Shanghai Tapas

I ordered the tofu clay pot, scallion chicken and Taiwanese spare ribs. The first two were fine, nothing too spectacular but not bad either. I stopped eating the spareribs after my first two bites. The flavor is really different from other places. I find the smell to be odd, theres too much sauce, and the chunks of meat are mostly fat.

I love everything I ordered. I grew up in Shanghai and most of the dishes here have that traditional taste. If you are also from Shanghai or simply wanna try Shanghainese food, I highly recommend that you give this place a try. The 咸菜肉丝面 (pickled veggie and pork noodles) is really good.

Why 4 stars!
Overall services is great: 4 – 5 stars
We can’t expect the world for the value and price in a typical Chinese restaurant. They serve water when you asked or without asking if they notice it’s empty and when they are not busy! If they are busy — same as any restaurant, it’s going to be slow!
Overall food quality: 4 stars
Can’t beat the price of 3 dishes for $ 18 bucks while getting decent quality! I have to say, they do add in MSG to make it more favorable.
Overall atmosphere: 3 stars
This space and design is average or below but again, very standard Chinese restaurant. Sit and eat, no crazy amazing designs or décor. They have food pictures on the wall that tends to attract you visually to order that dish. A TV showing traditional Chinese drama. Can’t expect too much from this.
Overall experience: 4 stars
Great value with good quality food in a typical Chinese restaurant.
Recommendations: YES
Give it a try, their Xiao Long Bao, noodle soup are my top favorite! Worth a try at least for these 2 items. The rest are standard.

It’s more of a 3.5 star.
I was born and raised in Shanghai. The food here is fairly authentic and tasty. If you want to try some typical Shanghai dishes, here are some recommendations: Sheng Jian Bao (pan-​fried pork soup dumpling), Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork soup dumpling), both large and small Wonton, and pumpkin cake.
We prefer takeout because the ambiance is not that great. During the weekday nights, the TV was often playing loud Chinese drama or reality shows. At weekends, this place is often filled with people’s loud conversations.

The short: decent representation of Shanghainese food
Ah yes, the typical under-​decorated, bad lighting, crowded space of a Chinese restaurant. My grandparents love this spot. And I have grown to like it too. Plus, there are lots of Asian families dining here, so that’s always a good sign :)
Some dishes are hits: wonton soup, pork meat balls, nian gao (? sticky white rice cakes), sheng jian bao (fried shanghai dumplings), pumpkin dessert.
Others are misses… I’m pretty certain that they use MSG here, so watch out.
Service is fast and consists of the minimum, though don’t expect Western style: Hello! What can I get for you today?

Love it. Especially by my elderly parents. If you go the first time, you can start with Vegetable Pork Wonton Soup (荠菜大馄饨), then Seaweed with Deep Fried Fish Fillet (苔条鱼片), Shanghai Fried Rice Cake (上海炒年糕), Shanghai Style Radish Cake (3) (萝卜丝酥饼), end with Pumpkin Cake (4) (南瓜饼).

There’s nothing special about Shanghai Tapas. It’s just an average Chinese restaurant among the many in Fremont. I didn’t bother taking any pics of the food since most of my dishes were previously captured by other Unilocalers. That said, my friends and I had a variety of food like Shanghai fried rice, Shanghai chow mein, green and yellow onion beef (so many onions and so little beef), mixed veggies with minced pork, Shanghai fried rice cakes with veggies and minced pork, fish with black bean sauce (so skimpy on the fish and so many pieces of green bell pepper and yellow onions), XLB (small, dry, bland, and not soupy at all), and the giant Shanghai pork meat balls (this item was the highlight of dinner for me as the meat was very tasty, juicy, and moist). If you’re on a budget, they have a 3 for $ 18 section on the menu with a plenitude of dishes. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be venturing back to this place, but I’m definitely interested in checking out Fortune Kitchen and Kung Fu Kitchen in the future, both located in the same plaza.

Service could be improved in this 15 table restaurant. The table had not been wiped before I had been directed there and the playes and utensils were not in place either. The waiter wiped the table with a damp cloth while holding the majority of the table settings with his left hand, the chopsticks were in direct contact with the damp cloth. I believe the Chef/​Owner was also getting exasperated with the waiter, since he pulled the waiter aside to show him how to serve a diet coke. I ordered two dishes I am familiar with in Cantonese cóoking to compare them to each other (Pan Fried noodles and Shiu Mai). The pan fried noodles were very good and flavorful. The Shiu mai arrived 15 minutes AFTER the pan fried noodles. The Shanghai Shiu Mai is a very different beast from the Cantonese Shiu Mai (cantonese being small and delicate) — rice and chinese sausage in a wrapper resembling a burrito cut in half and stood on its end. Food was good but service was less than stellar.

