Shanghai Bistro

 

10

19

Jon K.

Fairfax, VA

LOVE IT!

go early for AWESOME specials: 1/2 Price martinis(I like the Tequini) and 1/2 price Apps, ALL OF THEM ARE GREAT!

MUST TRY:

Potstickers
Wontons in chili sauce
Seafood Purse
Crabcakes
Bamboo cup soup

I believe the happy hour times are from 4:30-6:30.

If you choose to  just park it at the bar, Neil is an AWESOME bartender, very personable, entertaining and just has an all around good vibe. PLUS, he roasts his own specialty blends of coffee at his house,  and if you are lucky, he will turn you onto some.

Very well put together place right down to the plate ware. Presentations are awesome, service is great, though I have heard it can be spotty on busy nights...

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Elite '08

378

2636

Anita L.

Irvine, CA

Gorgeous restaurant situated near Waikiki. I was reluctant to try it at first purely because of its proximity to the touristy area and was afraid that it would be a tourist trap. Well, I guess in terms of the prices, it was! But the food was rather good.

Despite its name, Shanghai Bistro serves up Cantonese food as well as Shanghainese (or Northern style) food. The Cantonese dim sum at lunch time was very well done as each morsel was perfectly sized and created, obviously by a master chef. The har gow (shrimp dumpling) were perfect (3 in a basket) as were the cha siu bao (BBQ pork buns) which were made bite-sized. There were 5 in a basket and were devoured very quickly.

The Northern style dim sum such as scallion pancake and xiao long bao were also very good. My biggest complaint is that the Cantonese style of vinegar (the red kind) was served alongside the xiao long bao instead of the Chingkiang (darker version) style traditionally used. It just did not enhance the flavor of the xiao long bao thus really making it very lackluster. I was highly disappointed by that because the xiao long bao themselves were really not bad at all.

Another Northern style dim sum resembling a 'beef sandwich' -- not sure what they're called -- is absolutely divine. Unfortunately, it resembled a finger sandwich more than a real sandwich and was gone in 2 bites.

Prices are high. At $3.68/basket of Cantonese dim sum and stir fried items such as noodles and stir fried rice cake (which they called mochi here) at $8.68/plate, you're looking at a steep bill, especially when the portions are miniscule. In Chinatown, you're paying less than $2 a basket for dim sum, but the quality just can not be compared to what you're getting at Shanghai Bistro. I guess you get what you pay for.

Parking is conveniently located within the building itself and with validation, it is only $1 for 4 hrs. Definitely a good deal considering how much you pay for parking in the Waikiki area.

Would've given them 5-stars, but the tiny portion sizes and the use of the wrong vinegar dropped them a star.

Same owners as Hong Kong Harbor View Seafood Restaurant.

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1

31

Happy M.

Honolulu, HI

When my family and I arrived, we found out that the person who took our reservations had placed us in the wrong time slot.  Consequently, we had to wait about 45 minutes to be seated.

You can order family style, but we opted for the buffet.  During my first trip to the buffet line, the table was pretty empty.  The waiters were constantly refilling, and the food was gone again just like that!  Little kids would cut in line to join their relatives in front of the line and take plates full of dim sum.  So if little kids ask you if they can cut in front of you, tell them to wait!  Rude bastards!

I really enjoyed their pita bread pocket with ground pork, eggplant, roasted beef bun, and mayonnaise prawns with honey walnuts.  Their dessert table sucked ass.  They had tiny, sample-sized pieces of cookies and cakes, which were soggy.

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