Shanghai Gourmet

I went here yesterday with my family after a long road trip and it was extremely satisfying! I took my family here because they wanted Asian food. I found out they haven’t tried Shanghai food so I found this restaurant on Unilocal.They were very pleased with the food.
The food was amazing (I suggest trying the Xiao Long Pao and Shanghai Rice Cake) and the customer service was satisfying for this area. The only problem I had with the restaurant was the menu. It is very unorganized. I had to order off of Unilocal because there were no categories (like noodles, meat, rice, etc.). Other than the menu, everything was great!

I think they changed their name cus I remember writing a review for this place before and now my review is gone.
Anyways, food here is okay, a little pricey for the small amount. The plates aren’t really big so every time my family goes, we order four ~ five entrees and a soup for four people. Their sea cucumbers are pretty popular and we also get their roasted pig knuckle.
Service is bleh. These ladies are extremely rude. They will not hesitate to give you a shit ton of attitude and talk to you as if you were ten. They also enjoy making snide comments at you as they walk by lol. I called once to ask if they were open and I was basically yelled at for not speaking up. I guess they were open.

Place sucks and expensive and staff is rude. Don’t even want to waste my time to put anything else in here cuz this place sucks!

This average hole-​in-​the-​wall, no-​frills, down home Chinese restaurant is so so special! It’s simple, it’s basic, not cool or trendy. Their servers are not sophisticated but they’re eager to serve, smile when you say ‘thank you,’ no overdone, rehearsed, customer service-​trained robotic scripts. You basically just come here to eat! It’s like coming home to your mother’s cooking kinda thing, you know. And judging by their patrons, you know, they have a steady stream of regulars. Of that, I’m glad, because we’ve just decided to make this our ‘regular’ place to go when we’re just simply hungry and need a Chinese food fix. Oh, yeah, one more thing. Their prices are very reasonable!

Shanghai style restaurant with cozy ambiences, home style hospitalities and affordable prices.
My friends and I had lunch after the service on Sunday. Located at the mini mall on 6^th and Duarte in Monrovia, the adjacent city to Arcadia where I live, I’ve never dare to check it out even though I passed by several times when I visited Jims Burgers or Hong Kong Market which are located in the same mall. Today my Chinese friends brought me here and had chance to eat Shanghai food.
Kind of hole-​in-​the-​wall place and has lots of intimacy like I am somewhere else in Shanghai hometown restaurant, table clothes are spread out, warm jasmine tea is served in a pot, speaking Chinese dialects.
The food we ordered were delicious. Wonton soup, stir fry bamboo and pork and pork rib. Every food is sweet and the portions are huge. It is heart filling. My stomach was loaded in maximum capacity with delight. In addition, they gave us lots of bamboo shoots in plates and the price is very affordable. That’s why my friends said this restaurant is a kind of reminiscent of their childhood memories,
I will def come back.

I actually wanted to go to the dumpling place next door, but it was closed so I tried this. I ordered the kung pao chicken because it’s really hard to screw that up. And also the beef with string beans and bok Choi with mushroom.
It was all terribly salty… that pretty much just ruined the entire dinner. Its hard for me to continue writing about the other aspects of this place when the saltiness just overpowers everything else. The service was pretty crappy as well. I won’t be coming back again unfortunately.

Most horrible service… We have been visited this restaurant almost every week since we don’t really have too much choices nearby. The dishes are not too bad, but they’re extremely salty today. When we ready for check, the waitress was keeping asking for cash instead of taking card. It’s really rude and we decided cut the tip to 10%. You know what, the waitress shout at us and complain about the tip. Even we already got out of that place, the waitress opened the door and keeping yelling… I cannot believe this kind of thing really happened!

Family came here a few times to eat dinner. Its not the best i’ve eaten but it’s definitely good enough to make it a casual family meal. Its a small restaurant so it may be crowded on occasions. The food tastes great but flavor wise leans towards the heavy side. My favorite dish would be the deep fried yellow fish with seaweed and the honey glazed pig leg. The service is decent as well. If you’re nearby, give it a try~

My friend recommends me to this Shanghai restaurant for food and warns me about their so-​so service. The food is ok, but the service is horrible! I tried to pay by Visa, and the waitress hesitated and finally asked me to pay the cash for the tips. I went outside for the ATM. The waitress asked my friends where I was going and if I will return to sign the slip, not only once but TWICE! I returned, signed, put down the tips, and the waitress collected and counted the tips in front of me to ensure it is enough! I will NOT return.