Came here for the 4 star rating and no wait onFriday, but this place was a sore disappointment.
–Green Onion Pancake
Maybe the worst I have ever had. The outside was a soggy crispy and the inside was doughy undercooked. I’ve had better getting frozen in the super market and frying it at home
–Fried Bun
Oily on outside but tasted really stale on the inside.
–Xiao Long Bao
This was the best thing they had. Skin was thick and soup inside was lacking flavor. Meat was sparse. It was definitely edible borderline good but very far from the best I’ve ever had
1 star rating is for the fact that they could not get simple dishes right.

Very good restaurant
Family dinner combos, 3 for $ 18 with 84 dishes to choose from. Portions are good and it’s very reasonably priced. Taste-​wise also good and certainly can’t complain!
The 炒年糕 is very good and cheap ($ 5.50) and we quite liked other two smaller dishes we ordered.

I was quite let down :(
XLB here was small and barely had any soup inside… I was very disappointed because that was one of the things I came here for.
The fried buns that I wanted were out so maybe next time I’ll get lucky. If I ever come back that is.
The sweet and sour chicken was good though. I normally don’t like sweet and sour dishes but this was nice! I would order it again.
Another note– bring someone who speaks Chinese. My server was an elderly man who didn’t know English so I had my boyfriend order for me in mandarin. Or you could point to what you want on the menu… But if you have questions about anything– good luck.
This place is decent. I might come back to try other things but I’m still sad over the XLB

Whenever I come here, it feels like home. They specialize in authentic Shanghai food and the food here is amazing. My favorite thing to get here is their soy milk with Chinese donut and their rice rolls the service is a little slow and they’re always packed with business so don’t be alarmed when you have to sit with strangers

Weird name, weird location but purty damn good overall. I’ve actually had their food many times, but usually as leftovers in my fridge from my room mate. I finally ventured in and was pleasantly surprised.
Very low key mom n pop vibe but quite clean and well lit. Very Chinese clientele and very family so no business outings here. The food is decent, the price is not expensive, while the portions are generous so value is in their game.
Noodles are good here, in that homey blue collar sense. For well under 10 bucks, a noodle dish here will be chock full of noodles (whether mein or fun) and a good amount of meat. I really like how you can taste the «wok» in their noodle dishes. «Dry» style is my preferred over anything with gravy. If you want to feed a good amount of peeps on the cheap, get at least one noodle dish.
Server once sold us on a whole fish ($ 15ish). When getting a whole fish, I’m usually not too keen on it being deep fried and sauced, just seems to hide all the naturalness and freshness. But to my surprise, it was actually executed quite well. The whole rock fish was crisp and quite fresh and the thick brown sauce, that I’m usually so weary about, was actually quite light and balanced. Like they tamed and balanced commercial oyster sauce. And there were a ton of other vegetables/​textures throughout. This will easily feed 4+, great value at $ 15.
Another time, across the room we noticed a pork shank type of dish. We gave it a whirl and was pleasantly surprised again. It is not for the timid meat eater. It is very similar to the German Eisbein, where a large shank section is served whole (maybe 2 – 3 lbs). Lots of skin, bone and sticky meat. Our server somewhat broke it down for us, which was nice. The actual meat was not as unctuous as I’ve had in the past, but the skin and surrounding collagen meat were on point. And all tied together with another brown gravy sauce that was not at all abusively sweet nor salty. Quite balanced with a five spice edge.
A chicken in wine dish (small plates) was a miss though. First it was served cold. Not entirely a bad thing but just wished I knew. The wine flavor was there, but it was too salty. Maybe an off day/​item cuz I felt the kitchen had a decent touch with the balance of salt and sweet.
The menu is large (not sure if that’s entirely a good thing), so I’m sure there will be many more things to try. They’re getting used to me there, because when I show up, they will recommend some interesting things to me, that I’ve never really had. I like that relationship.

A very good Shanghainese place in Fremont, if not the best north of Milpitas. Although appearances (both of the restaurant and the plaza) are slightly deceiving, the food here is very clean.
And tasty too! Specifically, I am thinking of their lion heads, fish and tofu with spicy bean paste, and pea sprouts. These are all very seasoned (but my wife would say «salty»), hearty, and generously-​portioned dishes. We are frequent take-​outers here of those three dishes, and my wife’s favorite is the lion heads here.
If you take out, call in advance, although I have to say they are not always consistent about answering their phones.
My only negative comment is that the food is slightly on the salty side, even when you ask for «less salt; less oil.» Otherwise, the only better Shanghainese place in the area would be Shanghai Family, in Milpitas.

I’m Shanghainese and this is pretty legit cuisine, plus some. For the price, the portion and variety are solid. Don’t expect superior device, this is no nonsense Chinese restaurant. Expect good food, eat, and be happy.

I started coming here more often when my mom found out about this place while eating at a different restaurant in this plaza. This restaurant is located in plaza with Lucky’s, near highway 880. The parking here isn’t all that terrible since we usually find one or two that are closer to the restaurant.
This restaurant has a lot of bigger tables for parties of five or more with only a very few smaller tables. Since most parties that come here are usually four or below, the smaller tables are usually occupied. This means one thing: you gotta wait. But since this is a Chinese restaurant, it is a tradition in which different parties would share one table (like two parties of two). This is done very often in Asia to prevent customers from waiting and for the restaurants to ensure more business. I’ve personally been in such situation and I’ve seen this type of situation, but I still dislike it. I just never got used to the fact that I have to eat with some strangers staring at me across the table. I just feel very uncomfortable. But that’s besides the point, but just a heads up.
The food here is quite decent in this area. It’s surprising to see that this place still offer those $ 18 for three dishes type of promotion (kind of). It’s rare to see restaurants doing this since the prices of ingredients are going up. The selection for the dishes are quite large, which is very nice since you could probably pick different dishes each time to try. For this time, we ordered the sweet and sour fish fillet, twice cooked meat, and bean curd with shredded meat and veggies. We also ordered xiao long bao and vegetable and minced pork rice cakes along with those three dishes for a party of four. The food was not bad at all. I actually really liked everything that we ordered. The portions were good and they were all delicious. I was definitely impressed with the xiao long bao. It wasn’t the best I’ve had, but it was good for what it is! It’s so hard to find restaurants that make them well nowadays, so it was nice for me to be able to eat some tasty soup dumplings!
Overall, I will most likely be coming back with my family. The price isn’t too bad and the food is good.

Walked in on a Saturday and picked up a menu. The menu says lunch is until 2:30 daily but when I tried to order, they said no lunch special. It doesn’t say that the lunch special is available Monday-​Friday only. When I tried to order the items from the «regular» menu (not lunch special), they said they were closing. It was quite some minutes before their 2:30 closing time. It seemed like they were one of those businesses that close earlier than their posted time so that they dont have to stay later to service the customers during their «closed» time. Geez, well thanks for the unnecessary drama, and thanks for nothing.

So we came here in Nov because my dad was in town and he came here with a friend and loved it. My dad loves veggies and claimed they have this great veggie dish. I wasn’t too excited since my first visit years ago was pretty forgettable but thought I would give it another shot. Dad got this soup that had huge tofu pads, a whole fish with a sweet and sour gravy and a veggie dish that had celery, bean curd, bamboo shots and probably a few other things I can’t remember. Everything was great and we enjoyed our meal. I came here about 3 more times to try and few other things and loved it! The 2 dish that I am not crazy about is the green onion pancake, which was just dripping with oil and overly fried and the spicy rice cake which had absolutely no flavor. Try the shanghai dumplings, fish, their special fish and soup!

Let me set you straight. You’re looking for a Chinese restaurant that is good, don’t expect five star hotel service. Authentic places is not about the dinning experience. It is about the taste buds experience.
With that said let’s break it down.
FOOD OPTION: plentiful. There is an endless list that goes on and on so you’re bond to find something for everyone. They even have food not on their menu so make sure to ask (might be helpful to have someone in your group speak Chinese. If you don’t have one go find one! You’re in silicon valley, it’s not hard finding a Chinese friend). I ordered off menu a garlic sauteed choi sum (leafy veggie)
TASTE: good! It’s not just Shanghai food, they have Cantonese and other regional food too. One thing is the flavors are similar through out the 4 dishes we got which can be because we ordered similar items. brown sauce. I’ll have to update my review when I go a 2^nd time.
The portioning of ingredients is on point. There is a 3 to 2 ratio meat to vegetables for 2 ingredient dishes. I personally like a little more veggies in my Chinese dish and was happy that there was in the noodles and meat dishes.
I think it’s better than current Cooking Papa in Santa Clara. It is on the salty side so consider asking for «less salty» or get a side of white rice.
‘CHINESE DONUT WITH BEEF’: very unique and kinda greasy. But it’s good. The beef had been marinated with a little baking soda so it makes it really soft and smooth. For some, this might be overly tender and lacks meat texture. But I like it.
‘PUMPKIN CHICKEN’: I love the pumpkin and the chicken is so tender like the beef.
‘MEAT BALLS WRAPPED IN BEAN CURD’: hearty with a touch of lightness. Think of it as meatloaf wrapped with tofu skin and served with gravy.
‘SHANGHAI STIR FRY THICK NOODLES’: meaty. This place doesn’t skimp on meat and ingredients. So your have plenty of meat and cabbage. Recommend it as entrée but maybe too salty to eat with other entrée.
PORTION
IT’S HUGE. 3 dishes can serve 4 people generously, but with price so reasonable order more.
See my picture comparing the size to an iPhone.

Great authentic food and value! Parking is easy and the place is just off the highway.
Their sweet and sour short ribs (tang cu pay hu) are mouthwatering. Try their edamame bean curd dish, it’s refreshing. Get the rice cakes (chao nian gao). Get their thick noodles (Shanghai chou chow). Don’t forget the egg/​mochi dessert.
The price is better than reasonable, almost a steal compared to other good quality chinese food restaurants.
Brush up on your mandarin and make friends with the owner. He’s a really cool guy!