Shanghai Xiao Long Bao Restaurant

Argh so sad this place closed down
Now where will I get my xiaolongbao fix in downtown!

They say that they are open, they didn’t bother updating it anywhere. They went on. 1 month vacation… Really?!? Who does that? Close the restaurant and take a 1 month staff vacation? Really disappointed!

Food is decent for downtown. Service is ok. Shanghai juicy buns are decent. Prices are a bit higher due to downtown location. They take credit cards which is a bonus.

The food here was decent, but not the best I’ve ever had.
The prices were in line with what you’d expect downtown.
The service was a piss off.
The waitresses kept trying to push us into ordering food that we did not want «You want x?» «Umm, no thanks.» «You want y?»
Holy crap, just listen to my order!
Then when we were finished ordering they kept saying «Are you sure that’s enough? Not enough food for kids? Need more food for kids?»
It was more than enough… we had leftovers!
Not to mention they kept hovering over the kids telling them to be careful while they were eating.
Leave the parenting to me please, contrary to what you might think I do a good job and my kids have never broken a plate.
Too pushy! I just want to be left alone to eat.

This hole in the wall restaurant (we literally walked right by it) blew my mind in terms of great quality Shanghai cuisine! We had a variety of dishes including the house special fried noodles, hot and sour soup, fried rice, and sweet and sour deep fried shrimp — all left us wanting more.
However, true to their name the restaurant really did an amazing job with their Xiao Long Bao. The wrapper wa s paper thin, the broth was amazing, and the pork filling was just right. I will be going back for sure!

Recommended to us by a Vancouver resident. Conveniently located downtown. Delicious Chinese food, huge selection, courteous service, clean, relatively inexpensive. Ordered steamed and pan fried dumplings, fried green onion pancake, spicy beef tendon soup noodles. Will definitely go again.

2014÷03÷21
Came for lunch again, this place is busy but the staff are more attentive and fast.
We ordered:
Kung Pao Chicken — this is the northern style Kung Pao Chicken, you see chicken cubed, peanuts and red pepper, perfectly heated but not screaming hot.
Stir fried Green Beans — nice and heated also, it is fried with minced pork.
XLB — still a little big for my preference but still full of juice.
2013÷12÷27
Surprise to find a decent Shanghaiese restaurant in DT.
This restaurant reminds me of the restaurant you see when you go to a small family restaurant in China in its décor.
In order to judge this restaurant fairly, I ordered the usual 2 items this type of restaurant should do well and they do not disappoint. (XLB and Braised Beef Noddle Soup)
XLB is very good and tasty, the skin is thin with plenty of soup inside, not overly steamed.
Braised Beef Noodle — the soup base was tasty and full of flavor, the braised beef (brisket) melts in your mouth, the noodle has a nice bounce and not overcooked.
We also ordered several other items but I was too busy eating to take pictures — always a good sign for any restaurant.
Will go back again and update with more pictures.
Service was not the best but the food outshines the 2 staff working over a busy lunch hour and we were seated in the little room off the side.

Hmm, not bad, not bad at all. Considering there are only ~2 restaurants in downtown serving Shanghainese food (the others being Peaceful Restaurant in the Davie/​West End area and Dinesty close to Robson and Denman), it’s not like we can be too picky or expect too much. In fact, I’d say this is better than Dinesty.
The XLBs, while a bit smaller than your average XLBs and with dumpling skin a bit thicker than I’d like, had great flavour. Our group also ordered a hot and sour soup which was definitely more than adequate (at least it brought both the hot and the sour!), crispy duck, green beans, and ribs with red vinegar sauce. The ribs were probably the weakest dish: none of the pieces had that much meat, and it didn’t taste too different than a sweet and sour rib dish. I was expecting a much richer and more flavourful sauce.
In the end, while nothing wow’d us, we didn’t have any complaints either. The owners have another location in Ackroyd Plaza in Richmond, and while it is clear they know what they are doing, they admitted that the crowd they’re catering to in downtown is a different demographic than what they get in Richmond (read: not as many critical Asians). Nonetheless, I’ll likely come back to try more of their (fairly extensive) menu when I’m too lazy to go to Shanghai River.

With such limited selection of authentic Chinese restaurants in the DT area, this place was a nice surprise to find in an area where one would not think of finding such a restaurant.
I found the XLB to be very tasty where the chef did not go overboard with salt (common for a lot of places) and no hint of the use of MSG. The skin’s texture was made just right. I tried a combo that included a soup with some vermicelli. The soup tasted like it was made with real stock and again, not overdone with salt.
Service was about the only thing lacking this this place. The guy there (the owner?) didn’t even acknowledge or look up at me when I walked up to place an order. When I told him what I wanted, the only thing he said was the cost. No «would you like anything else», «please wait a few minutes for your order», «thank you», etc. Language was not the barrier as I saw others that could speak Mandarin get the same treatment. Since it’s fast food in a mall and I’m just there for the food, I can overlook the poor customer service skills the guy had.
My standard for great XLB has always been Shanghai Palace (along with their other great tasting food). It’s still my favorite but for a satisfying, quick and inexpensive eat, Shanghai Xiaolongbao can’t be beat.

The xiaolongbao was the highlight of our visit. Everything else was downhill. We ordered spicy beef slices… I guess they forgot the beef «pieces» as it was every part of the cow. We asked for something else, and the server asked if we touched it. I wonder how many other things were «touched». I won’t be coming back.
Two stars because the xiaolongbao.

More pre-​holiday lunches with the work crew, this time at one of the only Chinese restaurants around the area, Shanghai XiaoLongBao Restaurant. This restaurant is fairly new, and despite the somewhat boring exterior, the interior décor actually looks quite (Asian) fancy.
With the restaurant name «Shanghai XiaoLongBao Restaurant», you kind of have to order the xiao long baos here. They were alright, but they weren’t so amazing that it should have been the name of the restaurant. Size-​wise, they were normal (bigger than Dinesty), but the skin was a tad thicker. Meat and soup-​wise it was fine, though I would have liked more soup inside.
The spicy wontons were pretty good. I haven’t found a restaurant that actually messes this up, but I would’ve liked the chili oil to be spicier.
The sheng jian bao or pan fried buns was pretty good. I was surprised that they too, like the xlbs, were filled with broth. Not every restaurant gets that right.
We also had the yang chow fried rice which is really not that Shanghainese, but we needed carbs. I don’t think I had a chance to try it actually, but the shanghai stir fried noodles were pretty good, flavour-​wise. A tad oily, but I find this often happens with this dish. Overall, the restaurant was not amazing, but due to the lack of (authentic) Chinese options here, I’d say it’s not bad. Not sure if I would revisit since I live in Richmond, the land of all Chinese restaurants, but maybe if I had major xlb cravings while at work.

Came here for lunch with a couple of buddies on Xmas eve. There were only three of us so we didn’t order very much.
XLB — not bad. I’ve definitely had better.
Shanghai stir fried rice cakes. This was done with a dark soy. I’ve never seen it done this style by an «authentic» Shanghainese place before. Not bad.
Shanghai thick noodle stir fry. Not bad. This dish reminded me too much of the rice cake dish. They tasted very similar
My buddy did the ordering, and I didn’t look at the menu at all. I probably would have ordered other things. My buddy did say that things appeared to be a bit off so I do need to try it again.
Service was a bit slow.

Came here late on a Thursday night and was pretty impressed. Where I’m from, people go to Thai restaurants because the Chinese food isn’t that great. Which makes me sad; I spent two months in China as a student, and I love Chinese food.
The menu is bilingual, illustrated with inspiring photos, and quite extensive: cold dishes, hot dishes, soups, stir-​fry, dumplings, noodle dishes, dim sum, a broad selection of interesting and traditional vegetable dishes, etc. I got the shredded 8-​vegetables mix and some xiao long bao. The vegetables were very fresh, good quality, and not overcooked. The xiao long bao, while not as good as what I’ve had in Taipei, at least lives up to its name (which in most places I’ve been, it doesn’t). Would come here again.

LUNCH
Obviously, had to get the namesake of the restaurant. The XLB’s were very decent — very juicy fillings, delicious broth, but could be a tad more soupy.
A beautifully produced menu filled with photos of food (kind of like the one at Shanghai River). Prices are reasonable with good portions. Clean dining room. I would return for lunch to try more.

