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I love this place, I now live in norcal but still frequently visit whenever I'm in San Diego.
It serves great xiao long bao and do miao vegetables! I usually go late at night so the service is quick and friendly. The servers there have even helped us order since most of us can't read, just can understand :).
My friends recommended this restaurant after we watched a movie. I was okay with anything that had soup.
The prices are good for late night dining but not great enough to make a detour specifically for this restaurant.
We ordered the chinese broccoli, salt and pepper pork chop, and the wonton soup with pork and vegetables. The broccoli was okay, didn't look as fresh, greasy, lacks flavor, but it was refreshing to have with the fried pork chop. The salt and pepper pork was dry but peppery and salty - maybe a bit too salty. The wonton soup was good. The wontons were made well and tasteful.
They told me my soup would come first but it ended up coming last.
Service was okay but they were friendly. But it worries me when my friend told me that sometimes you don't get exactly what you order. I'll try this restaurant again when I'm feeling better.
People thought this was:
I tried Shanghai City for lunch: the place was recommended by a colleague who is from Shanghai. I went in for a la Carte, and it appears they do have a lunch buffet for $6.95; however, there's no lunch buffet on weekends. I like that. The best way to gauge the quality of a restaurant is to order from the menu, always. I hate it when people trash a place based on their buffet, which is always engineered to be as un-ethnic, common-denominator and bland as possible.
The service was friendly and Chinese-nice (meaning efficient). We were seated quickly, the place was clean and they had red lacquer and gold trim tiles on the ceiling, stressing their Chinese and Shanghai origins.
For starters, we had the steamed buns and Shu Mai. The steamed buns (with a pork filling) were wonderful -- far better than the gunky stuff you get at Jasmine. Shu Mai was indeed different from what I expected, but was all right -- not much flavor. Now, as for Shu Mai, the server did tell me it had a filling of rice, mushroom and pork -- usually you get fermented fish or such stuff.
For entrees, we had Chicken in Garlic Sauce and that was a superstar. Not often have I eaten such a great stir fry. Let me explain, the chicken was not tough or watery, there wasn't much oil floating on it, the flavors were multi-layered and it was neither salty nor sweet. It may sound easy, but it is hard for most Chinese restaurants in the US to accomplish. 5 stars for that.
I was adventurous and ordered Walnut Shrimp. I asked the server if they could make it a bit spicy, but the server "advised" that "Spicy don't go well with this style. It's a nice dish. Try it". I went with her recommendation and boy, was I glad I did. It is hard to describe the flavor -- it had candied walnuts (duh) and quick-fried shrimp with some egg-white and rice flour coating. The fried shrimp was then tossed with a sauce that had no soy sauce. This is something you would expect in a Persian restaurant, but here it was in a Shanghai-style restaurant. I got a lot of shrimp (about 25). It was scrumptious and decadent, and it cost $14.95. Acceptable.
They gave us a lot of rice and the rice was good. We took two boxes home and were very happy we tried this place. Two persons in the restaurant, one table away from us, were happily trimming and de-stringing the string beans and the beans looked totally fresh. I liked that -- it reminds me of how I got interested in cooking -- and that was when started helping my mother cook from a tender age of 9.
I will definitely visit again and will revise the rating after that trip. It is right next to Nijiya so that's convenient if you buy Japanese groceries. Of course, unless you park right in front of the restaurant (good luck on the weekends!), the spots are idiotically tiny. I saw a Ford F-150 proudly double-parked and I couldn't really fault the guy given the width of parking spots. The only thing you could park within the lines and be able to open both front doors is Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit!
People thought this was:
I LOVE Shanghai-nese food!!! This place is such a shabby, old and tacky decorated place but they dish out a good meal! I recommend you order the spicy slices of beef dish, the soup dumplings and the chive pancake!! Those are the best things at this place! Everything else is ok too! The service is really friendly...which is surprising for a Chinese restaurant...
