Shanghai Dumpling House

Expecting to have some tasty traditional Shanghai dumplings, since this shop has such "legit" name. I ordered 2 different shanghai dumplings and one appetizer. They brought the appetizer with a market plastic box, not a plate. When they brought the first dumpling, the meat tastes just like frozen dumplings that I got from market. Or they provide the frozen dumplings for the market? I don't know.

The oily dumplings might as well been from an expired spam can...I ask them return second dumpling order and they accepted. So I gave 1 star.

I am very hesitant to write this review, it seems whenever I review a place highly, it gets packed, and then, it becomes harder for me to eat there. I am basically kicked out of my favorite places and forced to wander around nomadically until I find a new place, and then, once I write a glowing review, I get kicked out again.

Juicy Pork Xiao Lung Bao (5/5) Personally, I think these are better than Ding Tai Fung, it has a very soft yet sturdy thin skin, and a very rich broth. These guys don't believe in providing ginger for some reason, my assumption is, they're just that confident, maybe the chef worked at a high-end sushi restaurant or something, where if you ask for wasabi, they'll hand you a knife to commit seppuku.

Beef Roll Pie (5/5) I actually like this dish, the meat, is cold, like nearly frozen cold, but the outside is fried. It's almost like a wonton chip, but softer, more moist, and more fresh, very aromatic.

Salted Egg Yolk and Pork Xiao Lung Bao (4/5) it's basically the Xiao Lung Bao broth, but with a dash of crushed salted egg yolk. It's hard to expand on it, since it's literally that. Same skin, almost the same broth. It's hard to say that the egg yolk adds or takes away from it. It's kind of neutral and just doing it's own thing. If it wasn't really in your face sort of salted egg yolk, like you get from some of the chips, or eating the yolk directly, or from a moon cake, it's just... kind of hanging around. I think it slightly subtracted from the original Xiao Lung Bao, and hence, the rating.

I enjoyed the experience. It was pretty empty when I went, it's a low capacity place, so, it's worth a try, but plan ahead if possible. I hope this place doesn't grow so crowded that I'll have to settle for a new dumpling spot. The day a duke has to give up his domain, and move away, is a sad day indeed. Bon Appetite! Enjoy! I hope you like this place, but... Don't like it too much... Unless you want to allow me to cut into the line in front of you... Then like away!

A couple of my dear friends celebrated my Oct 2023 milestone birthday with me back in early November 2023. It was a treat from one of them. Thank you my friend! I chose Shanghai Dumpling House (SDH) based on a YouTube video I saw a while back. It was an episode on the best SGV restaurants that must be checked out. I may still have that list written down somewhere.

Anyway, SDH is not a very big restaurant as I had originally thought it would be. It only has about 5-6 tables so do get here early to snatch a table. It's definitely a hidden gem serving up some amazingly flavorful and tasty dishes. There were 8 of us for dine-in and we ordered a little bit of everything. Below are the main dishes... there may be a few others that aren't mentioned here.

1. Juicy Pork Dumplings - Good size with thin skin and it's very juicy. Careful when you bite into it, the juice can be steaming hot! Don't burn your tongue.
2. Noodles w/ Shanghai Taste Spicy Pork (with soup) - My #1 favorite! Very tasty! You need to mix the meat and noodles well before taking a bite. Soup was delicious. Must get!
3. Noodles Mixed w/ Scallion, Oil, Soy Sauce (with soup) - My #2 favorite! So yummy! Perfect for vegetarian. I like to mix this one with the Shanghai Taste Spicy Pork Noodles to tame the spice down just a tad. Mix well. Soup was light and tasty. SO SO GOOD! Must get!
4. Pan Fried Pork Dumplings - My #3 favorite. I was surprised this one had juice, too. Perfectly pan fried with great flavorful taste. I like this one better than the juicy pork dumplings IMHO. Must get!
5. Beef Rolls - I didn't eat this one because it has beef, but it looked good to bite LOL. They don't make it with any other meats.. bummer!
6. Green Onion Pancake - Simple and oily... good oil though LOL.

There was only one lady taking orders and bringing out the foods. There may have been one other lady, but we didn't see her much. Service was okay... don't expect too much. Remember, you're here for the great tasting foods. Prices are reasonable. Ambiance is small and snug. Free limited parking in the upper level with more parking underground. I have already returned here once for take-out. I will for sure return again for more yumminess especially my favorites so far. Come give them a try! I will see you here...

P.S. I will post photos later. I have to get them from my computer since they are no longer on my phone. Thanks for your patience.

This is a hidden gem. Mom and pop restaurant inside the Hilton Plaza. Sorta don't want to write a review and create lines LOL They have one of the best xiao long baos I've tasted. The skin is so thin with tons of soup and flavor. Be careful when eating it cause it'll be hot! It's made to order, like you see them wrap it (not previously frozen or pre-made) so it did take some time for our order to come.

I've also tried the spicy oil wonton, the Spicy Pig Stomach, green onion pancake and the pork intestine noodles. The spicy oil wonton is pretty good. Not too spicy and some sweetness and they cook it just right. the Spicy pig stomach was flavorful and tender and green onion pancake was crispy. I deducted 1 star cause of the pork intestine noodles. The soup was flavorful and all that but I was not the fan of the noodles itself. It tasted like the noodles are from those big boxes of long sticks of dried noodles you get at the supermarket. