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Categories: Coffee & Tea, Tea Rooms
Neighborhood: Glover Park
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Surprisingly cute place given the brick busy exterior. We came for takeout. The host was very polite, even brought out my food to me outside... but then he suggested happily that my beloved animal was overweight.
Hey buddy, my dog is perfect. The vet said so. He's just stocky. Your restaurant's overweight!
Ok - not a good comeback.
Plus - I think the guy was trying to be friendly... maybe.
But the General Tso's chicken lunch special and the broccoli in garlic sauce was delicious. So I'll give him a pass for now.
It's a small place tucked just off Wisconsin Avenue. When you walk in you see a large bamboo plant and old-school Chinese decorations. I went by myself for a late Sunday snack and a pot of tea. The green tea was strong and earthy. Great on an October day. I had the scallion pancake and the pork dumplings. Both were satisfying. The pork was deliciously spiced and the dumplings firm. The waiter was helpful and the service was perfectly acceptable.
Bonus: they pipe in super awesome Chinese instrumental top-40 from the 90s. I really enjoyed the violin/cheesy karoke version of George Michael's "Never Gonna Dance Again."
I hesitate to give a one star / one sided review, but here it is. I went there a few months ago with a friend. During the week, at non-peak hours. When we got there we got a table immediately, but there were many people behind us. A sure sign things weren't going to go well was when the table next to us left out of frustration with getting their food. Another table of people decided to leave before getting their complete order. Still, we stuck it out, ordered and waited. We ordered a few sets of dumplings and soup. Now soup is easy to serve, it takes a few seconds to ladle it into a soup bowl, no problem right? Wrong. This place had the hardest time getting anything to the table. We noticed a table that had been there before us was getting increasingly frustrated. But still, not being quitters, we stuck it out. Big mistake, over an hour and a half later, my starving friend and I had only obtained about 85% of our order. Finally frustrated, I went to the front to explain the situation, pay and leave, which we did. I only went here after reading a positive review by Sistiema on the Washington Post website. Following the incident, I left a negative review, which was accompanying another person's review immediately before mine. After checking back a few days later, both of our negative reviews had been deleted. Maybe because we rabidly disagreed with the WP reviewer? Way to go WP!
Today I decided to revisit Shanghai Teahouse, as I haven't been there in a little over a year. For those of you who feel that it's a bit of a trip from Metro, I discovered that taking the 31 or 36 Metro bus up (or down, depending where you're coming from) Wisconsin Avenue is the best way to get there quickly. It was about a 10-minute bus ride from Georgetown, versus the 30-minute walk from Tenleytown/AU station on my last visit.
I arrived at around 1:30pm or so and was offered a seat immediately. There was a couple of other customers in the restaurant at the time. The front of the restaurant probably has about 25 seats. There are a few more in the back, especially a beautiful table setting that is behind the tea bar that would be great if you want some privacy. Waiter service was very good. The server gave me a menu, took down my order and gave me my food, checked on me during my meal to see if I needed anything, offered to refill my water, and brought me the check when I asked for it.
I wanted to get the Qimen tea, but they were out, so I chose the Chrysanthemum Pu-erh. I am normally not a fan of pu-erh, as sometimes it's like drinking dirt, but the natural sweetness of the chrysanthemums helps to balance out the earthiness of the pu-erh. I ordered the Vegetarian Ma-Po Tofu again. Usually when I order ma-po tofu from other establishments, they use smaller pieces of soft tofu. Here they use larger fried cubes of tofu, only there's a coating on it that's almost gelatinous. It sounds really gross if you don't like certain types of texture in your food, but I liked it quite a bit and the spiciness was the right amount of kick. If you love spicy food you may be a bit disappointed as it may be not hot enough for you.
They offer a lunch special for $6.99 on the weekdays until (I think) 2:30pm. My entire order cost $15.95, excluding gratuity. There was a wifi connection but it is a secured connection and you will need a WEP key to access the internet.
Final thoughts: I will probably come here again as now I can't use the "it's too far away" excuse not to come. I frequent Teaism a lot and will probably add Shanghai Teahouse to my rotation to change things up a bit.