I had one of the worst experiences here. I have to admit the food here is reasonably priced, but the service was horrible. I know I shouldn’t expect much from a Chinese/​Shanghai restuarant, but it was a pretty bad experience. Most of the time the waiters and waitresses are pretty busy and may come off as rude, but not this place. They were slow and rude. We asked the waitress nicely if we could have our egg rolls a little more cooked as it tasted soggy and under-​cooked. The waitress laughed at us and said in Chinese «don’t be ridiculous.»
After that comment we let it go, we just weren’t going to eat the egg rolls. The same waitress gave us the dirtiest look throughout the duration of our meal. She walked passed our table several times shaking her head and even said to herself out loud, «not cooked? ridiculous!»
Her additional comment was not necessary. I will be sure to NEVER come back here and I will definitely share my story with others!
Goodbye Shanghai gourmet!

I rise in defense of the hardworking wait staff at my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Shanghai Gourmet. The woman working there are on their feet all day handling numerous orders. They work their butts off everyday! Yes, they can be a bit curt and aways seem to be in a hurry, but that is the nature of this very popular restaurant. On many occasions waitresses there have taken the time to explain various dishes to my wife and I. Because they know us, they have even advised us what NOT to get: «NO! You won’t like that! Get something else,» she said. I like this restaurant and I think the staff is terrific. Hint: Try treating tim like people and offer a friendly smile. You’ll see.

Came here for an early Mother’s Day dinner with the family to beat the Sunday crowd. This is my mother’s favorite spot. We ordered the drunken chicken, taro, spare ribs, scrambled eggs with shrimp, sea cucumber, and some appetizer dish that I’m not really sure what it was… something with cut up bean curd and veggies. Anyway, the food was really good, especially the taro and spare ribs. The drunken chicken was a bit on the salty side and didn’t have as much of the usual wine taste, but still not bad. The only really negative thing about this restaurant is the service, but it’s kinda always like this for authentic Chinese restaurants, isn’t it? Too little staff for that much business. Well, at least they were nice. *shrug

Definitely a chinese food place for the Chinese. (Don’t get me wrong, but I wonder how a non-​asian will react to a plate of Sea cucumber) with round table, mostly sharable dishes for family style and a big bucket of rice if you know what i’m sayin’.
The stewed pork was quite delicious, the fat was very tender. I also liked the sea cucumber and the stone pot glass noodle. All the dishes has a similar sweet taste to them. I am not sure if that is a good thing. my friend Edward believes that it is due to an overuse of MSG. I am not too familiar with how authentic Shanghai food is, so all I can say is if you like a sweeter palette, this will be a place for you.
We came with a relatively big group and was seated at the corner of the restaurant where there are some light partition to give you a little privacy. we were pretty loud so I was glad that we got our own corner.
Might come back here to try their xiao long bao.

Not really sure about the reviews that are all over the place. I think this is a great place to go that’s not in the heart of SGV. I enjoyed most dishes. We ordered a ton of food, everybody left stuffed, and we had leftovers. It was all only $ 20 pp out the door. Not bad at all. Service was friendly.
For me, the standout dishes were the pan fried pork buns, fish filet in black bean sauce, the shanghai rice cake, black pepper beef with jalapeño, the crystal shrimp, and green seaweed fish. (We came here specifically for the green fish because you can’t find it everywhere.) The good dishes but not standout were: the xlb, pan fried noodles, mapo tofu, and egg with shrimp. The dish I wouldn’t get next time is the meatballs in clay pot with glass noodles.
Overall, I would come here again. The parking lot was big, and it was easy to park. We didn’t have to wait for a table and the food was good.

I used to like this place: their food was decent, price was good, even thought their service was rather unfriendly.
However, when I visited this place yesterday after almost a year not being in the area, I found their service got even worse, and so was their food. Despite forgetting to bring one of the dishes we ordered, all of the dishes we had were way too salty, which made me keep drinking water for several hours after the dinner…

I’m not a Chinese food expert and when I go for meals like this I’m easily pleased. I enjoyed my meal here and left with a full and happy belly. I liked everything I tried; a friend did all the ordering and I just ate whatever showed up. Standouts for me were the seaweed fried fish, the beef with jalapeño dish, fish in black bean sauce, and the xiao long bao. The Shanghai rice cakes were decent. We ordered a ton of food for a group of 8 people and it came out to $ 20 each, which seemed pretty reasonable to me. The staff was friendly and efficient. I’d happily stuff my face here again.
Side note: they only accept one credit card per check.

