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456 Shanghai Cuisine
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
69 Mott St(between Bayard St & Canal St)
New York, NY 10013
Neighborhood: Chinatown
(212) 964-0003
- Nearest Transit:
-
Canal St (J, N, Q, Z)
Canal St (4, 6, 6X)
Grand St (B, D)
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
80 reviews for 456 Shanghai Cuisine
Review Highlights
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"Pork Chops with Salt & Pepper." In 2 reviews -
"Scallion Pancake with Egg and Beef." In 5 reviews -
"...is my family's new favorite place for Shanghainese food." In 11 reviews
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80 reviews in English
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Review from Oy V.
Jersey City, NJ
4/18/2012
"456" is Number 1.
Ha! Cheesy tagline, but true!
PROS:
* It's like New Green Bo (or whatever it's name now) which means food is quite good but cleaner, friendlier and less crowded.
* Must-haves: shanghai soup dumplings (soup is INSIDE the dumplings), shanghai crispy noodles & the preserved veggies w/sheet of bean curd just to name a few.
* Restaurant has a modern feel and clean. Bathrooms are clean as well.
* They accept credit cards.
CONS:
* Very "touristy", probably due to the fact that it's one of the 1st restaurants you'll come across when coming off from Canal. But don't let that turn you off, food is as good as any "authentic" Chinatown restaurant. Also, notwithstanding that it's frequented by tourists, prices are still reasonable. -
Review from Ginny L.
New York, NY
5/21/2012
Slow slow slow day at work...so i texted my friend, and asked him if he wanted to have lunch with me at Chinatown...it was a slow day for him as well...so we met up and by the time we got there...our lunch break was almost over...epic fail for the both of us...
We couldnt decide where to eat..so we just picked a random decent place and we landed at 456. We were seated immediately and we went through the lunch menu pretty fast..i got the spicy meat something..i cant remember..and my friend got the eggplant something (yu xiang qie zi). we also got a order of XLB as well.
I laughed so hard with my friend, as he was cursing up a storm after we order..he said he cant believe we came here for lunch, this place is where tourist go, not locals! I laughed and told him, you were the one who picked it. As i hold myself together from laughing, our soup came, it was part of the meal, the second i tasted it, i knew he would curse some more..LOL
and he did...the soup was eggdrop with corn? it was kinda bland, but still salty? does that make sense? Then our meal came, both dishes was actually pretty good...but it was really oily...my friend cursed some more..and i laughed even harder...then came our XLB.
The XLB was smaller than the usual size of XLB at other places. It was actually decent, average to be exact...i guess since they made it smaller, which is why it tasted pretty good. since it required less skills, as the bigger it is, the hard it is to cook...its was obvious that XLB wasnt their specialty.
Overall, a pretty decent place and decent priced restaurant. -
Review from Nancy L.
Brooklyn, NY
4/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Hey, guess who ate at 456 Shanghai Cuisine today? Ridiculously photogenic guy! All through the hour, I got to stare at his perfectly chiseled face while he ate a place full of what appeared to be fried fish with sweet and sour sauce.
Oh, and my experience? I ordered rice noodles with chicken and bok choy. Delicious yet waayyy too oily. And by waayyy too oily, I mean the whole bottom of the bowl was slicked with oil.
Service was fine, plates and chopsticks were clean, compared to other Chinatown restaurants, and the decor was nice. Even if this place would normally have a 3 star rating, my lovely view of Zeddie Little bumped it up to 4! :) -
Review from Vivian H.
3/21/2012
**Before VEGAN pledge**
I came here for a group lunch a few weeks ago. I showed up late as I didn't get the memo on lunch being moved up early. Totally being a space captain.
The gang had already started eating and I did spy some jian bao (pan-fried buns stuff with meat), other meat dishes and then I amorously eyed the eggplant dish. My friends are very considerate and told me they ordered that dish especially for me. Thanks lunch group for being so considerate!
Their eggplant was excellent. Even the omnivores agreed that it was the best dish. I also ended up ordering ma po tofu minus the pork. It was kind of bland despite the spicy kick. I have yet to have a really good ma po tofu. Its an easy dish to make, but hard to make salivating good.