I'm waaay overdue for a review of Shanghai Teahouse. I've only visited it once--April 5th, 2008,… Read more »
Came here to have some bubble tea and a long chat with and old friend who had just come home for a visit. We were very pleasantly surprised with excellent service, and delcious bubble tea--and we've both tried our fair share of bubble tea places! We felt comfortable and relaxed and sat talking for hours. When our tea was gone, the nice waitress brought us water and refills. And she suggested some pancake appetizer that was very tasty and hit the spot quite nicely. :-) 2 thumbs up!
Suffering from PNCSGS (Post National Cathedral Stained Glass Syndrome), my husband drives us down to Glover Park from a late lunch/snack. Having just had an awesome time at Breadsoda the other night just being in Glover Park perked me up a little, and as the day was starting to warm as well, my spirits rose a bit more. That's the problem with visiting the National Cathedral; I am so spellbound by the beauty of the stained-glass that when I leave all that glistening color I end up feeling so deflated and flat. It was this deflation that caused my husband to take me down to Glover Park for some munchies - as food always perks me right up. Heh.
Shanghai Teahouse is a cute little restaurant, casual and extremely laid-back. Although the two back "private" rooms are warmly decorated, the front dining room is rather sparse and plain. I was also surprised how quiet it was, as much as I hate listening to Chinese folk music (too many years of torturous music lessons on the gu-zen and pi-pa), it would have helped cut through some of the near oppressive silence of the place.
Although it took a while for us to decide what to order, I was a touch annoyed by the server ignoring us for almost 15 minutes. He did check up on us once, but that was immediately after we came back from the restroom, and hadn't had a chance to look at the menu yet. But eventually we got his attention and my husband starts off by ordering some organic green-hair tea (which isn't as gross as it sounds) but they were out. I went with the orchid oolong (because I'm a delicate flower dammit!). We also order the lamb dumplings, the steamed pork buns and the scallion pancakes.
I know, I know. Why didn't I read Kevin L's yelp before I ordered these things - as he talks about the scallion pancakes? Because my husband didn't want our meal to be peppered with comments like "oh, don't order that, I read that it wasn't good...oh but we should try this, it's got a few favorable comments...h'mmm, I didn't read anything about that dish though but I'm not done reading through all 25 reviews yet...can we hold off on ordering until I do?" He says my constant quoting of Yelp reviews ruins the surprise of the meal - he wants to be disappointed without warning.
And sadly, disappointing it was.
A burst of fragrant aroma greeted our nose when the tea (in individual pots with a cute little burner) was set before us. It was almost like being back in Asia! But then our food arrived. While the lamb dumplings were indeed quite lamby, it was a watery as if it was just dumped from the pot onto the serving dish without proper drainage. The pork buns were hot and very soupy, but we weren't given any spoons (a mandatory utensil for pork buns) so all that delicious juice was wasted. The scallion pancakes while indeed crispy were also greasy and without the delicious scallion flavor that makes these pancakes such a delectable treat. In addition, the hot sauce was served in a cheap little plastic carry-out cup, rather in a nice dish, and we didn't get any sauce dishes to mix the chili oil and vinegar in. Just very haphazard.
I will stress that the teas were very fragrant and that the food was decent. Edible but also forgettable. In addition, as this is a teahouse, I expected a little more "education" when we were served the tea. Our server never explained how long the tea should seep before letting it drain into the pot, nor that we could request more hot water when we were done. Again, just disappointing and haphazard.
I see much potential in Shanghai Teahouse. They are on the cusp of something very cool. If the kitchen would put in just a little extra effort, and if the staff would provide just a touch more charm, I can see Shanghai Teahouse becoming a cool hangout. I will probably give this place another try in a few months and hope that they become everything I know they can be.
I nipped in here with a friend as we were aimlessly wandering Wisconsin avenue in search of a random snack.
The teahouse, open till 9:30, was freshly deserted by a couple people when we strolled in at 9pm. The decor is cutesy and they had some very kung fu movie style teahouse music being played that you will either find amusingly cheesy or irritatingly cheesy depending on your inclination. I chose amusement.
We ordered boba tea (they have a wide array of flavors, including honeydew and papaya) in 'Original' and 'Green Tea'. It came out, generously portioned, in these tall ridged trumpet glasses and was actually somewhat better than what is served at most places.