I went here last night for the first time and ordered three dishes: xiao long bao, crispy walnut shrimp, and Shanghai fried noodles. The xiao long bao was good, it had the xiao long bao flavor, but it was nothing special. I was dissatisfied with the crispy walnut shrimp because the shrimp was so salty that it ruined the dish. For a dish that costs $15.00, I expected better. And the fried noodles? I can make it better myself.
Back in college, my [now vegetarian] friend use to take my here for some good, yet cheap chinese food.
It was here that I was introduced to the wondering dumpling known as Xiao Long Bao. Unfortunately, I've since discovered places that make far better versions of this dumpling.
Anyhow, since my usual go-to dumpling place was closed during the '4th' weekend, I decided to give this place another shot.
I guess I can only say that my taste buds have improved since my college days. We ordered all dumplings - Shanghai Shu Mai [which was a rice-based], boiled dumplings, and of course, Xiao Long Bao.
[http://www.yelp.com/bi...]
The Shanghainese version of the Shu Mai was definitely not what I expected, but it was not bad either. The dumplings in general were all just A-OK.
[http://www.yelp.com/bi...]
[http://www.yelp.com/bi...]
People thought this was:
Shanghai City has changed the way they approach their beef noodle soup (niu rou mien) as of late. The price has gone up to $7.95, but that bowl of salty, meaty goodness packed a whallop that left an observant friend saying "I can't believe you ate that much!" after our hero consumed the whole thing.
First off, the noodles are topped with a LOT of chopped Chinese parsley. The beef is soft and mixed with a few fatty bits and tendons that add a bit of variety. The broth is heavy and dark, with a bit of orange peel, garlic, and star anise thrown in there for flavoring. The greens paired with the meat are spinach, which is a unusual pairing for NRM. The server gave an option of having it spicy or normal, but even the spicy version lacks an extra kick. There's some definite room for improvement in the niu rou mien (such as toning down the saltiness and having chunkier meat), but it's alright for a non-Taiwanese NRM.
The menu is a bit deceiving on the name of the niu rou mien; it is called "beef noodle soup with bean thread", but it actually comes with thick round noodles instead of the thin noodles as the name would suggest.
PROS:
- Old school Shanghainese restaurant decor.
- Authentic Shanghai style flavor.
CONS:
- Menu prices have generally increased lately.
- Food here generally comes pretty salty (except for the fried rice, which is too light).
People thought this was:
Walking through the double golden dragon archway past the white board full of Chinese writing… Read more »
I'm always looking for the silver lining in a dining experience. That is, I try really hard to find some thing that I like. Perhaps at S.C., it's that nothing sucks really bad. Mostly everything that I've tried at Shanghai City has been average... nothing really has stood out to me as exceptional. The few things that I have enjoyed more than others are their tea and the Lion's Head meatball, but only because I have no other example to compare it to. I don't think I've tried it anywhere else in San Diego. S.C. isn't a stand out place, but they're a satisfactory restaurant that has a fairly extensive menu that includes dim sum.
People thought this was:
I ordered the shrimp fried rice when I went here. It was around 7.95$, the quantity was pretty good. But it was very bland and light. In the sense that it lacked taste. The number of shrimps in the rice too were less, infact less than the total number of alphabets in the word "Shrimp" (less than 6).
I asked for the side of hot sauce to spice things up. The hot sauce was good, but too oily. The rice too was a bit salty. The next time I come here I will def. order something else. I wasn't pleased this time.
One good thing is the waiting time is less and service is quick.
People thought this was:
Have you ever tried a not well-cooked chicken? You can try it here.
Really like the food here. But then again, my parents are from Zhejiang and I grew up eating Mom's Shanghainese food.
Just want to point out that this is Shanghainese cuisine. Shanghainese food usually is famous for their red-cooked dishes, braised food, claypot eels. The food has more oil, more heavy sauces that are thick and rich in flavor. It's characterized by a sweeter soy sauce flavor. Expect to have some glistening oil on top of things. (My Mom used to complain when a lot of the food has no fat. "What did they do," Mom would say, "keep the fat for themselves while they feed us the chaff?")