This place is located on the north side of Duarte Rd between 5^th and 6^th and in the same plaza as the Luscious Dumplings and ID Cha House. I believe their name changed and they are actually called Shanghai Gourmet.
I’ve been here twice and have tried the following:
Seaweed Fried Fish (The batter had a seaweed coating, hence the green tint.), green beans, braised eggplant, egg and shrimp, green onion pancake, juicy pork dumplings, tofu dish, kung pao chicken, hot and sour soup.
Overall, I think their food is pretty good.
My coworkers and I usually split the bill and it’s averaged out to just under $ 10/​person.
Other than people not being able to park straight in the parking lot, the other negative I have to point out would be the service. I come with my friend who speaks Chinese so she’s usually the one talking to the staff and even she says they are rude. For example, they slammed the teapot on our table and walked away. They never check on us and you have to flag someone down if you need something. They told us that we weren’t able to pay with cash AND a credit card so they put the cash back on our table and put everything on the credit card.
My friend called them one time for a take out order around 6:00PM and the lady told her that they «are too busy right now and not taking Take Out orders.». She so asks them when they would have time so she can call back and they replied «8:30PM» and hung up on her.
¹⁶⁸⁄₁₀₀ Reviews for 2014

Overall, the food was just average. I came with a party of about 8 and even though we ordered a lot of dishes, I was still hungry after. Most of the dishes we ordered were vegetarian, but nothing really stood out except for maybe the fatty meat … not too salty and the sauce was good. Other than that, the bamboo dish, the veggies with the tofu and soy, meh. I did enjoy their taro dish where they cooked the taro to be extremely soft and it melted in your mouth. The tasteIt wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing. I definitely left feeling quite healthy. We also were served the tang yuan dessert, which wasn’t too bad. I think I liked that dish the most besides the fatty meat.
Service was decent, although the waitresses seemed extremely busy rushing from table to table. There was a surprising amount of people that kept coming in and out of the restaurant. Dishes aren’t too costly either.
Restaurant is located in the plaza with Yi Mei and is right next to ID Cha House. The English name is actually Shanghai Gourmet, so don’t let that confuse you (we were really confused). Lots of parking, but I’m not so sure if this is the case when the market is open.

Located in an asian dominant plaza, Shanghai Bamboo serves upsome fairly authentic Shaghai cuisine. No, I’m not Shanghainese, but my grandmother was and I grew up with her cooking.
It used to be a restaurant under a different name, and when the plaza was completely remodeled, they changed the name but the staff appears to be the same.
The food isn’t bad, but definitely greasy. Even though they offer to-​go orders, there are no menus to take. When I picked up my order, they told me I’m the only take out that day. And since there were no menus, I can only describe what we ordered.
* Beans w/​snow peas. Beans were cooked til mushy, perfectly salted, great vegetarian dish. 4
* Some spare rib in sweet sauce. Large chunks of fall off the bone meat. Very tender, mostly lean pieces. Heavy & greasy with the sauce. 4
* Kung pao chicken, spicy diced chicken stir fried with a lot of peanuts and diced veggies, swimming in a pool of orange oil. I’ll pass next time. 2
* Some taro dish. The taro, once again cooked til mushy was also a good vegetarian dish. This one, I’ve never tried before. 3.5
Some other dishes escaped my memory. That’s what happens when I don’t Unilocal about them immediately.
Overall, I would go back, whether it’s take-​out or even dine there. The food is heavy from the oil, but tasty and satisfying.
I’m giving this a 3.5, but rounding down to 3 star because I like their food, but not happy about them not providing menus for customers who need to take it to go.
Notes:
* Their weekend lunch hour seems busy, so there may be a wait.
* Don’t expect world class service. You’ll get your food, but no smiles or pleasantries. Maybe I should learn to speak Shanghainese
* They have lunch specials during the weekday, but during the weekend, the same dishes cost a couple of bucks more, and no rice included. Check their menu, if you can find one.
* The sign actually says Shanghai Gourmet. The «Bamboo» is in the translation of the Chinese characters.

I wish they would deliver.
Monrovia doesn’t have to many Asian eateries, so this place makes up for the gaps.
What to order–
–Seaweed fried fish
–House special fried rice
–Pork Ribs