We also ordered lamb dumplings and rice and mushroom shumai. The lamb dumplings were pretty decent but not great. They did have a solid meatiness to them though - always a plus for a carnivore like me. The rice and mushroom shumai was actually very good.
Just a note: The menu is in English, so it probably doesn't matter, but once the server realized my dining partner spoke Mandarin, I did not hear a word of English again. She seemed friendly but spoke exclusively to my friend (and at some length), returning to the table a few times to converse with him. This would have been fine say, if I had a babelfish in my ear, but as it was I felt a little uncomfortable.
I would probably go back if I was in the area but I wouldn't go out of my way.
The moment I stepped in the door, I was greeted in Mandarin by the lady standing behind a counter, asking me to please take a seat. Being the middle of the afternoon, there appeared to be only one other table of folks (who left pretty promptly after I arrived), so I had my pick of spots.
It seems to me that the server (possibly also the owner?) has a rudimentary grasp of English. I didn't quite catch the story of why the shop was named Shanghai Tea House when she actually moved from Beijing. Anyone else know? It seemed easier to converse in Mandarin, even though mine was somewhat broken, and hers was much more advanced than I could sometimes keep up with. Still, it beat the awkward English that was the alternative.
The tea steeping pots here are really pretty cool! It took some explanation from our server to get how exactly they worked, since I wasn't paying attention the first time. Hot water and tea leaves go into the top, and that's where the leaves steep. A button on the top of the pot then dumps the brewed tea into the bottom container, where it's kept warm by a candle below. You can then pour out the tea into your tiny little mug at your leisure.
I only sampled the scallion pancake, and concluded that I grew up with much better (my grampa made amazing pastries like that, so I was kind of spoiled with great buns, scallion pancakes, dumplings, and the like growing up). Crispy, but not terribly flavorful. I'd pass on them in favor of A&J's. In general, the food didn't look worth the cost.
I appreciated that we were permitted to hang out as long as we liked. There was never at any point a rush to get us out. But then again, we barely ever saw our server at all during the time we were there. Plus, she was gracious enough to turn down the volume of the music when I asked, since it was a little too loud for comfort.
In the end, $12 for a pot of oolong tea is just a little excessive to me. I get that it's G-town/GP, but the raw cost for the tea leaves and some hot water can't possibly come close, can it? It's almost as exorbitant of a markup as the cupcake fiasco around town lately. I appreciate this as a really great spot to have some tea and catch up with friends for an afternoon, and as gracious as our server was, I don't foresee shelling out the cash for this again. Aiya!
3.5 stars
Sharing a love for tea, Yelper PC W. and I came here this past weekend. We decided to also get lunch since we had both made the trek into DC.
Let me start with the food: I had the oolong noodle soup, which had a chicken broth with oolong tea, although the broth was very light and I couldn't quite taste the tea in it. Besides the noodles, the bowl was mostly filled with mushrooms, some chicken pieces, and there were a few baby shrimp strewn in there. http://www.yelp.com/bi... The food was mostly mediocre, but filled my tummy.
Tea: We went with the Eight Treasures herbal tea (see PC's review for description). Umm, gnocchi?? In tea?! Still am a little baffled by this.. but the tea was deliciously sweet and kept it's flavor through a second steeping. The mini tea glasses were ever-so delicate, and the size kept us refilling them to enjoy more. http://www.yelp.com/bi... A lot of the other tea choices sounded intriguing too.
Service: I can't say I was completely surprised after reading what others experienced service-wise here. I think they need to decide if they want to actually wait on tables or not. Seems to me if you are a "tea house," you should expect to check in on your customers, especially with tiny teapots that become empty so quickly.
Location: As Sarah L. previously mentioned, Shanghai Teahouse is not a hop, skip, and a jump from the Metro. I enjoyed a nice tour of Woodley Park before arriving, and it was more like 1.5 miles from that Metro stop. Plan on driving unless you live close.
***3.5 stars***
I met up with fellow tea enthusiast, Emily R., here for lunch and tea yesterday. Besides the excellent tea and company, the experience was a little underwhelming for me.
The food on the menu wasn't very enticing - lots of American-Chinese food options. I settled on the $7 bowl of Spicy Beef Noodle Soup. The beef broth was spicy and the udon noodles were cooked fine. The overcooked and dry, battered strips of beef were not enjoyable. The bok choy and few tiny pieces of wood ear were a nice touch but not enough to avoid the overall meh-ness of this dish.
Not usually a fan of herbal teas (hello, no caffeine, why oh why), my interest was peaked by the description of the Eight Treasures tisane - chrysanthemum, sugar dates, gnocchi, dried longan, raisins, dragon well, rod dates & rock sugar. A pot was ordered for sharing and came in a clear, glass tea pot over a candle warmer. I love the tiny, clear plastic, mod tea cups. The tea was light, sweet and had a soothing effect. This is the tea to get here and it's only $5.
The service is surprisingly lacking for a small cafe that had two people working there and only 3 tables with a person or two and a few bubble tea take away patrons. Service was slow, there were a few times we had to go up to the counter to get things from a refill on boiling water for the tea to the check.
If I come back, it's only because of the Eight Treasures.
The food was ok but the service was bad.
I had the shrimp wonton soup and it was good. The broth was very tasty. This is the only reason it got 2 stars from me.
I also had the chili short ribs and they were mediocre. It was not memorable. It wasn't bad but I wouldn't order it again if and when I go back.
Service was horrible. There were only 5 of us in the restaurant and the two waitress only showed up to take our order and to bring us our order.
They never came back to check to see if the food was okay or if we needed more water, soda or beer. It was 4 pm so it wasn't rush hour.
The two waitress were sitting at the far side of the restaurant chit chatting and looking over the menu. Im thinking they were reviewing the it? Not really sure.
I doubt I'll go back here for quite some time. The service and food at Ayzen is better.
I had to flag the lady down to get my check. And when she did she also brought the other 2 tables tab.
My first visit to Shanghai Teahouse was back in April 2008 when the restaurant first opened. The food was so atrocious that I vowed never to come back. That was until I spoke with the owner who lamented about how he had to open a month early because of the landlord and how his chef was overseas. I promised that I'd come back when things settled down ... and here I am one year later.
I have continue to have mixed feelings about Shanghai Teahouse but most of my original assessments remain the same. My biggest disappointment is the fact that Shanghai Teahouse isn't a true tea house. A tea house conjures up ideas of small dishes and snacks - what is essentially the Chinese equivalent of tapas. Steamed buns. Crispy pork ears. Braised chicken feet. Fried intestines. Alright, I can understand how most Westerns ("foreign devils") would be turned off to such dishes. But trust me, there are also Western-friendly dishes like seaweed, tofu, curried pastries, and roasted pork buns. And like tapas, I expected to sample a variety of small dishes between $5 and $6. Sadly, Shanghai Teahouse doesn't serve a variety of tapas-styled plates. Most of the appetizers are dumplings or pancakes. And all the appetizers you'd likely order are at least $8. The rest of menu seems no different from ordinary Chinese restaurants like Mei-Hwa or Charlie Chang's.
I find the Shanghai Steamed Pork Buns (xiao lung bao) marginally better here than A&J of Rockville but a serving of 8 pieces will cost you $9.50 - a hefty price for each spoonful. Each bun (dumpling) contains a meager pocket of soup but each bite is surprisingly delicious. But what impresses me the most is the bubble tea. Having been worked at Taiwanese tea houses (in Taiwan) before the U.S. bubble tea craze, I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about. The tapioca pearls are chewier than I like (perhaps made around 4 or 5 hours ago) but consistent throughout. It was like chewing on gummy bears - an excellent mark. Moreover, unlike other bubble tea impersonators, Shanghai Teahouse actually soaks its pearls in a sugar bath, which gives each pearl a distinguished flavor. And the milk tea was just right. You could taste the black tea as well as a milk as distinct and combined flavors. What does that mean? Just that the milk tea was perfectly balanced without one ingredient overwhelming the other or by an excessive amount of sugar. In fact, the milk tea was slightly sweetened and barely noticeable. The pearls need some improvement but the milk tea was spot on.