When I go to authentic restaurants like this one, I stay away from the lunch special unless the dish is one of their specialty.
Don't order things like Sweet and Sour XYZ because Sweet and Sour is Cantonese. Don't order Gong Bao XYZ, because Gong Bao anything is Sichuanese / Hunanese food.
Unless the cook really can make these other dishes, you'll just end up with bad food and a bad experience.
People thought this was:
We've been coming here for quite some time. It's the cheap brunchy-type items that keep us coming back. They have homemade soy milk (do jiang) and fried bread (yo tiao) that are darn similar to the breakfast places in China. They are cheap and good. I highly recommend getting the hot soy milk sweet. It's good, as the bread is not sweet at all. Dumplings are good, and steamed beef buns (shah lomb bao) are good, too. I really like the soy/ginger sauce that accompanies them. They menu is huge. Haven't tried as many things as I'd like, but I think that most everything will be pretty good. Not a lot of English spoken here, but food is truly the international language. Great decor: gaudy as hell. Gotta love the non-stop dragons and mirrors.
I've been coming here for the past 10 years and will continue to do so for my Chinese food cravings.
My latest visit here was Tuesday night with my Acting Class at 1000pm. Apparently, they now have a special Late Nite menu from 900pm to Midnight. Its a whole bunch of delicious a la carte entrees for only $6-7. The 9 of us ordered about 20 items, all delicious!: Beef & Onion, Spicey Scallops, Garlic Shrimp, Sauted Fish Fillet, Saute Spinich, Crispy Chicken, and a bunch of other tasty items. If you're looking for good late night Chinese, come here!
Its not a 5 Star cause the regular menu is bit pricey, but you definitely taste the quality you're getting for the extra money. Definitely try the Walnut Shrimp, Lemon Chicken, and Sauted String Beans, YUM!
I'm half Chinese and half Vietnamese, and I know its authentic and good when I see my fellow people/customers around eating here, speaking only in Madarin or Catonese(my style!). The waitresses don't realize I'm a Twinkie/Banana and always try to converse with me in Cantonese too; I try, but I suck, and they giggle at me...and then I think they give me a discount at the end for trying. Thanks ladies!
People thought this was:
i'm from LA.- SGV...so as far as chinese restaurants are concerned.. i think this place is pretty good for San Diego. If this restaurant were to be placed in SGV, then this place gets 2 stars.
came here for shanghai food: xiao lung bao and shanghai style chow mein. Both are passable. The skin of the xiao lung bao is quite thick. The taste was ok, not enough soup, in my opinoin; it wasnt bad / gross. The noodles, the color of the dish was good, rich & dark w/ soy sauce.. the taste was not bad either; but it had a burnt wok flavor which i do not like. However the 2nd time i visited this place, their noodle was better than the first time i've tried.
People thought this was:
After reading numerous review of this place I just had to go and try it out.
First, the food was good. I ordered the pork in preserverd vegetable and some xiao long bao ( $22.20 w/tax). I thought it was pretty fair since the portions are huge, it could easily fit 2 if you want.
As far as the xiao long bao ( the real reason I went there ) I was a little dissapointed. I guess my expectations where too high after reading how great the xiao long bao are in this place.
I will definetly go back and give then a second chance of my fav dim sum. And I also heard the late night snack are awesome too.
People thought this was:
Lunch after lab, okay cool.
Invite the others, no problem.
Shanghai City, they have lunch specials for $3.99(--WRONG, promotion over)
So three guys and a girl(that's me) roll into the little strip mall where Shanghai City is located.
Sit down or lunch buffet, indecisive as always, the lady let us scope out what they had in their buffet area. SOLD. And $6.95 is not bad, not bad at all.
Written above every dish in Chinese and English was a little tag telling us what each item was.