Together there were 5 of us and we ordered 5 dishes and in the end, we each owed only $5! Is that possible like seriously? Yes, it is possible if its Chinese food (and somehow there was a mysterious $10 in the pool). I like this lunch group, thoughtful and full of money!
I don't think I'll be coming back here on my own as the veggie options are limited, but this place is really good for a group. So bring your omnivore friends to have a cheap and satisfying meal! -
Review from Sam J.
Brooklyn, NY
4/2/2012
Love their noodle dishes! Got Shanghai style chow fun the last time I was there and enjoyed it. noodle dishes start at $6, and have good sized portions.
Very fast service when I was there, although it was an off hour.
Good dumplings as well.
The seaweed salad wasn't worthwhile (chunky/rubbery, not great flavor). Their eggrolls aren't any better.
Stick to their main courses and you should be all good though. -
Review from Kiai K.
3/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
What!? People are giving only 3 stars? For Chinatown, must say, was pleased to discover this place looking for food at 8pm. It was crowded, but there was a table. Mostly Chinese people. Good sign. Big selection makes for tough decisions. Fortunately the waiter was okay about pointing out which dishes were popular. There were American Chinese dishes like General Tso's, and traditional Chinese like soup.
Out of the 5 or so dishes my friend and I ordered, only 1 was icky - a pastry thing with turnip. Not even sure how to describe it. Barely tasted like turnip and was dry. Should have asked the waiter about that one. If it wasn't for my friend ordering lobster, the bill would have been about $24. Oh well. At least the lobster dish was good.
After seeing what other people have to say, I can understand why people give 3 stars.
I'm not a fan or American-Chinese; it's my last choice for dinner. I would rather try a goat's eye than order Chinese. I like authentic Chinese sometimes as long as there's no MSG, but would like to see it taken to another level. I think this place does a pretty okay job at attempting something different.
Wish I read Jezzie's review before ordering, but now there's a reason to go back!
Again, lots of choices, so ask the waiter for recommendations. -
Review from James H.
4/28/2012
I read a number of reviews of 456 on Yelp and Chowhound and was convinced that it was a must try. Well, i was not disappointed. While some of the most recommended dishes were flawed - see honey pork shoulder - not surprisingly, a bit too sweet - the soup dumplings were small but excellent, the scallion pancake with beef and egg as well as a healthy swipe of hoisin sauce was delicious. The chow fun was very good - despite a challenging conversation with a waiter about the relative merits of chow fun vs lo mien - I am and always will be firmly in the chow fun camp - something about the wide noodle - the texture as well is nice and pillowy. Anyway, I digress - we also had kung pao chicken - tasty and the fried tofu wrapped fish and the eggplant - both good, but i was too stuffed to care. I unfortunately, enjoyed too many of the fried "not so little" little buns - they were huge and filling. As fun as they are, they are skippable for a few orders of the soup dumplings. i can't wait to go back and try more dishes.
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Review from Jeanette G.
Manhattan, NY
2/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
Came here ONCE and loved it.
Simply put- General Tso chicken is to die for!
YUUUMMMMYY!! -
Review from Robert M.
Mechanicsburg, PA
5/11/2012
The absolute best chinese food we've ever eaten and reasonably priced. The scallion pancake is phenomenal.
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Review from Chi L.
Philadelphia, PA
My favorite place ever in Manhattan Chinatown, better than Joe's Shanghai.
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Review from Betty B.
Brooklyn, NY
2/5/2012
Decided to try this place so I could cross it off my list of Shanghainese restaurants to try. The food is decent. The soup dumplings here are a little smaller than the ones you would find elsewhere (Joe's Shanghai, Shanghai Cafe, etc). I tried both the regular soup dumplings (just pork) and the crab and pork soup dumplings as well. They were decent. However, my boyfriend did not like them because the mixture of meat in the dumplings contained scallions and other green herbs that are typically not found in the soup dumplings. The crab and pork soup dumplings are definitely the better of the two. I also ordered the wontons in the spicy sauce. I love spicy food so I found it to be delicious. The sauce is pretty much a mixture of peanut sauce and chili oil. When you mix the two around with your wonton, it is simply delicious.
