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Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Mon-Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 4:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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I've been hunting xiao long bao. We had the regular pork variety, and they were good. Unfortunately, about half of the dumplings had already been drained of their precious soup. Booo. Still good, but a let down when you notice some are flatter than others.
The Shanghai thick noodles sucked here. They looked so promising. Lots of people in the restaurant ordered them. They come to your table thick, handmade, and brown, yet instead of chewy, tasty noodles, you get bland, flaccid noodles. The noodles fall apart in your mouth. They are as unchewy as they could be. I would have preferred chewy machine-made noodles. And the flavor was not there. You add some of the pork and spinach or napa cabbage to your fork, the only thing with real flavor are the greens. So disappointing.
We also got a cold appetizer of cured pork meat, which consisted of tasty pink cubes of head cheese. I quite liked it, but save room for the dumplings. The pan fried pork buns were also tasty. They were juicy like the soup dumplings but with bready skins to soak up the flavor. They should serve these bottom side up so the crispy undersides don't steam themselves soggy on the plate. Buns come out hot, so no worries.
There's a picture menu to help you decide what to order. I'd like to try other dishes sometime, but the next time I'm in San Mateo I'll want to try other restaurants first.
Average run of the mill dumpling house
Steamed dumplings were pretty tasty
The shanghai rice cakes were a disappointment the last time we were here. It was overcooked and all stuck together making it taste like cooked dough that stuck to my mouth when chewing.
Pot stickers and green onion pancake were average.
Beef chow mein was a hit with the kids!
Good place for a quick meal when craving shanghai food. Prices are decent, too.
Knowing that good dumplings create a stir and cause long lines in the Bay Area, we arrived promptly to avoid possible wait line, however, we were surprised to find that aside from one other party, we were the only patrons this fine Saturday morning.
The Xiao Long Bao was remarkably similar in taste as those that I have had in Shanghai, however, the skin was think and tough and most did not have any broth in them, a real shame, since I had such high expectations of Shanghai Dumpling Shop, I was half expecting to burn my tongue on this trip, instead, all Shanghai Dumpling Shop did was burn a hole in my wallet.
Other items ordered, including Shanghai noodles, pork buns and green onion pancakes were underwhelming. Overall, a disappointing meal.
Was in a rush today and needed a fast spot for dinner. We grabbed a bite at the trusty Shanghai Dumpling Shop. Had the sweet and sour fish filets, a veggie dish (baby bok choy, shitake mushrooms, and fried gluten), sauteed clams in black bean sauce, and of course their xiao long bao (shanghai dumplings). Very tasty, quick, and satisfying! We were in and out in a half hour (way better than going to a fast food joint). I would bump this up to 3.5 stars... But this Yelp rating doesn't allow half stars.
If you want a little taste of Shanghai, this place comes pretty close. They have pretty decent xiao… Read more »
Maybe because I'm not big on Chinese food nor do I get excited with dumplings or dim sum (blame it to my mom-we used to go to dim sum every Sunday when I was young). My friend told me this place is different and she mentioned the magic word "dumpling soup". I have heard and read interesting things about this "dumpling" so I didn't hesitate and agreed to eat here for lunch.
Am I missing something here? The food was mediocre and like always tasted the drenched noodle in soy sauce and oil. I waited impatiently for our dumpling soup and alas, less than 10 minutes later it finally came... I was expecting a spoonful of "soup" inside my dumpling and instead I only got a sip. Some of the dumplings didn't even have a drop of soup so it was like any steamed dumplings. For me, it was semi-sweet and a bit bland for my taste. I was disappointed but could not show it in front of my dear friend who was so excited to eat here.
We also ordered their pork buns but don't be mistaken it is not the sweet pork bun you are probably thinking. This one was super dry and not worth the $7.
I did enjoy my friend's enthusiasm and the satisfying look on her face with every bite she takes (at least one of us is enjoying it lol). Other than that, no thank you.
This place has a good menu with a ton of variety - but I wasn't overly impressed with any of the items which I ordered. We ordered the spare rib chow mein, the steamed buns, the fried steam buns, and three orders of the Shanghai Dumplings.
I think the shanghai dumplings at Koi Garden or Koi Palace are still better than here.
I've spent the last 2 Sundays here, and overall Mikey likes. Not the best I've had, but definitely not the worst.
Come for the xiao long bao. The soup is done right - not too salty, not too oily, and piping hot. The skin is thick though (minus one star), and it'll fall apart on you if you're not careful with your chopsticks (my dad is a disaster). If you don't want to burn yourself, I'd recommend going with the bite and slurp method at least for the first 2. After that it's safe to eat them whole, though they're on the big side.
The other dishes I tried were ok but not spectacular (minus another star). I wasn't impressed with the Shanghai noodles, underwhelming in terms of flavor. The green onion pancake was thick, as was the bread in the pan fried pork buns, though they were tasty. And I was really hoping for some extra kick to the soup in the tan tan noodles.
Do try to get here as close to opening as possible if you don't want to wait in line. They only have 16 or so tables.
I think the problem is that I know there's better out there. Masterful xiao long bao is more delicate, and the food here just has the feeling that it's made with heavy hands.
Still, for the most part it's yummy and I'd be glad to come back. Mark my words though - xiao long bao is up next on my list of things to seek out here after I get done with ramen.
I love Shanghainese food - in particular, xiao long bao. Unfortunately, after eating at ding tai fung at various Asian cities, I have been disappointed with ones I had in the U.S. (except for Yang Sing's in San Francisco).
Two of my friends recommended shanghai dumpling shop and my hubby and I decided to give it try today - we got there at 11:15 and got seated right away. We ordered the regular xiao long bao, the soy bean, tofu skin and perserved vegetable, the tofu noodles, and vegetarian dumplings.
The food definitely exceeded our expectations!
Pluses: The dishes were not greasy, the xiao long bao had enough soup, the fillings weren't too salty, the vegetable dishes were pretty authentics
Minus: The skin on the xiao long bao were not as thin and fine as those you'd find in Asia (or Yang Sing) but still good enough; we didn't like the vegetable dumplings because the skin was so thick that it tasted too doughy.
Overall, I would definitely go back. When we left around noon, there was a huge line so my recommendation would be to get there before 11:30 to avoid the wait.
My friend looooves shanghai dumplings, so I tried to surprise him for dinner here, but that didn't work out too well. Anyways, it was pretty empty, but it was a weekday night. The staff somewhat friendly (can't expect too much at a Chinese place). The food came pretty fast. Overall okay, not that impressed with the dumplings, but they were good.
- Shanghai Dumplings: tasty, skin was a little thick, soup good
- Pan Fried Shanghai Noodles: okay, shrimps were tiny, good fluffy noodles, flavorful sauce
- Onion Pancake: too doughy, not enough onion in it
This place is awesome! It has a wonderful selection of vegetarian type dishes and meat. I don't know how authentic the food is since my Cantonese friend said it tastes a lot like Cantonese style food....NEVERTHELESS THIS PLACE IS GOOD!
The Shanghai Dumplings are tasty but the skin is a little thick. They have this bean curd noodle dish topped with chicken, shrimp, and some bok choy in a nice transparent broth. Their green onion pancake is great as well! I recommend the lion's head meatballs as well which goes well with rice.
You can go for a nice brunch as well because they do dim sum. It isn't a huge selection of dishes but Shangai Dumplings' dim sum is well made and tastes good.
The service is fast and everything is nicely affordable. Highly recommended for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!!
Take two was a charm! We tried to go to Shanghai Dumpling Shop the last time we flew into SFO, but they were closed between lunch and dinner.
This time, our flight was delayed coming in (due to rain, what the heck). I was going to freak out more if I didn't get to go again (they close at 9, what the heck).
But we made it with maybe 10 minutes to spare. Sat down and ordered right before last call.
Duck (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) served cold.
Noodles (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).
Fried dough with condensed milk (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). I've missed this dish since I was a little kid.
Their famous xiao long bao (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). We got there so late that they ran out of the crab meat one. Leaves room for us to get it next time!
Came here two times with my best friend and his family. His mom orders a bunch of plates and all of them are GOOD! Their shanghai dumping is good. Once you bite into it, the juice gushes out. Be careful though... it can get pretty hot when you first get it to the table. Overall the food is good, but the place can be a bit more clean. This is an Asian restaurant, so I can't complain much.
I think this place is the best place to have Xiao Long Baos! I also like the preserved pork and rice cakes and the clay pot with pork and and veggies! YUMMY!
IF you go on weekends there is usually a wait, so I've been going there for dinner instead. haha
I have tried Xiao Long Baos and preserved pork and rice cakes in SF and I must say I DONT MIND DRIVING TO MILLBRAE.
Going back here for the third and hopefully the final time. Fong L is probably laughing his ass off that I did (and yes I knew ahead of time what I was kind of getting into).
1st time - M$G poisoning that rendered me useless for a whole afternoon (bed-ridden...) that was when these guys first opened in Millbrae years ago.
2nd time (see previous update) - 3 star food, plus an old angry rude Chinese woman soured the experience (especially when she lacked table and social management skills, really who truly works their butt off to pay moolah just to get 3rd class service....unbelieveable). 2 star overall
3rd time - I had little choice....time was running out, there were tables, and I did not put my foot down hard enough to get pricey average Cantonese instead down the street that would have hit the spot better than this place
To be fair we did not order any dumplings. Any bao's steamed or fried would have been a let down anyway.
So we sexperimented with other menu offerings
hung shao hua shui - this I believe was some soy braised fish. Hua Shui is not even the real name of the fish. It is supposed to be the tail end cut of a very boney fish (likely some carp variant), stewed in a soy based thick sauce. However the shit came out a tad bit overcooked (although the center was softer), and the sauce was reddish black goopy. A far cry from the version at Bund Shanghai in Chinatown.
Hung Shao Si Zi Tou - Lion Head Meatballs - ok there are two versions here. A stewed version (Hung Shao), 3 big ass giant braised pork meatballs with spinach on a plate, or a claypot version ($1 more at $11.95). We got the stewed version. ZOMG, while the meatballs were as big as softballs, the outside was dry and almost burnt-like, and the inside tasted a bit strong on the rice wine marination (and on top of that, the whole thing did not make me oink, good thing my O-ring didn't squeal afterwards either).
Ji Huei Mien - Chicken noodle soup. Big portion of a somen like noodle in a good clear chicken broth (that made the noodle soggy, which is fine) with mushrooms, carrots, chicken breast slices. A good hit for the kids who like it simple. While this tasted nothing like the best Ji Huei Mien's in Hong Kong Shanghainese restaurants, it was the only saving grace of the three things we ordered.
Oh yeah...Shanghainese restaurants in Hong Kong.... kick the muddafuggin ass.
But Shanghai Dumpling Shop? They had me fooled. Turns out the folks in the kitchen speak Cantonese, including what appeared to be the chef.
But yet despite the Canto factor, they can't crank out decent authentic Shanghainese in the Peninsula.
Save your Shanghai and xiaolongbao fixes for
Sunny Shanghai - San Bruno
Shanghai East - San Mateo
Happy Cafe - San Mateo (only go during dinner, Wednesday nights only, and order from the Chinese whiteboard for the real Shanghai Xiao Chir/small plates)
Little Shanghai - San Mateo (da best)
These guys added too many words to the restaurants title, let me propose where the cutoff should be
SHANGHAI DUMP(ling shop)
Third time's a charm maybe? With the luck (or ShitOuttaLuck) I've been having here with one thing… Read more »
Yum! Yum! Yum! Fresh Shanghi Dumplings! You can never get enough! Millbrae location only has 3 kinds, the one on the Sunset has more selection. But, still has the same great burst of flavor.
Love the shanghi noodles and the bamboo steamers in lotus leaf with peppered chicken over rice. I'm getting hungry writing this review! Small restaurant, but has a couple large tables for families. Saturday and Sundays during yum-cha you better get in line quick! Local hot spot, everyone and their ma'ma is waiting outside!
The wifey and I come here atleast once a month, the place can be packed on the weekends but we often come here on weeknightsfor dinner. We usually get the Garlic string beans, the shanghai noodles, and you got to try the Sanghai Dumplings! Eat them while they're hot!
I seriously can't figure out how people say they get bad service here! I love Shanghai Dumpling Shop and eat here often. Especially Xiao Long Bao. My husband and I just ate here and shared three orders of dumplings one pork xiao long bao, one chive dumplings (love the texture of these), and one steamed pork and veggie. For $22, we left with very full bellies.
We are always greeted with warmth and welcomed in. Today, in fact, as I was enjoying my soup dumplings, our waitress walked past and rubbed my back and said "sooo good, right?" Poo Poo to people who aren't nice enough to the wait staff to be treated nicely back.
Ever since my favorite xiao long bao restaurant closed down, I have been mourning the loss of the best soupy, juicy little dumplings I have had in the Bay. I refused to find another replacement or I just can't find a replacement. But what do you do when that xiao long bao craving hits? I don't know but my friend insisted that we drive to Shanghai Dumpling Shop in Millbrae because and I quote, "It's just so good!"
When that steamy basket landed on our table, I asked him, "Aren't these XLB a little too big?" I braced myself for the soup as I took my first bite, expecting it to squirt everywhere. I looked in my spoon and raised my eyebrow, where is the soup? The skin is very thick and the knot on top (where they close the dumpling) is hard. It's really not what I call my ideal XLB, not even close. I eventually found two at the end that were soupier.
We also ordered the beef tendon, the tan tan noodle in soup, and the sweet and sour spareribs. They were all 2.5 stars at best.
I tweeted when I left, "Christine C. drove all the way to Burlingame with Francis for some xiao long bao and not sure if it was worth it at all..."
Went here for the first time. Not too bad. The food came real fast and was decent. Enjoyed the Xiao Long Bao, Beijing Dumplings, and Mu Shu Pork Wrap. Also had Green Onion Pancake and a noodle dish with pork meat sauce. The later was not that great. The pancake was a bit too doughy and not oniony enough like some other places I've had it at. Additionally the meat sauce for the noodles was too liquidy and not thick enough to cling and flavor the noodles optimally.
The wait staff was just okay. The waitress we had was a bit older and was not gracefully putting down any of the five dishes we ordered. Never once did she check on us to see if we needed anything else. Parking was easy and plentiful in the area.
I enjoyed the food and restaurant enough to go back. Think if they worked on their staff training and standards they could easily earn a '4 star.'
Never again. NEVER AGAIN. I go here with reserved expectations since my buddy Ken k gave them a crappy 2 star review. Many others have said their namesake shanghai dumpling xiaolongbao (xlb) are good since his review over a yr ago. I thought maybe they improved since his review--got a new chef or whatnot. NOPE.
This place at first wasn't too bad. The dry fry string beans were not done right (not smacked to flatten, and with no ground meat on top--yes I can tell this with just a glance at the finished dish). The shanghai style thick noodles looked homemade and promising. Then we saw the xlb on the neighboring table looking very thick skinned and being manhandled without any disastrously wet results. Immediately I canceled our second order, only getting the 10.50 crab xlb.
The first dish that arrives is the wine sauce fish--a shanghai classic I love. It comes with edamame soy beans in addition to the classic black wood ear. Not too bad. Good flavor balance though it could have been a little sweeter with a little caramellization. The soy beans detracted from the classic textures though. B+
the next is the namesake xlb. As expected these were crappy. Thick tough skin on top, soggy and thin on bottom with the skin already popped on all but maybe 2. And those 2 had so little soup there clearly was no gelatinous pork broth anywhere near the filling. Meat was also hard and crab flavored it... Ok. C- grade. When a standard frozen jiaozi dumpling has better texture, structure, and flavor, that is nigh unforgiveable.
Next came the simple cold cucumber dish. With mashed garlic, a little soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar it's really hard to screw this up. Super garlicky. B grade.
Last was the shanghai style thick noodles. I had high expectations for this since it looked so good on the neighboring table. The noodles were handmade, and the caramellized exterior of the noodles spoke well of how it was made. WRONG. While it was smoky from a good stir fry, it lacked salt and sugar. And the noodle texture was just wrong. Either they didn't have enough gluten, or they did not knead the dough enough. C-. This is clear laziness in the kitchen as this dough seemed to be the same texture as the xlb skin. INCORRECT. See me after class.
All this made me want to give them 2-3 stars. Then I had to make 2 urgent trips to the toilet...ON THE AIRPLANE and at my DESTINATION AIRPORT. Clearly the crab was not very fresh. And they charged me 10.50 for that piece of shit. Or the liquid steaming pile in the toilets. It wasn't just me either-- my dining companion also made an urgent trip an hour afterwards.
Bottom line: STAY AWAY. THIS PLACE SUCKS DONKEY BALLS. U know how strongly I feel about this since I had to hit the stupid shift key on this iPhone for every one of those all caps words up there. Argh....
This place has the best dumplings for sure, but everything else is just ok.
My experience at the Shanghai Dumpling Shop was MUCH better 2nd time around. We came around noon, so I expected it to be busy, at least it was a nice sunny day out in Millbrae :) I put our name down and we grabbed a menu and sat outside to decide what we wanted to eat while we waited.
-2 orders of Xiao Long Bao
-stir fried Shanghai
-mongolian beef over rice
We so could have passed on the mongolian beef, though very tasty..we were so full. I always say the best dumplings are 2-bite dumplings. These xiao long bao's are so freakin good. My mouth just waters thinking about them! Service can be either slow or speedy. I get anxious seeing other tables get their dumplings and I wonder how long it will take before mine arrive. Yes, I know Millbrae is a little bit of a drive just for dumplings, but on some days, I just feel like its worth it! Doesn't hurt to get out of the city, either.
Xiao long bao 2x bigger than I'm used to! I'm used to bao being one bite...but the ones here take… Read more »
I first visited this place on a Friday, after flying 5+ hours from IAD and standing in line for an hour to get my rental car. Lucky for my mother and I we didn't have to wait long, because I would have eaten road kill at that moment.
If you arrive and see a bunch of people waiting, don't be discouraged. The wait does go by quickly.
We kept it simple by ordering the famous dumplings and the bok choy with black mushrooms. I really wanted some unsweetened, warm soy milk, but the "waiter" told me that it was only available at breakfast. I really wanted to tell him, "Dude, I've been flying all day and spent an hour waiting for a car...bring me some f'in soy milk". Instead, I smiled sweetly and asked for water instead.
The bok choy arrived first and was very, very good. I was worried that it would be oily, but that wasn't the case at all. Both vegetables were cooked just right and tasted fresh. The dumplings came next and this was where the excitement began. The skin was so soft, but not falling apart soft. The portion of the filling was plenty good; you know how some places dole out filling the size of a fingernail. It wasn't as soupy as I was expecting (think A&J), but I wasn't disappointed.
I was, however, disappointed on a return visit. I brought the boys in for lunch several days later and found it to be a let down. First off, there was a cockroach running across the table. I know I was pretty tired because I didn't say a word about it and figured it came with the territory. At least the server (same guy I had on my Friday visit) had the decency to pick it up rather than smash it, because then I would have let loose with cockroach remnants on the table.
Our dumplings were not nearly as soft as the ones I had on the first visit. We also got the eggplant, which was pretty tasty (but also pretty oily), the potatoes (I did -not- order this; it was the "token white guy" that did so), some chicken dish that was unexciting, and the Lion's Head meatballs. I gotta say the meat balls were HUGE, but what concerned me is that they appeared to be undercooked. Perhaps it was an optical illusion, but it did look that way.
Now that I've been, I can cross it off the list, but I don't know that I would rush back if I were in town.
Parking is available on Broadway, and I didn't have a problem finding a spot on either visit.
