for the pork shanghai dumplings I couldn't help burning my mouth on. They were scrumptious and so were the crab filled shanghai dumplings too. They were big and luscious and fresh from the steamers. The workers who made these are viewed through a window pane by the kitchen.
I also ordered the lion's head dish which had 2 giant meat balls and clear vermicelli noodles covered with vegetables. I ususally see this dish with more noodles but it seems to be in the meatballs themselves. The dish was really nice and the pan seared pork buns were also delish even though they again burned my mouth. Hotness!
Service was like being in Hong Kong...why do the waitresses shout at each other and seem to be on break every time we needed something? And do we really need someone talking about their problems while we're trying to get our check? Yes, it's that kind of service when you step through the door, but the food more than makes up for the slacky service. -
Review from food lover t.
7/25/2011
First of all, service was ok.
Second of all, they got the best shanghai dumpling. So freaking hot and tasty. I also ordered hot soybean soup, it was good. Not sweet at all
and last, other dishes we had was alright. -
Review from Willy W.
6/25/2010
We came here on a recommendation. It was an early lunch after having driven up from Seattle. More and more people were walking in as we were finishing up.
Chinese restaurants are such a great value. We ordered so much food from dim-sum, veg, half a duck and tons of other stuff. I wish that I could speak more to the specific type of food that they offer as it's different from region to region.
This place is in the middle of a large shopping mall area with other small restaurants, a White Spot and grocery stores. Please don't go to White Spot and eat here instead. It's kinda small, but the food is soooo much better. -
Review from Ray L.
Vancouver, BC
1/6/2011
The food here really is amazing - like, one of the best Shanghainese restaurants I've been to ever. But I'm only giving it three stars because the food isn't enough to make up for the service.
First thing's first, reservations mean nothing to them. We had a party of 11, so we made reservations for 6:30. We showed up at 6:15, and weren't seated until 7:15. The 45 minute wait was a bit excessive considering we made a reservation.
Second, the server kept trying to up-sell us. We wanted a small pot of hot and sour soup because only six of us wanted soup, and he said it wouldn't be enough and that we needed the large pot. Everyone ended up having two or three bowls each. We wanted 8 courses, but he said we should get 10...etc. We ended up needing four big styrofoam containers to pack up all the left overs.
Lastly, when we paid the bill, we tipped 20%. The server came back to the table and asked for more because it was the holiday season. They asked us to be more generous.
Again, all the food was totally awesome, but the way they treated us totally sucked. I mean, up-selling was douchey enough. Asking for more than 20% tips after up-selling is just...ballsy. -
Review from Rick S.
Updated - 6/9/2010 3 photos
Bottom Line - Shanghai dumplings and pork belly are must-orders here! This place is worth the drive up from Seattle.
On Friday, 4 June 2010, my friends and I were trying to decide on where to go for dinner around Seattle, since we live here. Since I have been craving good shanghai dumplings recently, I suggested we drive up to Richmond, BC to have some. To my surprise, my friends were willing. I called the restaurant at about 5:30pm to make 9pm reservations. We left around 6:30pm and made it up to the restaurant just before 9pm.
We were pretty hungry, and we ordered the following items:
Shanghai Dumplings ($4.99 x2) - We ordered two of these. Each order had 6 dumplings. I think we should have ordered three of these, but we were more than stuffed by the end of the meal. These were as good as I remembered! My friends had never had shanghai dumplings before, and they said they liked them.
Pork Belly with Bok Choy ($13.99) - We ordered this dish because we noticed many tables around us hvaving it. How can you go wrong with pork belly?! This dish was really really good! The saltiness was perfect and went well with the steamed bok choy and rice. Mmmm. I want some as I type this!
Sweet and Sour fried Fish ($11.99) - We ordered this dish at the recommendation of the server. Looking back, I think I'd much more prefer this dish with a black bean sauce instead. The fish was quite good, but none of us were fans of sweet and sour.
For the 3 of us, including 3 bowls of rice for $4.50, our total came to $40.46 + 2.03 GST + 7.51 tip = $50.00 CAD.
I highly recommend you make reservations by calling in advance.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/26/2010
Bottom Line - This is by far the best place I've been to for Shanghai dumplings on the North… Read more »
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Review from Corrine C.