The restaurant itself is nice and cozy. The service is pretty good (though I went for an early dinner around 530pm rather than the usual 7pm crowd). The place started getting packed by the time I left. -
Review from Eleanor W.
Ossining, NY
2/18/2012
I like this spot in chinatown for chinese food. I tried their dumplings appetizers are tasty and juicy. It is small dumplings. I seen bigger before in other shanghai restaurants. portions are good enough for a few people. restaurant space is very small and tight. I get claustrophobic when I sit there too long and people start coming in for dinner. we had to share a table because they did not have enough tables.
the restaurant looks pretty clean and the food is decent. I would come back at an hour when it is less crowded -
Review from Peggy L.
Manhattan, NY
3/13/2012
I had dine there recently, last thursday and while I had great time with company but the food while it looked all nice was ehhh had better food. The shanghai dumpling buns were nice n small n tasted good but the other dishes that a friend had ordered were sooo oily and some were a bit too salty which is a major reason why I don't eat chinese food outside but o well I don't do it often and don't eat that much if I am eating americanized chinese food....Guess u also gotta figure while there were alot of tourists cause what do they really know about chinese food....
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Review from Jezzie X.
New York, NY
Updated - 1/31/2012
The second time around, I am simply blown away by how amazing and delicious everything was. Where do I start? Firstly, the service was attentive and polite, unlike many of the other Chinatown restaurants where abrupt service is almost taken for granted. The décor is pleasant and relaxing.
I am Shanghainese so I was responsible for ordering all the "authentic" Shanghainese dishes that are my favorites. I got the xiao long bao (non shrimp ones), a whole roasted fish in soy sauce and black sauce, some appetizer samplers including duck, wine chicken and kaufu, and roasted pork with bean curd. First of all, I have never tasted bean curd so tender and flavorful, not even in China (and that is a HUGE compliment!!!). The fish was delectable, every bit of the sauce infusing the delicate flesh with sweet and saltiness, just like they make it at home. By the way, the fish was huge - definitely a good value. The appetizers knocked it out of the ballpark - 3 for 3. When we bit into the xiaolongbao, out comes a mouthful of juice. (Um, who is Joe's Shanghai??) We raved about the food throughout the meal, and I could barely believe that I have finally found a Shanghainese restaurant in Chinatown that I would not be embarrassed to introduce friends and family to. I will be going back again and again as long as they keep this traditional chef!!! Trust me, Shanghainese flavors are very distinctive (brown sugar, soy sauce, scallion and five spice powder are key ingredients) and this restaurant has got it right!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/15/2011
This is the newest Shanghainese restaurant to open in Manhattan Chinatown, so yay! Being… Read more »
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Review from jae z.
9/6/2011
I love Americans who would spend $100 on some highly pretentious but utterly unremarkable prix fixe menus, but come to Chinatown and all of a sudden the bass you paid 50$ for like a sucker is a point of contention in pricing. I especially love it when there's only one server and the entitled douchebag feels the need to run through every item on the bill as if he was surprised the cost of eating in Chinatown was so beyond his expectations that the only reasonable explanation for it is that the shifty Chinese cheated him.
Please, get the fuck over yourselves. Seriously, and tip more.
But beyond that, the room was filled with white people, any one of which could have done the same thing and thereby creating a hegemony of service by default of how much they are demanding.
By the time the waitress got to us, she was short and might as well have rolled her eyes when we ordered only dumplings. Get over it, reviews are only positive for the dumplings.
AND, they ran out.
I don't normally write reviews like this, which seem unjustified, but I can't.
Plus, they were a bunch of Mandarin speakers, aka not Shanghainese, because no real Shanghainese person would be speaking Mandarin when you can speak Shanghainese. FAKE -
Review from Andrew Z.
New York, NY
1/26/2012
A friend and I visited this place on the recommendation of the NYT. However, our experience was decidedly average by American-Chinese food standards and quite disappointing by authentic-Chinese food standards.
We had two steamers of the xiao long bao and one of the fried (pork) buns, two classic Shanghainese menu items. Both dishes came out looking the way they were supposed to look and were technically made correctly (i.e. they contained soup inside, the skins of the xiao long bao were thin but not fragile, the dough of the fried buns was fluffly, etc.). However, everything fell far short when it came to taste. Everything was very bland and one-dimensional; normally these are some of my favorite foods and are very exciting for me, but here they were just boring.
In general I find the Chinese restaurants on Mott St. do not live up to the hype (Amazing 66 across the street is another similar example). For really good soup dumplings in NY, try Joe's Shanghai or Joe's Ginger, or go to Flushing for Nan Xian. -
Review from Charle M.
9/8/2011
Pork soup dumplings
Pork and crab soup dumplings
Tiny fried pork buns
Cold sesame noodles
Scallion pancake
All wonderful and totally worthy of the recent NYTimes write-up. Especially the scallion pancake- It's, like, life changing. And cheap! I ate this and promptly ordered another one to go so i could have it the next day (I didn't, sadly, as I made the mistake of trying to microwave it in a pathetic drunken blur at 3am this morning. In foil. Not my brightest moment.)
The soup dumplings are tasty but not as great as the larger versions at Joe's Shanghai. The cold sesame noodles reminded me of peanut butter. I'm not sure how it works but it does, and I don't even like peanut butter.
Come here for dinner if you're out and about in Chinatown, you're not on a first date, and if you don't mind getting served by a waiter that is about as warm and cuddly as Dick Cheney.Listed in: Teach Me How To Dumpling
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Review from Kathy L.
New York, NY
10/24/2011
Came here a week after the Sam Sifton 1-star review and the place was packed with both tourists and locals wanting to try all the recommended dishes. We sat down at a communal table and got to business.
- Xiao Long Bao
- Shen Jian Bao (fried crispy buns)
- Fish wrapped in tofu skin and fried
I still think Joe's makes better XLB. These are much smaller, with the meat a bit denser and with a thicker skin. Still better than a lot of places out in Chinatown though and the price isn't too bad.
I don't know many other places in NY Chinatown that sell Shen Jian Bao... which are a fried version of soup dumplings with a thicker, doughier skin. These things are so popular all over Shanghai and on the West Coast that it's amazing it hasn't caught up here. I give all my 3 stars to this place to doing these buns pretty well.
The fish in tofu skin was just ok. I think it needed some more flavor (maybe seaweed) or salt.
I'm willing to give this place another try on a less busy day, with more people so that I can try out some of their more typical Shanghai-nese dishes. Maybe their braised pork or Lions Head (meatball) dish or some of their cold appetizers. -
Review from Jessica D.
Brooklyn, NY
9/16/2011 5 photos
A review of 456 Shanghai Cuisine by a well-known restaurant critic for The New York Times sparked my interest to try this restaurant out with my friends. I always passed by it and was curious as if it was good or not and plus, it's a relatively new spot in Chinatown. He wrote a great review and it wasn't negative at all, but I'm afraid I will be different in my review. However, it is agreed he gave them 1 star and so will I.
Two of my best friends and I got to the restaurant first and got a table of 8. We didn't anticipate for anyone to be overly late, but unfortunately there were. So we started off with two traditional Shanghainese appetizers: soup dumplings and scallion pancake. We got a steamed pork soup dumpling and a steamed crab & pork dumpling. Whenever I order soup dumplings, they usually serve it on bed of napa cabbage. There weren't any in the steamers we had. We had wax or pastry paper instead! Did they run out of napa cabbage?
In addition, the soup dumplings were so miniature like the size of a golf ball. Cheap much? God knows, if those were even freshly made on the spot. There was barely any soup base inside the soup dumpling! Total Bummer, because I was looking forward to something hot and juicy!
The line for the restaurant was stretching far outside and the rude waiter, which can actually see a picture in the review by Sam Sifton on New York Times website, was glaring at our table and talking to us in mandarin, which most of us didn't understand. Basically, he was saying if the other people don't come soon, we may have to relinquish a table or we would be kicked out. Okay! We're customers, we sat down and we said 8 people. We wouldn't bullshit to them about it. The man and his waitress friends so needed a chill pill. They were giving us evil glares and peaking their head out to see if we're done yet. We were like their biggest customers while other tables only had a party of 2-5. Heck, we had 8!