Finally, a decent Chinese restaurant servicing the lunch crowd in this part of downtown.
For years, even when Snow Garden operated in this spot, there were few options for dim sum lunch. It was either Imperial or Floata, and both my reviews on those establishments bolster my discontent.
It showed up humbly, on this odd block, but now seems thriving, with nearly all tables filling up at noon. Now, this is not your standard dim sum fare. This is Shanghai style. A little more refined, and a little different than most would expect. The xiao long bao is definitely worth the trip if you don’t venture far from downtown. In fact, all of the dumplings are very good. Some improvements can be made in terms of table layout and 1-​hour lunch time service. It took a little while to place an order. It’s not cheap either. Lunch will cost you over $ 20, and more if you’re hungry. The meal for two yesterday was just shy of $ 50, but there were a few dumplings that I had wrapped up and was oh such a treat as next day leftovers.
⁴⁄₃₀: #30DaysOfYelp

Went here a few weeks ago on a Saturday nights we had a craving for DIM sum and there looked to be an OK selection on this menu.
Walked in to the place and it was 10% full so about 6 people there but every table had finished plates on that just hadn’t been taken away. We may have timed it just after a mad rush but it wasn’t a good look.
The had both music playing and sports TV on with the sound up.
The Dim sum was some of the worst we have ever had and the service was shocking. We wanted to just get out of there so I walked up to the counter to pay as it felt like once our food was delivered it was their job over.
Won’t be going back, and unfortunately I have lost confidence in Unilocal reviews.

Delicious Shanghai cuisine from the owners of famous Shanghai River in Richmond. This place is a gem and as the word gets out, it’ll soon be packed every day for business lunches and department outings. Reasonably priced, delicious and fresh. Amazing soup dumplings (xian long bao), hand made noodles and so much more. For a quick lunch meal, I highly recommend their noodles with beef in brown sauce for $ 7.50. I order it extra spicy. The place is still fairly new and the service was slow at first, but has improved dramatically over the past few weeks. The manager and staff are very friendly.

THIS IS NOT THE REAL DIN TAI FUNG — do not be fooled!
The restaurant had to change their name after trying to use the name from the infamous Din Tai Fung.
We came here because it was close to Gastown and it’s one of the few Chinese restaurants in downtown. The food was ok, it wasn’t spectacular but acceptable.
The waiter kept forcing me to order food saying it wasn’t enough, giving the impression that their portions are small. I was with 5 other people and he kept saying order more, order more, not enough, for sure not enough! At the end of it I had to put my foot down and be like, this is ALL we’re ordering. And the waiter said, «well, this is for sure not enough, for sure, but I’ll put in the order for now.»
After all the food came, it was too much. Felt so ripped off.

Shash P. posted a couple times in the Talk forum about this place and piqued my interest as I love xiao long bao and am excited about the prospect of not having to leave downtown for good dim sum. Funny enough, when I finally checked out this place, I think Shash P. was sitting at the table just next to me. Go figure.
The place is bigger than you might imagine from the outside. The interior feels new but strangely familiar with the standard Chinese restaurant décor. They have a really large menu with all the standards and many adventurous options which speak to the authenticity of the place. I look forward to coming back with a larger group to try much more, but today’s mission was some good XLB.
Unfortunately, we had some issues with the service. The server assigned to our table was sweet, but she did forget to put in our order. In fact, she came over after a while seeing that the tables around us had been served and asked us why we had no food in front of us. I said we were wondering the same thing! She went back and checked and realized she’d forgotten to put in the order. She apologized and we appreciated the honesty. We liked her.
The XLB was excellent. I appreciated the thin slice of yellow beet (I think?) at the bottom to keep the dumpling from sticking to the pot. The pork filling was plentiful. The sauce inside was great. The accompanying vinegar was nice, as well, although I’m used to a vinegar soy mixture.
My friend got some vegetarian steamed dumplings which neither of us liked at all. The server asked us later if we wanted a takeout box. We said no. She asked why. My friend hesitantly admitted we just didn’t like them. The server just walked away.
We did, however, love the noodles with dried shrimp and scallions that we shared. They have so many different noodle options, all of them sounded great. The owner came out to make this recommendation so we went with his suggestion.
We also had some garlic bok choy since they were out of gai lan. This was amazing, however the $ 13.99 price point didn’t seem right since it was twice the price of everything else we ordered. Still, I’d want to get it again.
Although we waited nearly 30 minutes for our food, I will keep it on my list of places to come back to. They’re still relatively new and hopefully will work out some of their service issues.

Thanks to some cajoling by @Meana K in the forums, I’m here the very next day to post my review of this brand new Shanghai style dim sum spot. They have a HUGE menu. A lot more selection than DTF in Arcadia, and obviously by their choice of name they expect customers to compare the XLB’s. I already went on record to say they are better than Arcadia. We would drive for over an hour from the westside to get XLB from DTF and I can’t tell you how excited I am that I can walk a few blocks to get these. I had 12 plain and 6 with shrimp ($ 25) — both were so amazing, I started texting my friends right away. I haven’t had anything else yet but I will def be back. Not because I work there, but because I love me some good dim sum!
Fwiw, the service was also amazing but there were only a few people in the dining room at the time.