Noodles, Fried Rice, Pot Stickers, 2 soups- Hot and Sour & Egg Flower, orange chicken, kung pao this and that, garlic shrimp, string beans, Mung Bean siopao :) and a bunch of other things.
The noodles were not bad at all, and the fried rice as well.
Wasn't a fan of the orange chicken, good thing I didn't load up on that.
I needed some color other than brown on my plate so I opted for the green string beens which were quite tasty. I went back for a second round.
The wait staff was very nice, and one of my friends was even nicer to pay for lunch between the 4 of us. Sweet. Next time lunch is on one of the 3 of us that didn't pay.
I'll have to try what's on their sit-down menu next time.
They have tables that'll accommodate 8-10 people.
So bring as many people as you like.
Authentic enough and Americanized enough to please everyones taste buds.
Better than other buffets I've been to as well. I wasn't overwhelmed with TOO much food.
Also the steamed rice is on top of all the other food next to the oranges.
People thought this was:
Oh boo hoo... Shanghai City has greasy food... You know what, I happen to LIKE grease. It tastes good, and besides that it's healthy for you. Grease makes the insides of your veins more slippery so your blood flows better. It also makes your skin soft and supple which is a blessing during these dry Santa Anna winds. At least that's what I learned in skool...
Yeah, it's a little oily at times and they may not not use the highest quality ingredients, but the food here is tasty as Hell and VERY affordable. The late hours are a God send too, as I've hit this place up late night after the theater and always been stoked.
I love the decor as well with those awesome golden dragon arches in the entryway and the lanterns with green lifesavers hanging from them. I like to think this is what a high class whorehouse would look like back in the day in Shanghai. May not be true, but don't ruin my fantasy damn you.
I've tried quite a bit on the menu, most of which I don't know the names of (I have no problems asking the waitress to translate the specials for me- they are always very happy to do so and seem to find it quite amusing). The basic Shanghai style chow mein is the bomb- a mountain of oily salty noodles with a good amount of chicken, beef and shrimp. A great deal for $7.95. I also love the lamb with spring onion, which for $12.95 is a ton of tasty lamb. They also have some good soups (especially the beef noodle), dumplings and sizzling plates.
I'm a big eater and I've never left this place without a shitload of leftovers. Damn, Chinese food is so good the next day, especially when you have a hangover...
Shanghai City is just an all around good place that I've always been pleased with. Late hours and affordability make it a winner when all else is closed and/or you need to stretch a dollar. Check it out. Oh and don't worry about that grease. Remember, it's good for you!
People thought this was:
Came here the other day with my mom.
We order a number of different items but the one that stood out was their beef noodle soup. If it were just the beef noodle soup we got, I would have given Shanghai City a 4. But since the other two items were pretty average, I settled on a 3.
The first thing I noticed when the beef noodle soup arrived was that the noodles looked home made. While home made fresh noodles don't necessarily translate into a dish that is well made, it is never a bad sign. Fortunately, my hunch was correct. The soup was tasty, the beef was tender and flavorful, and of course, the noodles were fresh and of a pleasant consistency.
All in all, if I have a hankerin for beef noodle soup in San Diego, this is the place for me.
People thought this was:
Came here to try out the Chinese breakfast (thanks Joe L for the recommendation!). Breakfast is served from 10am onwards, Saturdays and Sundays only. Turns out the breakfast menu is on a tiny handwritten Chinese table card, no translation provided. I guess they like to keep these goodies a secret... if you can't read it, it's not on the menu?! Ordered dou jiang (sweet), you tiao, xiao long bao, sao bing, dou sha bing. Everything was fresh, hot and really delicious. dumplings were surprisingly good too. Extra points for the appealing decor... classic Chinese restaurant style. Reminds me of some of the old Chinatown restaurants from my Vancouver childhood.... squishy old vinyl booth seating, old ceramic teacups, mirrors everywhere and tiled gold-and-red ceiling.
Just the breakfast experience for a chilly Sunday morning (that is, chilly for San Diego).