10/19/2009
The food: xiao loung bao, pan fried buns, green onion cakes, hot and sour soup, beef brisket noodle soup, chicken in wine sauce, fried sweet bread with condensed milk.
Service: mediocre - although we got a table quickly with no reservations, the servers' reaction to us walking in on a Sunday morning with 10 people with no reservation was hilarious. And then as the restaurant got busy, you could tell they wanted us to eat faster and leave.
Taste: Delicious! My kiddo ate a bunch of noodles with chicken. So the food passed the kid test. The chicken was flavorful. Both the xiao loung bao and the pan fried buns were super juicy. So good! We'll be back for sure! -
Review from Tina W.
5/3/2011
Too delicious, too crowded, and really mean servers!
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Review from Gladys M.
9/13/2008
Not exactly a 4-star...but close enough.
This restaurant was recommended by some of our friends who have been living in Vancouver for over 20 years. While the seatings were tight and the service was poor, the food was very tasty and reasonably priced. The soy bean milk was dense and tasty like it should, and the dumplings were good. The dishes we ordered were delicious but the portion is not big. The female owner and her daughter were pretty loud while they were at the restaurant and it was not helping with the already poor service from the waitresses. We have to remind them to check with the kitchen for every dish we ordered after the first dish came and it was so annoying. But I will still go back for the food since it's authentic and tasty. -
Review from Xu C.
Port Moody, BC
6/10/2011
I love their XiaoLongBao and YanDuXian~
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Review from Jodie L.
12/25/2010
I went there on the recommendation of yelp. I was a bit disappointed.
I took one star off for their food. Overall food is good, but not excellent. The best is pork dumplings, very juicy and tasty. Among the best I have tasted. Portion is big, with a higher price to match. This is OK for large group or if you don't mind a lot of leftover to go. But it is not good for small groups or travellers.
I took another star off for their environment and service. The seats are too tight together and the deco is just very average. Service can be slow when the place is full. I actually found one hair in my soup. They replaced it with a new one promptly. But no apologies and credit given.
They only accept credit card when the bill is more than $50 before tax.
Shanghai River in Richmond is much better. -
Review from Tialen K.
3/3/2011
The only thing making this place a 4 star resturant is the XLB -- hands down, best I have had. We went to four different Shanghai resturants last weekend, and this one was our 1st of the bunch. The Xiao Long Bao were just plain amazing. The rest of the food was just ok, but it could also be what we ordered.. I would go back to try some other dishes, if for nothing else to have more of those tasty, wonderful, amazing XLB's
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Review from Julie P.
7/12/2009
Hubby and I went here on a recent overnight trip to Vancouver and was recommended by a friend to go here (who lives in Richmond). She told us that there is truly no good chinese food in Seattle. I didn't understand what she meant by that, so we had to check out the scene in BC. She couldn't meet up w/us to be our "tourguide" but we were still determined to go to her favorite place for the best xiao long bao.
We were definitely intimidated that we were the only diners in there that couldn't speak any chinese or read it (hubby is American and I am Asian-American) and the menu was basically in Chinese with a few simple english menu translations.
We chose to be share a large 12top table with two other groups of diners who were very friendly and helpful. We ordered the drunken chicken, xiao long bao and the pastry with smoked pork and vegetables inside. I thought xiao long baos were the same as steamed humbaos, but it was not. The Xiao long baos are filled with pork and some soup broth. They were so amazing; the wonton wrap delicately melts in your mouth, the pork and broth tasted soooo good. The drunken chicken is served cold and we ordered it because everyone at all of the tables had it, so we knew it had to be good. It was more than good, it was heavenly delightful. I probably could eat a whole plate of it to myself, hubby agrees. The pork pastry was great too, wish we had ordered the other variety that the mom&daughter at our table had (ground pork with green onions that you put into the pastry yourself).
My only wish was that we had more people with us so that we could've eaten more food but we were only two.
The service was pretty bad, but its not something that stands out for me than any other typical asian restaurant. Hail for a service when you are ready, otherwise be prepared to wait, and wait,and wait, but they ain't coming to help you unless you speak up!