Not great, but not bad. I would go back.
xiao long bao- good and juicy.
fried xlb... dry and not crispy.
cold tendon dish - spicy
lion's head meatball- very tender.
green onion pancake - not very flaky, on the chewy side
pork & veggie soup, simple but flavorful
I've been to this place a bunch of times...the wait is normal. I arrived at about 1:15PM on a Sunday afternoon. It was packed but we were the first on the list. I order the same thing every time.
- 2 orders of shanghai dumplings
- 1 order of the steam buns
- 1 order of the fried rice cakes ( shanghai style noodles with beef)
- 1 order of steamed pork and veggie pot stickers
The fried rice cakes was a bit flavorless compared to my previous experiences, which is a disappointment since it's my favorite dish. It just needed more sauce, but as usual everything else was yummy. I had the usual food coma afterwards.
I had brought my Aunt and baby cousin for the first time. My baby cousin is a little over one year old and barely has teeth but, she looooved the dumplings! I've never seen seen her eat so much!
I'll admit service isn't all that great if you are a first timer. I've been here a dozen times and I speak the language, which gives me a better experience. Then again if you want you can always point at the menu and say 'I want one!" Everyone that I've brought to this place says it's great as well.
I'll admit the best place for shanghai dumplings is located in Arcadia, California which is about 8 hours away from here or 30 mins from Riverside. For now, this is the best we've got for a 15 min drive away from home.
People in the Peninsula and South Bay have it good in terms of authentic Chinese food.
Authentic cheap Shanghainese food in a convenient location near the airport. Everytime we go to the airport we stop by this place.
Try the water spinach in fermented tofu. The best version I've had so far in the Bay area. Their chive dumplings are also very good.
BTW The chef is lightning fast. Before we had a chance to put down the menu, the food was at our table.
Food *****
Value *****
Decor **
Read the reviews prior to trying this place, really up and down, loved it or hated it reviews mostly, so I didn't have high expectations, however when I got there, the line was out the door, we waited 15 minutes for a table, so I thought if all these people are waiting to eat here, this place must be good. After we got a table, we ordered within minutes. We ordered Shanghai Dumplings - they were okay, pan fried pork buns - they were okay, I think I prefer BBQ pork buns, Sesame chicken - it was okay, it had a thick sticky sauce, and Combination Fried rice - i liked it, but my daughter thought it was mushy. Overall the food was okay, the service is typical of many asian restaurants - just fair, they are always running around, if you want service you have to be pro-active. Parking is street only in downtown. Prices were fair. Not sure that I will ever come back here again.
Dumplings! :D it's no ding tai fung but it's good enough .
Also try...
- steamed buns
- pan friend pork buns! (These were perfection)
Will come back to try more things . but for now, a SOLID 4 stars :D
I have a lot of love for this place. It's not a 5 star, I'll move across the country, and bear your children kind of love, but it's love all the same.
XLB was, is, and probably always will be the star dish of this restaurant. I saw a couple ordering some other kind of steamed, potstickery looking dumplings tonight, and it took all my self-restraint not to throw one of my XLB over to them, so they'd know what they were missing. Don't even bother coming here if you're not going to order them. Seriously.
For the most part, my entire dining experience hinges on these little purses of juice and piggy goodness. Anything else I order is filler, and so I generally don't order much. I've ordered various veggie dishes (Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, pea shoots, bok choy, etc.), and all have been passably good.
The salty pork with rice and vegetable clay pot is my other standby for this place. When they had the other restaurant in San Mateo (that has since folded -- such a bummer) I'd order the XLB and the pork/rice dish, and be good to go for lunch and dinner. The pork is never dry, and despite the plain look of the rice, it's full of flavor. A bonus is that since they cook it in the clay pot, you get a little bit of crispy rice on the bottom of the pot - and that's a good thing.
The noodles can be hit or miss, so order at your own risk, and the clams in black bean sauce are pretty darned fishy. (Only ordered that once - learned my lesson.) Green onion pancake? Skip it. It's like chewy onion bread, and that is not what green onion pancakes are supposed to taste like. You can come to my house, and I'll make you a batch that'll make you want to marry me. You're a woman, you say? So? You'll still want to marry me. And maybe have my babies.