The entrees. We got a number of things and some I've tried, some I didn't. It was already cold outside yet they had the air conditioning on and we were sitting not too far from the door. Our food was cold in minutes. Out of all the entrees I've tried, I think I liked my friend's Sizzling Chilean Sea Bass. Although, it was not "sizzling" I think it was well cooked, soft, tender, and drenched in a mysterious, but tasty sauce. It was yum!
Overall, 456 Shanghai Cuisine is really not a restaurant you would like to invest your time in. There are so many better restaurants scattered in Chinatown. Save yourself a couple of bucks, your friends bucks and go somewhere else. The waiters & waitresses here are so rude. I don't know how they wound up with 3.5 stars because they deserve at least 0 stars and at most 2 stars. In a way, I feel this restaurant is very touristy. I still have yet to find a superb Shanghainese restaurant. -
Review from Julia Z.
New York, NY
9/5/2011
My cousin, who is somewhat a soup dumpling snob recommended this place to us. We came together around 1pm on a Sat and the place was packed and had to wait 30 mins for a table. (Of course this prob had something to do with the NYTimes review just a few days before: http://dinersjournal.b...)
The two hostesses are not in synch at all (one takes down names and one leads customers to tables). One of them told us to sit with another party of 5 at one of the big tables in the back (a common seating practice for popular places in Chinatown), but a sec later the other hostess told us to sit at another small table that just opened up. We won't going to argue about having our own table, so that's that.
So on to the food. Again, on a busy Sat like this, there was quite a bit wait but it was definitely worth it.
The soup dumpling is really good and authentic. They were tiny, the dough skin was thin and they contained pretty of delicious broth and stuffing inside.
The fried dumpling buns are much bigger than the soup dumplings, just as they should be. (This is one of the few places that got these type of foods' proportions right). They also contained the delicious broth and stuffing, but the dough skin is made from self-rising flour and are therefore much thicker, soft and fluffy.
We ordered the glazed pork shoulder. This dish was huge. We were told by the waiter that it was very sweet so I was preparing myself... it was sweet, but still savory and balanced. The meat falls off the bone very easily.
Beyond all these pork deliciousness, we also ordered some green veggies. Could not finish everything and the meal for 3 people came to a total $45. So much flavor and satisfaction. What a deal! -
Review from Vivian L.
9/26/2011
Good but I didn't have anything here that particularly entices me to come back again.
We ordered the soup dumplings (which are not as good as the ones at Shanghai Asian Cuisine), fried pork buns, chicken chow fun, fish, and the honey pork shoulder. The pork is pretty darn sweet and could have used a little more of a savory kick, but its texture was pure melt-in-your-mouth, fatty goodness.
Everything was tasty enough but it just tasted like standard fare that you could get at pretty much every other Chinese restaurant. -
Review from Heather M.
Chicago, IL
9/21/2011
We ordered based on the Sam Sifton recs, and overall we were pleased. The waiter got all fussy when I ordered "soup dumplings with pork and crab" and said they don't have dumplings, they only have juicy buns. Oy. We were able to get the plain pork ones, somehow - they were okay, I still prefer Joe's. I wish we had had the fried tiny buns, they looked amazing.
I am a huge sesame noodle fan, and this place has some of the best I've ever had - I would come back for these alone!
The standout, by far, was the sauteed eels with chives. I think it had some black bean sauce in it - so good!! The steak chinese style was also great. The fish wrapped in tofu skin (which I was most excited about) was just fried and served with salt. I thought it would have some sauce or something, so I was disappointed, but one of my friends called it his favorite dish.
Overall, good clean-tasting food. Love! -
Review from Hong L.
9/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
Came here after a review from the NY Times. When I first walked in, I realized I have been here before when it was under old management. The restaurant is friendly to both Asians and tourists.
Service is quick here and you do not have to wait long for a table. As a couple, they have few 2 person tables and will most likely sit you in a table fit for 4 (w/o sharing).
Ordered the:
1. Xiao Long Bao with Pork - 8 small thin bun filled with pork soup juice and pork. Compared to Joe's Ginger, these are a bit thicker skin but it works because the skin will not break and the soup is not runny. I did wish the Xiao Long Bao came on a bed of lettuce.
2. Shredded Pork with Pepper and dry tofu - Supposedly, this dish was spicy. But from someone who doesn't take real spice, it was not spicy. The pork was extremely juicy - I always wonder how they cook meat so tender and juicy like that. The dish was cooked well with the sauce; it wasn't extremely oily. The dry tofu is just slivers of firm tofu cut up and sauteed.
3. Eggplant (Chinese kind) in a Hot Pot - Coming from a Chinese family, my mom never was able to cook Chinese eggplant perfectly - where you still get the purple color of the skin, the mushiness from the outside, and the semi - firmness of the eggplant as you bit into it. To this day, my mom as well as myself order eggplant in a chinese restaurant because they just do exactly that. This dish is quite oily and has a lot of sauce.
These dishes do not come with rice so I would suggest ordering rice to soak up the juices and sauce/ oil from the dishes.
Overall, the type of dishes offered here are a mix of various Chinese cuisines from Hunan, Szechuan, Shanghainess, Beijing etc. Its good for someone who wants to eat a bit of everything but it is by no chance close to pure Shanghainese food - speaking for my homeland.
Credit Card accepted - oh yeah. -
Review from Patricia C.
Flushing, NY
My first time here since it opened. The food was delicious! Came here to celebrate one of my dearest friend's birthday. Amongst the 9 of us, we ordered the following:
+ Steamed Juicy Pork Buns
+ Steamed Crabmeat & Pork Buns
+ Scallion Pancake
+ Shanghai Rice Cake
+ Pork Chops with Salt & Pepper
+ Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet
+ String Beans, Eggplant, Broccoli in Basil Garlic Sauce
I liked everything that we ordered, especially the Pork Chops with Salt & Pepper. It was extremely tasty!!! I'd come back just for that dish, seriously
NOTE: Only complaint - women's bathroom was quite stinky! -
Review from Elaine W.
New York, NY
11/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
The first couple of times we ate here, the food was pretty good. But ever since it was written up in the NY times, I feel like it's gone down somewhat.
The soup dumplings were kind of small and the fried rice cake noodle dish was sort of bland.
I'm hoping the last two times we went, were just anomalies. But I'll have to stick with my two stars for now. -
Review from Craig Z.
1/9/2012
Been twice, and enjoyed it much more the first time than the second. Service is about as bad as any other chinatown place--don't be fooled just because it is clean. And it is a little expensive for what it is. They do have a pretty easy to use menu though, and some good dishes I haven't had everywhere, but I won't hurry back.
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Review from Sasha L.
New York, NY
1/23/2012
if i can give you zilch stars you'd be getting that instead of 1 star. the owner or manager (hes definitely not a waiter) grilled me while i was signing the check like a hawk. WTHECK go away. also, this location never seems to hold a restaurant for too long. i dont know why but they never last longer than a year or so! in addition, this is a tourist trap. you walk in and there are not asians there aside from the waiters. shouldn't there be a good mix?? they are trying to be something they're not with the bootleg table cloth setting. and the seats/tables are CRAMPED. and to top that we ordered shanghai soup dumplings, beef tendon, aromatic beef, jelly fish, zha zhiang mein, and wine chicken with white rice. all were overpriced, not good, and definitely not up to the standards of shanghai cafe or shanghai garden. GO TO THOSE established places instead. GOODBYE
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Review from Emma L.
12/4/2011
This place is A-OK. Joe's Shanghai is greater than Shanghai Cafe is greater than 456. That's how I feel.
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Review from Yu-Ching L.
New York, NY
Updated - 12/6/2011
Eggplant with minced pork in casserole pot is yummy in my tummy!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/25/2011
The drunken chicken is delish! The shanghai buns as well. Those are probably the only 2 things I… Read more »
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Review from Danielle Z.
Manhattan, NY
2/14/2012
I came to 456 Shanghai with some friends who were in the area. While I felt the food was decent here, it was nothing to write home about.
First, the mini pork buns (xiao long bao). As others have said, they are much smaller than those served at Joe Shanghai, and also not as tasty. It was good, just not superb.
We also got the fried buns (sheng jian bao). We all agreed that the skin was too thick on these.
The string beans and the eggplant, on the other hand, were very good. And if you get the lunch special, it's actually a decently sized portion plus rice and egg drop soup, which is a pretty good deal.
Finally, we got the eel dish off the specials menu. I thought it was pretty good, if a little pricey ($23).