People thought this was:
I fell for the 6.99 lunch buffet sign. Small buffet with about a dozen differnt things... OOOOOOOO, salt and pepper shrimp,, pile some on my plate, put one in my mouth,, yuck,, this tastes like the refrigerator,, I would bet my house that it was left over from yesterday.. It's 1130 am,, when nearby Sunrise buffet has piles of fresh food out....(should have definately gone there, which is in the same strip mall) Most of the food wasn't even very hot.. I think probably the things off the menu might be better,, but I'll never know, becasuse I'll never go back.. You fooled me once........I can't believe that the place is yelped so highly.
People thought this was:
Ah, what to say about Shanghai City...
Upside: The Food. Especially the late-night specials (just be sure you ask for the late-night special menu because you won't get it otherwise). I like the salt-n-pepper shrimp, soup dumplings, crispy chicken, etc.
Downside and reason for three stars: The Service. It has been my experience that unless you are Chinese you will not get good service, asian or not. Once we order the woman who always waits on us pretty much ignores us until our food is ready. Forget getting refills, and sometimes you're lucky to get anything to drink at all! Oh, and if you go in with more than one person you better decide beforehand who is going to pay as they won't split the check!!
If there were other places open late-night with yummy food i'd gladly go there, but until then I will put up with the crappy service!
People thought this was:
The first thing I want to say about Shanghai City is the woman who works at the front register. My friend asked her something about the Lunch Special because he wanted to clarify what she had said...and she responded with way too much attitude. But you know how it is when someone doesn't speak English that well...the things they say can be misconstrued as having too much attitude? I think that was the case here...so I don't want to rate this place too poorly for its service. I'll see how it's like the next time I come here.
The food is not bad. They have a pretty nice Lunch Special for $5.95...but it might not fill you up if you are a big eater. Portions for the special are not as generous as the portions in the main menu. They also have late night specials from 9pm-12am...so that's probably a decent option if you just went to an expensive Italian restaurant that gave you very little food that you just absolutely NEED some Chinese food so you can sleep happily (look at my review for Opera Caffe in the next couple of days).
Not the best Chinese food I've had by far...but it's tasty. It's not like Panda Express or anything...it's pretty legit Chinese food. Give it a shot...could become a staple in your food runs.
This review is just for dinner.
If my parents like this place, it is definitely not greasy. I don't know what people are ordering, but I think the food here is pretty authentic Chinese, the portions are perfect, and the prices are just right.
We ordered a hot pot soup which had a good seafood base, a white fish dish with bamboo, pork in garlic sauce (yummy), and a Schezwan cold appetizer dish. Everything was delicious! And their complimentary preserved lettuce appetizer dish was also good. The food came out fast, just like a good Chinese restaurant should. And the service was nice. And the place was clean. What more can you ask for?
I came here after craving traditional Chinese breakfast food and seeing the relatively good review here on yelp. I took my Korean roommate along.
We arrived at around 10:30am and the place was completely empty, which was a little unsettling. The hostess who seated us was very nice.
When I apologized for my bad Chinese and confessed that I couldn't read anything on the special breakfast menu, the waitress patiently recited the entire thing to me. I ordered 2 portions of sao bing you tiao and sweet soymilk. (I guess this place isn't very good for people who can't read or speak Chinese, but just bring your Chinese friend along to translate.)
The food came really fast and was really hot, fresh, and delicious. My roommate, who has never had sao bing you tiao, loved it as well. The waitress also stopped by to make sure everything was okay a few times.
The bill came out to around $12, which was pretty good, considering the both of us were super full.
---
Came back a week later and tried their dou sha bao (one order has 6) and fried ying shi juan (one order has two big ones, which are each cut into 3). The outside of the dou sha bao was nice and fluffy, and the inside was sweet and of pleasant, smooth consistency. The friend ying shi juan had an excellent outer shell with a fluffy inside.