Service: it's a Chinese restaurant. You don't really get "service". You get your food, you get your check, and you gtfo.
So bottom line, if you're going to eat here, for the sake of all that's holy... order the Xiao Long Bao. You're allowed to order anything else that you may want to try, but if you skip the XLB, don't come cryin' about how much this place sucks. That'll be your own damn fault for depriving yourself of the goodness that is a soup dumpling. You won't like anything else here as much as you'll like them. I can almost guarantee that.
Their small dishes and dumplings are excellent. Highlights were Shanghai steamed pork dumplings, the pork and vege steamed buns, their clay pot rice and noodles are all very good.
I would stay away from their Braised pork thigh (Yuan-Ti), which is overcooked, dry and salty. They were definitely not made fresh, probably made the day before and just microwaved before serving.
Otherwise, the place is fast, good quality, authentic and always filled with people. Definitely worth visiting again.
The sweet, juicy, succulent pork, enveloped by the warm chicken stock, topped off with a chewy, doughy shell. That, my friend, is the taste of a "xiao long bao" or small-basket dumpling (cuz it's broiled in a small, women basket). It's eating soup without a bowl. So yummy! And no other place does it better than the Shanghai Dumpling shop. Other than that, their pork, vegetable stir fry (medium spicy) was just right. they had strips of fried tofu with peanuts, celery, and bean spouts. It's like I was transported to Shanghai! Oh, I heard their wonton soup wasn't bad either. Stick with these three dishes and you're good to go.
It's a small shop so the wait can be long on weekends. But on weekdays, shouldn't be too bad. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
Stick with dumplings and xiao long baos you can't go wrong. Service is actually fairly decent for a Chinese restaurant. My friends brought their infant and asked for warm water. The waiter at first offered to fill the bottle with warm water, (a big no-no considering there's already milk in there) he came back with a tea pot full of water and was extremely cautious when placing hot food around the baby. Overall a very enjoyable + delicious experience.
Great dumplings and pork buns. Service SUCKS! Especially the guy in the glasses who usually works the cashier. He NEVER smiles and makes you feel completely unwelcome. Probably won't go back if I see that guy working.
If you crave Shanghainese dim sum, you won't be disappointed. The staff is pretty nice too.
Great: siu long bao, savory sticky rice roll, fried red bean cake
Good: savory soy bean soup, rice cake with pork and preserved vegetable, fried man-tao bread w/ condensed milk
Not that good: drunken chicken (all bones!)
im stuck somewhere between a 3 and 4. i never knew this place existed and came here to meet up with some friends. i dont know if i was super hungry or the company was good but i didnt think place to be that bad.
they serve shanghainese fare and while we came early to get our table for 11. by the time we were leaving there was a considerable wait. it was a hot weekend and i could feel myself sweating as i ate. i dont like that feeling.
we had soy bean milk. cant mess that one up unless you burn it. siu long bao. i think i wouldve thought the skin was too thick originally but overall it tasted pretty decent. green bean sheets with soy beans and veggies. i love this dish. and it wasnt too oily here. also some noodle. their noodles are thin. a bit like instant ramen.
i wouldnt mind coming back again
Yvo W. found this place as somewhere we should go before heading off to Vegas. It had good reviews and was known for XLBs!
I love the XLB. After not having it for a while I was happy to try a new place. So we went and ordered garlic green beans, shanghai noodles, fried mantou and XLBs of course. The mantou I was a little disappointed with, it wasn't as crispy deliciousness as I expected since I've had better ones in Cupertino, but it still comes with the condensed milk. Condensed milk can save any not well done fried mantou to an extent. The green beans were so good as was the shanghai noodle and perfect soupiness of the XLB.
If we weren't off to Vegas for a night of debauchery I would have certainly partook in more food, and it was relatively cheap too.
Fool me once, shame on you..."
This place is awful in all aspects of dining out.
Service: Horrible, non-existent, and lacking.
Ambiance: No music, bits of Chinese being shouted above everyone's heads, and a mish mosh of Chinese tapestry.