Overall, not sure if I'd come here again, considering how many other great Shanghai restaurants are in the area. -
Review from Libby M.
New York, NY
9/14/2011
I went last night with a friend after we saw it in the NY times. I didn't think it was great but will admit that I wasn't that hungry so we only ordered three dishes. We had...
Xiao Long Bao with Pork - very good and juicy. Best dish overall.
Scallion Pancakes - not that great. Bland.
Spicy sauteed Eggplant - huge disappointment. This is my absolute favorite dish from living in Hong Kong but their version was mushy and not very spicy. It also had a shrimp taste - maybe they cook it with fish paste? Not sure.
Relatively friendly service. I didn't use the bathroom - too scared from the other reviews! -
Review from Juan J.
7/25/2011
We ordered a fish dish, eggplant with garlic sauce, squash with mushrooms...The fish was good, but everything else was really just an ok.
Good thing this restaurant is very clean and waiters are fluent in English AND Spanish!!! (We overheard the waiter talking to a tourists table in fluent Spanish...hehehe
Must I sacrifice cleanliness and decent ambiance for good Chinese food in Chinatown??? -
Review from JT C.
Manhattan, NY
10/1/2011
Been here twice and the food was consistently good. The service was excellent and the ambiance was very mellow (due to the dim lighting).
It's likely the best shanghaiese restaurant in Chinatown IMHO. -
Review from Michelle W.
Manhattan, NY
6/23/2011
I loved it here. I guess it really pays to have parents who knew everybody because the service here for lunch was amazing. They were so nice and helpful, and they gave us dishes that only the "regulars" normally get. It was awesome, and I wish I was hungrier or came with more people so that I could have gotten more dishes. Next time I guess.
My mom and I got the xiaolongbao, the shenjianbao, the fried tofu-covered fish, and the fried seaweed covered fish. I base how good Shanghainese food is by my mom's reaction, because she's Shanghainese, and she said the SJB was the best that she's had in a while. Their dough is so good, and it doesn't stick in your teeth like other baos do. And their XLB was so good - the skin was so thin and there was so much soup in it. I absolutely loved the fried fish as well - absolutely delicious and I just couldn't stop eating it. I can't wait to go back. -
Review from Chenkun J.
Manhattan, NY
9/10/2011
strong recommendation ~
I've been here twice since I came to NYC 3 weeks ago. -
Review from Mary Q.
Boston, MA
4/12/2011
456 Shanghai seems to have been stricken with the same disease as all Shanghainese restaurants in Chinatown have: mediocracy. The second that I walked in and heard the hostess speaking to a waitress in Cantonese, I knew what I was in store for.
I always use the quality of xiao long bao as a standard of comparison for Shanghainese restaurants. The xiao long bao here was just average. The meat could have more flavor and sweetness to it and the skin was too thick. The right skin should be translucent but still hold its contents. I did however enjoy the shen jian bao, very nice sweet crunch on the outside.
Overall I would say the food is on par with the other less than stellar Shanghainese restaurants in the area (a la Joe's Shanghai, Joe's Ginger, Shanghai cafe etc.) but no where near the caliber of Nan Xiang in Flushing. So do yourself a favor, hop on the 7 train if you want real Shanghainese cuisine.
One last tid bit: was neat to see the under paid workers going crazy downstairs making the xiao long baos. Make sure you take a gander during your bathroom trip.Listed in: Chinatown I heart you!
-
Review from GarGuPi L.
Flushing, NY
4/3/2011
This is my second time dining here. My first experience was when during their grand opening day. Even though the hype has died down, there are still a influx of Asian and non-Asian patrons streaming in on a fine Saturday afternoon. The tables were such a hot commodity that we were asked (politely) to move to a smaller table to make room for a larger party at our original 4 seats table.
Eating in Chinatown is like fighting for the last bite of food in a family of eight children. Basically, ya gotta eat fast because the waitstaff would hand you the tab no matter if you've finished with your plate or not. We still had uneaten food, but because we had been sitting for at most 45 minutes, it was time to give up our table for new eaters. I try to understand that they just do not wait to keep people waiting for long, so I could only suggest that if you want to sit and chat for awhile, do depend on Asian restaurants during the weekends.