People thought this was:
This is the closest to the greasy Chinese food I loved so much in NYC. (I am using "greasy" here as a compliment. Don't go for the XLB's.. they're pretty soup-less. However, the pork fried dumplings were amazing- perfectly fried/browned and almost identical to the ones I miss so dearly. Beef with broccoli and Shanghai style chow mein were also super close to the east coast. Shanghai City is a win for me. Not bad- 40 bucks for 4 people. Of course in NY it would probably be around 30 (but I won't go there).
People thought this was:
for the money and freshness - this is the place - Quantity and quality. I discovered this gem in an otherwise uninspired strip mall in 2001. I have only been there for lunch (atleast 100 times over the past 8 years) - so my review is purely buffet biased.
My favorites are the broccoli beef and pot stickers. I think the price is below $7 for lunch buffett that has everything you could want it you are a chinese foodie. Get there early, because when they run out of food.. it's gone. I think that, along with the fact I am usually the only caucasion there, speaks volumes of Shanghai city. Julie-Ann is a great waitress , she even remembered the first name of a friend of mine who had not been back there with me in over 6 months!! that's the epitome of great service. As for the food - i think it's great for the price. It's exactly as advertised - good inexpensive food that satisfies. I am a loyal customer and will be for life.
People thought this was:
Wow, what a life saver. I thought I go hungry after leaving Sea World. Lord and Behold, there was Shanghai City Restaurant. Beef noodle soup is what i am talking about. I havent had it in a while and god, if they had a pot of beef noodles back in the kitchen, i finish all that as well.
The fact that they open late is a plus!
I'm surprised to see users rate this place as a 3.5 stars! I really love this place -- I usually come here for the late night specials, where you can get AMAZING deals on really large portions of delicious Chinese food. The food tastes really good to me, too -- you can order some delicious Talapia fish, some huge meatballs, all sorts of fried chicken, delicious veggies... You name it , they'll have it. What it boils down to is getting good quality food for a very cheap price. The service is also pretty fast. The only thing you have to watch out for are the fortune cookies! They're usually pretty sanctimonious/odd, and never really optimistic like you might expect. Overall though this place is awesome! I love it! =)
Authentic Shanghai Cuisine..... if you have ever been to Shanghai / Beijing. Not much seafood since it's based mostly on dishes from Northern China.
Recommended dishes:
1) Their Shanghai Chow Mein is the best.... though its a bit greasy.
2) Siu Long Boa - little dragon buns..... delicious, though, the best ones I've tasted so far is ding tai fung in LA....
3) Fried noodle with hot soy milk.
4) Most soup with noodles... you have a choice of thin or thick, you should choose the one type that you like.
Its pretty good on a SD scale.
People thought this was:
I go there all the time ....well ...kinda ... I am there after 9pm because of the late night special. Not all there food are the best but I would recommand ..snow peas, shanghai dumplings, lamb, 5 treasures and the pork spare ribs.
Not too bad for hungry college students ......
Don't expect too much and you will walk out .....sleepy because of the greesy food :P
I've been going to this place for about three yrs ..
They are always consistent! Friendly service! I like the decor and the booths are comfy
My favorite dish is chicken in garlic sauce and they make the best and very hot - hot n sour soup! I've never gotten a cold plate either.
I take all my friends here and I recommend it :)
People thought this was:
The food is so good.
After 9pm, they have a special menu where soups and entries are $6.95 or less (I think).
People thought this was:
This place is ok. Can be a little dirty sometimes... but not too expensive. I usually come here for their weekend dim sum or late night snack. I usually order the chinese dounut, soy milk, green onion pancake and noodles. The xiao long bao is so so, but not the best. Shanghai Chow mein is not bad, but can be oily. I like their Sweet Sour Ribs because I like to chew thru the bones and cartilage... but a little too sweet. Their beef noodle soup is not bad.
One thing to note, their oil sometimes is... not saying bad, but old. That's what I don't like. You won't die from eating here... but you won't go broke.