The Wait: Non-existent again but maybe that should have been a fair warning then?
The Food: Disgusting.
The XLB weren't soupy at all which was odd. I brought the boyfriend here to try XLB's specifically at a friggin' DUMPLING shop and we were highly disappointed by the lack of flavor, herbs and liquid in the dumplings themselves. Also, there was no sauce that came with the dish and when I asked for a replacement chili sauce, I was ignored.
The spicy wonton was more peanut buttery than spicy and when you see a little red chili pepper on a Chinese menu, it usually means spicy. I got a mouth full of peanut butter and heavy dough with a hint of meat and seasoning. It was like playing Where's Waldo with the dumpling filling. Another forgettable dish.
The wonton soup was more like the starter broth I use for my ramen at home. The soup had no flavor, no herbs, no vegetables and ran clear with 10 equally disgusting dumplings floating around inside. The only saving grace for this soup was the heavy dosage of chili paste I added to it only after stealing it off another table.
The sad part about this entire dining experience was that when I put my credit card on the table to signal the finality of our meal, someone was at out table fast as the wind. Tsk. It was a waste of a lunch and precious space in my stomach that day.
1 star purely for their dumplings.
-potstickers are good.
other then that, service is horrible. the people/staff have been working there since the beginning and they still can't manage to deliver the food to t he right table. they also pretend not to see you when you flag them down for a check.
also who in the world served rice before the main dishes come out? we got the rice 8-10 mins before one dish came out. by the time we started eatting, the rice was already cold.
this place gets a better rating then the one that they have in the richmond district of san… Read more »
If you are looking for the best damn xiao long bao of your whole life hop onto a 16 hour flight to the following locations: Taiwan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Singapore. If you are looking for passable dumplings as good as you can find on the Peninsula, then Dumpling Shop is for you!
I'd like to preface that my rating is based on their name and their signature dumplings... everything else is just cursory. I ate the dumplings... damn good. I don't know about the lack of soup, but the three batches my family ordered were great. In fact, the only time we didn't have soup in our dumplings was when we were fighting over two conjoined dumplings and the wrappers ripped from the strain... I suggest only coming here for dumplings... if you feel adventurous give the Lion Head meatballs a go (no fat pork in it though).
Anyways, for the rest of the meal.... it was neither poor nor great... average. The portions were okay, and everything I expected. Actually there was a vegetable-pork fried bun that was reminiscent of when I stayed in Beijing for three weeks eating breakfast at the hotel. The service was good on a busy evening (Sunday). I don't know about the other dishes everyone else ordered, I wasn't too into them. The Green Onion Pancake is really a pancake, not the typical deep-fried goodness that is expected (too thick).
Anyways, towards the end of the meal, we ordered another round of xiao long bao's.. and it took forever to get there. They took our tea away and didn't return it until we got our dumplings. Mind you, we still had a lot of food left over (partially from being full and partially because we were not happy about some of our orders).
The restaurant is what I expect out of a restaurant, sit down, eat, talk loud as hell. Typical traditional chinese restaurant.
I suggest you give it go... but try to just order dumplings :)
The food is good here but the service, I have to say, is really not so good. If you know cantonese, you actually will have worse service than you don't. So if you want them to serve you, better pretend you don't know Chinese.
The crab & pork dumplings and just pork dumplings are juicy and delicious. When you bit into it, the juice just oozes or explodes out. Be careful when you eat it, the hot juice may burn your tongue. The veggie dumplings are little too dry but I went with my co-workers and some of them don't eat pork and some of them are vegetarians so we had to order some vegetarian dishes. Again, it's not a vegetarian friendly place so be prepared with your limited choices if you are vegetarian.
For the other dishes, you can get better ones from other places. Just go there and have dumplings.
Free Fried Wonton Appetizer
San Mateo, CA
Having a Party?
Millbrae, CA
San Mateo, CA
Category: Chinese
Millbrae, CA
Category: Chinese
Millbrae, CA
Category: Chinese
San Mateo, CA
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Chinese
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