I'm not fully convinced that Shanghai Teahouse is entirely deserving of praise just yet. Perhaps the milk tea was a successful accident and maybe the entrees I skipped will fail to live up to its "homemade" reputation. But I know that this recent visit has persuaded me that Shanghai Teahouse is worthy of a follow-up visit. (Last Visit: May 23, 2009)
P.S. On a slow weekend afternoon, Shanghai Teahouse is an ideal place to study (and work on reviews). It's spacious, quiet, and has Wi-Fi. I'd return just to finish my work here.
We had just finished dinner in Glover Park and were looking for something sweet when we passed by the Shanghai Teahouse. To our surprise, it was very authentic - great teas, very diverse menu.
We ended up with a coconut bubble tea and a pot of tisane (chrysanthemum, dates, rock sugar, and more) served to us in small tea cups like we've had in China during a true tea ceremony. We didn't know what to get for dessert, so we asked the waitress, who said she would bring out a small selection of her favorites. It was a great sampling and everything was delicious.
The place certainly has regulars and the owner seems to know them well. Haven't tried a real meal there yet, but the teas and snacks (and ambience) are wonderful!
This place is outstanding.
First, it's adorable. It feels like a cafe, with beautiful one-of-a-kind tea pots and sets for sale, bamboo in the window, tables are dark wood, and the art on the walls is very minimal and simple. I don't know what the place was like towards the back, but we stayed right up front in the main room with lots of light.
The crowd was also great and super interesting and local. One family was Chinese with the most adorable little well-behaved Chinese boy, an older man who I wouldn't think of as one to sit down with bubble tea, but there he was with his bubble tea and chopsticks ready to chow down. And there was another family of four, an American mom, an Indian father, and their two children. I enjoyed this diversity because, especially with this family of four, I concluded that these are people who KNOW diversity, want good quality diverse food, and diverse cultural experiences. It was such a great environment!
Second, it took a while for the woman to bring menus, and the staff was a bit confused at times- bringing us things that others had ordered and then just bringing them back to the kitchen instead of asking around at the other three tables first. I also asked for two pieces of pancake and three dumplings to go and they only gave me one pancake piece! Did they drop the rest on the floor? How did the two pancake pieces get separated?? Are you friggin kidding me???
Third, the food was amazing. I had the egg and tomato stir fry (sweet, salty, right off the stove, spiced, roasted, wonderful!) with the sesame pancakes (to. die. for.) and the veggie dumplings (to be any fresher I would have had to pick the veggies myself). I also ordered bubble tea- I was a bubble tea virgin before this so I am glad that I picked this place. I got the almond bubble tea and it was awesome!!! The ratio of tapioca to tea was awesome, the flavor was perfect, and I savored every sip. We also got a plate of tofu stir fried in some spicy sauce.
The whole thing came to under $40 and we ate like queens, with leftovers, and the entire experience was amazing.
When the wait staff irons out their issues (and understands how crucial it is to take away leftovers when you've had THAT sort of experience for godsake!!) I will potentially award the fifth star. This place is a true go-to when I have friends in town, want a low key meal with my boyfriend, or just want to go and try one new tea at a time at the bar and sit with a newspaper. BIG FAN!
You'd be better off going to an asian market and buying a pack of 50 pot stickers for $4 (lol - you can toss this into instant noodles as well - in line with the home-packed lunch thread), toss in a bag of tea and you'd be in business.... cos that is exactly what the food tastes like. I dont think they make it themselves so why bother paying for non-existent service? Green onion pancakes are $2.45 a pack! Save your money and buy yourself some pretty oriental looking plates and teapot and dine at home!
Definitely not a fan.
I would have given them a better review, but their service was definitely lacking. It took more than 30 minutes for us to get a glass of water after asking for it 3 times...you know that's not a good way to start off the dinner. But my friends and I can understand if it's a busy night, it happens.
The food took at least an hour to come out...and on top of that, they didn't tell us there wasn't a entree that we ordered until we were practically done with our meal. So of course we didn't order another dish because we didn't wanna stay another hour to wait. This actually happened to TWO other things on the menu where they didn't tell us they didn't have until the very last minute.
My Chinese friend said it wasn't authentic food...I didn't think it was bad tasting though. They had a good variety of food & various teas. I thought it would be like Ching Ching Cha which I am a big fan of, but they have more food and less variety in tea. Smaller vicinity as well. We ordered the pan fried dumplings, spicy pork, green vegetables, seaweed salad, sweet & sour fish, and various bubble teas. The tapioca wasn't bad...and the blueberry tea I ordered was OK too. I prefer Ching Ching Cha's sweet fruit teas though. Good selection for vegetarians.
Everything was OK - the service was just...very...slow...
After reading the Washington Post review saying that this place serves good, authentic Shanghai style food, I really wanted to like this place. I imagined how this could become my local place to eat dumplings and Chinese food. Unfortunately the average food and mediocre service really killed that dream.
I will preface by saying that I usually don't factor service that much into my reviews. I consider myself a patient person and like to give a place the benefit of the doubt that a server or the kitchen was just having a busy or bad night. But here is when it really interferes with a dinner:
1. When you crave dumplings all day only to have your waitress forget about them. Even worse is that you remind your waitress that you ordered dumplings and they still don't bring it out.
2. You try to wave down multiple waitresses several times in a pretty small restaurant to get your bill and they never see you. Eventually we just went up and paid because we didn't want to miss the Office.
3. Little things that add up: no one to greet or seat you, them not checking in with you during most of the dinner (hence not getting a bill), bringing out entrees all at very different times, etc.
I may have been able to overlook these service issues if the food was spectacular but it was not. The Ma Po Tofu was good and light, and I liked the way they cooked the tofu, but the Bangbang chicken was overpowered by the red chili paste (and I like spicy) and seemed like it was something I could make at home. [Weird how I got the same exact meal as Sarah L]
I am still on the fence as to whether I want to give this place a second chance.
2.5 stars
This must be the sister restaurant to Bebo. The service is really in need of some major attention. It took a very long time to flag someone down to take our order -- and we obviously weren't the only ones struggling with service. It also wasn't for lack of staff -- although one woman did nothing but wander around glued to her cell phone screen -- and then sat at the bar and continued to stare at her cell phone.
We finally were able to order, and the food came rather quickly, though I never got the soup that I ordered. The dumplings were quite good -- and the spicy beef with noodles was delicious, but the quality of the beef was not good. The corn soup was also very good.
I had to get up to get the check and pay the bill, as did others in the restaurant. The woman seemed to also have a bit of an attitude and sans an ounce of pleasantries.......
I would give the food 3.5 stars, but the service had a real negative impact on the experience.
I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in to Shanghai Tea House. Expecting a tiny walk-up with a single counter, I was shocked with the space they had. While this is not a large restaurant, there were several tables and chairs with a long bar down the center of the room.
A woman greeted me and asked if I'd be staying or getting a to-go order. Again, I was surprised because I didn't even know they served food! I threw a menu in my purse for later perusal and ordered a green bubble tea. The two ladies working here were incredibly friendly and very welcoming.
A small tea came to $4 which isn't bad-- I don't think I'd want a larger size. It started out too sweet and tasting a bit powdery but as I drank it I liked it more. I think that may be in part to the couple of ice cubes that had melted. The tapioca was a bit chewy but not bad. This is definitely better bubble tea than I've found elsewhere in DC, and I'll be returning when I need a 3:00 pick-me-up. I'm also curious to try their food, as it looks like they've got a pretty expansive menu.
Fabulous tea. Per my waitress' recommendation, I had the 'eight treasure' and it was awesome. Cost about $5. Get it if you go.
For food, I had the boiled pork dumplings and the thin pancakes. Dumplings were good. There was a lot of them too so I left full. The pancakes were quiet greasy.
Service, as others have mentioned, is not the best. You seat yourself and then can wait a long time before a waitress even comes by to take your order. If you're famished, don't go here b/c you will be frustrated by how long you have to wait. If you have some time and want to relax, this is a nice teahouse with decent food.
We stopped here for a quick lunch after visiting the national zoo in the morning. It was pretty good. Quite authentic food too!
As for the bubble tea, I'm happy to report that it is not powdery, and the bubble is nice and chewy. I'm a happy camper.
For those who can't find it, it's not far from whole food across the street!
[Added 6/28]
Came to this place again and totally enjoyed the food. I just realized how some may not like the food -- here's the reason: China is quite big, and the word "Chinese Food" is really too vague. The food they serve here is Shanghai style, meaning mostly sweet and sometimes mildly spicy. If you are expecting szechuan-type food, you're not going to find it here.
My passion fruit tea was just okay.
I also had pot stickers and green onion pancake and that was just okay too. Service sucked and honestly, green onion pancakes and dumplings should not cost that much!
I'd only come here if I was missing my hometown in Southern Cali (SGV), but I think i'd do a better job of making boba and potstickers in my apt.
2.5 stars for this place for an ok business lunch meeting. i had vegetable dumplings, the scallion pancakes, a shrimp wonton soup - the scallion pancakes were by far the best of the three, very good. my business associate had chicken which he found tasty. we both tried the bubble tea, a first for both, and were pleasantly surprised, although i cannot really state if good or not as i do not have any point of reference.
what prevents me from giving shanghai teahouse i service. the place was busy for sure during the entire lunch serving, and the wait staff seemed to be overwhelmed. it took us 10 minutes to get served by a very flustered waitress. this seems like an easy fix, get one more waitress/waiter during rush hour and customers will praise you for it.
Pricier than your typical Chinese restaurant, but the dishes are executed well and it's not as greasy as a typical Chinese restaurant. For example, the veggies in the Shanghai glutinous rice cake dish (shanghai chao nian gao) were still crisp and cooked, not soggy and drenched in brown sauce. I thought the pan fried pork dumplings, scallion pancakes, and shrimp wonton soup were all delicious too. They really got the crispiness of the scallion pancakes right too. The boba however, I could have passed on.
I go to this place for lunch sometimes. Their dumplings are the only good ones I have found in DC. The scallion cakes are also delicious. Tea shrimp is quite good as well. The lunch specials are really cheap and good, but unfortunately there aren't very many interesting selections, so I prefer to order off the regular menu.
The bang bang chicken noodle was bland. The hot and sour soup is also not as flavorful as it should be.
The tea is delicious--I especially like the ginger tea. The red bean bubble tea was also good.
Glover park needed a Chinese restaurant. We have one now, and it's fantastic. The food is absolutely wonderful. The ingredients are very fresh, so it doesn't taste like your average Americanized Chinese food. Also, the decor is quite nice. Everything is nice and clean and tidy.
This is a wonderful place. I'm fast becoming addicted to the vegetable dumplings, the pork buns, the tea egg, and the sesame thin pancakes. The women who run the restaurant are wonderful and attentive; they've given us great recommendations and my friends and I have had several lovely meals. I agree with other reviewers that the tastes here are more authentic than you will find elsewhere. The personal touches are very nice too -- we finished a meal last week and paid the check, and were given a plate of freshly-cut watermelon to nibble on while we drank the remainder of our tea and chatted.
I am torn between not writing this review to keep this place to myself versus shouting about this gem from the rooftops because I think everyone needs to know about it. Shanghai Tea House is a cute, unpretentious place that is perfect for meeting up with friends (great selection of bubble teas, smoothies, Chinese oolong, green and other teas), studying (FREE Internet, which I am using to write this review), or even eating a cozy meal of delicious, authentic, down-home Chinese cooking. There's even sushi, though I haven't tried it yet.
It is located below Heritage India and above Kavanaugh's...I know what you're thinking, but there really is something between those two establishments. You have to go up some stairs from the sidewalk, so the storefront can be easy to miss. The place seems somewhat small--not crowded, but intimate--though there are more tables in the back. The people who work here are also incredibly friendly.
Frankly, I could rave forever about this place, but I am writing this review on my new iPhone and am still hunt-and-pecking while I type, so I can't take anymore. Just come check this place out yourself--it's perfect. They even sell tea and teapots and such if you want to take some of the teahouse home with you.
I'm always looking for new bubble tea places in the city. I was so excited when this opened. I went with 2 friends and we had a great time drinking bubble tea and snacking on such things as egg pancakes, spring rolls, and noodle dishes. The women running the place seemed a little rushed, but I guess they weren't ready for people ordering a meal at 4pm? Who knows, but they were super nice and the food was satisfying.
After reading such rave reviews, I was excited to slurp up some bubble tea at Shanghai. Unfortunately (and I'm not sure if this is because I'm more of a boba snob or what) I wasn't too psyched on the freshness of the tapioca here. I would say that it's certainly a step up from Snap or Teaism- as they have multiple flavors of both tea and smoothies- but let's be honest if they don't have a machine that automatically seals the cups with plastic you're most likely out of luck. If you're looking for some real quality boba in the DC metro area I still think your best bet is a trek out to Eden center.
I finally checked out this new addition to the neighborhood this week. I was there for a meal with bubble tea, both of which were excellent. The Chinese food is no more expensive than any other casual Chinese outlet in the area, but the food is far better, mostly because it's much lighter. They don't rely on heavy breading or greasy sauce. We had the lamb dumplings to start, which were fairly standard for dumplings - moist and tasty, but nothing particularly special. But the sweet and sour fish was special - the sauce was slightly better than average, and the fish was far and away better - cut into small bites, the fish was tender and flavorful with just a hint of crispy breading on a few sides. The fish actually was the focus of the dish, rather than drowning over-fried meat in the sweet and sour sauce. We also had the "Shanghai sticky rice cake with pork" which turned out to be very much like wide, flat noodles cooked with cabbage and pork. Again, the tastes were very light, with a sauce that was more like a broth than the usual greasy coating.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't food that would leave you raving at a high-class restaurant, although I've certainly paid a lot of money for worse. But for a relatively cheap meal, the quality is far and above the average.
The atmosphere in the front room seems very welcoming - a few tables in an open area lined with dark wood, along with wi-fi. The restaurant does suffer from the rest of the space; we were seated at a table in the hallway between the front and back rooms. If you come, try to get a table in the front, where you can see the foot traffic on Wisconsin Ave.
Small menu, but the food is good and freshly prepared. I love the way they serve the tea in glass pots, tiny cups, and little candles underneath to keep it warm. Very nice environment too - bright, cheerful, just like the staff. My only complaint is the price - its a bit high, but the best Chinese food in this part of town to be sure.
I went to this place based on the recommendation of a friend. If I had looked at it on Yelp first, I might not have gone. That would have been too bad. This place had a lot going for it. Namely, the dumplings. All very tasty. Also, this place doesn't try to have every Asian entree you've ever heard of, the menu is only three pages. And one of those is all beverages. Among those beverages are a lot of different teas. The first we tried was the Pu-Erh. The second was the Dragon Well. The menu sings the praises of the Dragon Well and is mum on the Pu-Erh. Strange, because I wasn't too impressed with the Dragon Well (too bitter) but the Pu-Erh was nice. The tea comes in a strange tea brewing pot (I know what you're thinking, aren't they all for brewing tea? Yes...But this brewed tea in a little cup inside the pot and then there was a button you could press and it came out of the cup and...This is getting complicated...Maybe you better check it out yourself) One of the entrees, the Beef in Brown sauce (what the name lacked in creativity it made up for in descriptiveness) was just average. The Crossing Bridge noodles were good. The staff were very friendly, although it might be easier to communicate with them in Chinese than in English. So...All in all, I want to recommend this place, because I liked it, but try to stick to the tea and dumplings.
Ok, so I'm conflicted. I got dragged to the Teahouse today, and it was actually pretty good. The vegetarian jiaozi (dumplings) were super tasty, as were the noodles. Service was actually good this time, and the owner gave us free food because I guess she noticed that we hadn't come by in quite a while. I guess the key is to go when their business is slow.
I once sang the praises of this place, but I unfortunately have to revise my evaluation. The… Read more »
I am a tea lover, and Shanghai Teahouse has a nice selection of different kinds of tea. Our family is vegetartian and there is a good variety of choices on the menu. The kids love the smoothies, but the bubble tea seemed a little powdery. Service can be pretty slow when they are busy, but the friendliness more than makes up for having to wait a few minutes for the check. A great addition to the neighorhood.
Lunch Specials Monday-Friday
Neighborhood: Columbia Heights
Happy Hour 2-5 Monday thru…
Washington, DC
Neighborhood: Georgetown
Category: Tea Rooms
Neighborhood: West End
Category: Tea Rooms
Neighborhood: Adams Morgan
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Tenleytown
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: Georgetown
Category: Chinese
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