Alright, back to the foods. Shanghainese food features a lot of well-renounced meat/fish dishes. My mom tried the soup dumplings last time and was not impressed (dough too thick and poor meat:crab proportion), so she had a braised fish noodle noodle. At $4.95, it's a good deal. The meat felt off the fish bones and the noodles were toothsome. We also tried the shredded turnip pastries. $4 for 2 oval 'packages' of shredded turnip. At first bite, I could feel the oil oozing out of the pastry. Not a good mouth feel.
I also told the staff about the free sweet bean dessert when I mentioned Yelp. Surprisingly, I received a 'visit' from the matriarch of this establishment. She inquired how I heard about it and thanked me for coming in. While I was anticipating a complete sheet of red bean pastry, we actually received a sample of four bites. Wow. I was a bit disappointed beacuse I felt tricked, but then again, it's free. Still...I was expecting a free order really. As for the taste. Nothing special. It's similar to a tortilla filled with canned red bean. And yes, eat it while it's hot because once cool, the dough overwhelmed the filling.
Lastly, to make our meal 'healthy', we also ordered steamed mixed vegetables. At first, it was cute to see my vegetables steamed in a bamboo basket, but after several bite, I actually wished that was the vessel used to cook them. Because the basket has been used (and reused) to steamed MEAT dumplings, all the meat essence has seeped into bamboo, so even my broccoli tasted like pork. And yes, the kitchen need to check the inside of the basket because dumpling skin was still attached, so not thoroughly cleaned. As a vegan, I felt so violated even though technically, I did not eat any meat, but my mouth sure felt like it.
Overall, the price was affordable and the food is decent. But for my personal diet, I would not come back because of the bamboo issue, but if you crave Shanghainese food while in Chinatown, this is not a bad choice to eat in. -
Review from Oliver C.
Brooklyn, NY
8/3/2011
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a weakness for Shanghainese food, especially soup dumplings. So when I heard about this new place that opened up, I had to try it and compare it to the gold standard in New York City which is Joe's Shanghai.
- Juicy Pork Buns - thin-skinned. Filled with soupy goodness
- Steamed Crabmeat & Pork Buns - thin-skinned, I learned awhile ago that crab does not go with everything
- Shanghai Noodles - a bit dry and too greasy
- Shanghai Fried Rice - standard, nothing to write home about
- Pork Chops with Salt and Pepper - Standard
Overall, this place was a-ok. Better than Shanghai Cafe down Mott Street but still does not outdo Joe's Shanghai. 3 Stars in my book.
I will say that the facilities are much cleaner than Joe's. -
Review from Kevin L.
5/4/2011 6 photos
We walked around Chinatown for a while (in the pouring rain) and stumbled upon 456 Shanghai. My parents were craving Shanghainese food after a recent visit to Shanghai so we went in.
Maybe it's because I'm spoiled by asian food from LA and the Bay Area, but the xiao long bao was average, nothing too spectacular, but I have no clue how that compares to the rest of Chinatown in NYC. The rest of the meal, like the drunken chicken and shrimp with egg yolk was quite average. The Shanghainese dishes weren't that great either - nothing stood out to me. The only thing that was outstanding was this dish (can't remember the name) that had cod wrapped in seaweed and deep fried.
We did talk to the owner afterwards and learned that the owner is actually Taiwanese (this is her second or third successful restaurant?), but all of the chefs were selected because they're exceptional at their job.
Overall, it's decent, pretty average Chinese food, missing a Shanghainese twist.
Note: Near the end of the meal, I asked a waiter where the restroom was and she looked at me like I was stupid and didn't know where it was (downstairs). -
Review from Catherine A.
Brooklyn, NY
9/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
Aside from the slow service (mainly because they're always packed whenever I go) and that every server automatically assumes you're Chinese if you're asian and speaks to you in Chinese, i'd say that the awesome food and extremely low prices for the amount offered and quality make up for everything. The soup dumplings are ;LAKSJDF;ALKDJSF;LAKJDFAWESOMMEEEEE;LAKJSDF;LKJADS F.
I def recommend going here. And you KNOW the food is good when a Chinese restaurant is packed with Chinese people. They would know.