I discovered Shanghai City back in 2002 when I needed a late night Chinese fix. I stumbled upon it and liked it a lot. It is a bit greasy but still tasty and full of flavor. I guess the place has street cred since I always see large groups of Chinese people eating there AND speaking Chinese. So I guess that's worth something.
Their sizzling rice soup is awesome. I could live on it. Shanghai City also introduced me to Tsing Tao beer. It's now one of my top 3 beers worldwide.
The staff is always friendly and helpful although they speak limited English. Fine by me. Sometimes I don't feel like being in San Diego anyway and I like to get away for a while... albeit Kearny Mesa.
People thought this was:
My Chinese friend introduced me to this place and every time I've been here, I have been pretty satisfied.
I'm not Chinese though, so I should not really get a vote, but oh well.
I highly recommend getting 'jing-doo-pai-goo.'
This place is in the Nijaya plaza, right next door to Curry House & Redberry. It's not an obvious choice on a street like Convoy with many other little Asian places to eat. Shanghai City is the sort of place where people come to because of it's word-of-mouth reputation. I went here as a little kid, and now more recently. The food isn't bad, but I think I've had better up in Los Angeles.
The xiao long bao is really good here. Be careful not to puncture the skin with your chopsticks because the yummy soup will come splurting out and you'll be disappointed that you didn't plop the whole thing in your mouth ahead of time.
The sauteed sprout veggies (expensive, folks! $11 for a dish of veggies) are not bad, but they were drowned in greasy oil by the time they came out. I liked how they only used garlic and salt for the flavoring. No oyster sauce or soy sauce to drown out the sprout veggie's taste.
The decor? Think of that Seinfeld Chinese restaurant with brown vinyl booths, red/gold ceilings, a horse painting on the side of the restaurant and dim lighting. You definitely don't come here for the ambience. The food is not bad, so if you're in the area, you should check it out.
People thought this was:
Not as nice as a Emerald or Jasmine but I really do like this place. Affordable priced Chinese food and very authentic quality items. I was able to make reservations for my party of 21 and they were able to combine some tables for me so I could fit everyone. Granted, they don't speak very good English but I guess they get the point most of the times.
I had the egg drop soup, beed satay sizzling platter, seafood clay pot, moo shoo chicken (which was wrapped in something that made them look like burritos), and shanghai crispy noodle chow mein. All of them were very good but I wasn't very fond of the shanghai crispy noodle chow mein because it wasn't as crispy as I usually like and the noodles were thicker than suited my taste.
But otherwise, totally a 4 star place as long as you're not looking for a glamorous Chinese restaurant. I will come back here again when I have big groups of people.
People thought this was:
Good place if you're in the mood for late night Chinese food (hey, that rhymes!) I usually get the noodle dishes, soups and steamed dumplings. The chicken and beef dishes are good too. I've been told by a Chinese gal at work that this place serves up pretty authentic food, so that says something!
The decor is pretty outdated with the red carpet, gold and red tiled ceilings, etc. Kinda makes you feel like there is some shady business going on in the kitchen area.
People thought this was:
This place is actually pretty decent. I would probably give 3.5 stars if I could. The Xiao Long Bao is pretty mediocre but it's pretty tough for most Chinese restaurants in America to make this well anyway for some reason.
The Ma Po Tofu is really surprisingly good with the appropriate Ma La (numbing) peppercorn spices - be sure to have them put ground beef in it so it can be enjoyed properly as well. (Not sure why many places omit the meat.)
Drunken chicken cold appetizer is $5.50 but they give an entire chicken leg and thigh which is generously cut and pretty darn good. Rice is like $0.75 per person so an awesome and cheap (although veg-free) lunch for two would be just splitting the drunken chicken and getting rice.
The tea actually tastes like tea too. :-)
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We must have ordered the wrong food because our's was not good.
The food was bland and overall boring. The best thing was the green beans, and any decent Chinese restaurant can get that right.
I've heard so many things about this place, but bleh.
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Kearny Mesa
Category: Chinese
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