The grandpa-man and grandma-woman at our table were awed that non-chinese people came on their own to eat at the restaurant and were really helpful. Chinese food is definitely not as good in Seattle as it is in Canada, there were millions of restaurants when we drove in Vancouver and Richmond. Next time, we will bring our Richmond friend so that she can order us more food! -
Review from Frank S.
9/8/2009 1 photo
Awesome food. Helps if you read or speak Chinese though! Every bite we had made the trip to Canada from Seattle totally worth it!!! Heck, this place alone make me want to hop the border permanently.
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Review from Steph L.
10/2/2010 7 photos
I committed a cardinal food sin--I went to a Shanghainese restaurant and didn't get the xiao long bao.
Their menu is huge and we had a hard time narrowing our choices down to a manageable few. I wanted to order Shanghainese favourites I have yet to find in San Fran, hence not getting the xiao long bao. The first was the SHREDDED CHICKEN WITH NOODLES AND PEANUT SAUCE (http://www.yelp.ca/biz...). I loved this! The noodles had the perfect al dente texture and the chicken was tender and well marinated. My favourite part of the dish though was the incredibly fragrant peanut sauce--good thing they were generous with it!
The other dish I'm still searching for in SF is the BRAISED NOODLE WITH TENDER CHICKEN & VEGETABLE (http://www.yelp.ca/biz...). Another marvellous dish! Flavourful but light, this is what (healthy) comfort food is all about! I don't know about you, but when I'm sick the last thing I want to do is expend energy chewing my food--a reason why congee is such good sick food--and this dish is the perfect solution! The braised noodles were so soft and the chicken and bok choy were diced into small pieces. You could practically be toothless and eat this! (Something to keep in mind for when I get old...) It had the perfect ratio of noodles to chicken and bok choy (i.e. there were lots of chicken and bok choy), so you're sure to get a little of each in every bite. I also loved the soft crunch of the bok choy, which provided some textural contrast.
Curious about what the "HOMEMADE-STYLE CAKE" was, we asked our server. She described it as a green onion pancake with pork floss (http://www.yelp.ca/biz...), which sounded delicious so we ordered it. This was just ok. There was a decent amount of green onions but I could barely tell there was pork floss in it. I liked the textures--crispy outside, chewy inside--though.
Lastly, with a little bit of room left in our tummys, we added an order of the SALTY GLUTINOUS RICE WRAP (http://www.yelp.ca/biz...), mostly to see how it compares with the ones I grew up eating at Cantonese restaurants. The pork filling was tender and the rice, flavoured with soy sauce (http://www.yelp.ca/biz...), was salty and had a nice soft chewy texture. It was pretty good but I still prefer the sticky rice wraps with mung beans and salted egg yolk.
Unfortunately I couldn't end my meal with an authentic Shanghainese dessert--not because I couldn't cram anything more into my belly but because we were told their kitchen was too busy to make dessert. Kind of a BS excuse if you ask me. Oh well, next time...
One tip: MAKE RESERVATIONS! My mom and I were lucky to get the last table for 2, but everyone who came in after us was looking at a 45 minute wait. -
Review from Natasha L.
12/7/2008
My favorite Shanghai restaurant ... ever.... must try: the crab with nian go (sticky rice?) ... even my guest who usually doesn't like seafood is fan... the food is pretty authentic and reasonably priced... haven't tried anything disappointing here so far... the onion pancake.. and the xiao long bao are close to heavenly ... a must try for those who love Chinese food
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Review from James C.
10/8/2010
You know what is scary about this place? We ordered 6 different dishes, and they were all good! And just looking at the menu, we can easily order somewhere around 30 other dishes we would like to have/try!
A word of advice. If you don't speak/read Chinese, just use the pictures on the wall. While you are waiting, walk around, and pick out what you want. You'll be happy, and stuffed.
The XLB and pan fried buns were fantastic. Order them. Our thought about the XLB was that the skin is not as thin as Din Tai Feng, but the size and the filling more than make up for the slightly thicker skin. Don't burn yourself! Look up how to eat a XLB on Youtube.
Now, there is a multiple awesome dishes with Pork Bellies. The one we ordered had sliced pork bellies, with tofu skins and spinach. Get some rice, and just tackle it!
The drive was 3 hours and the traffic around Everett was horrible. But man, this place makes the drive form Seattle worth it!
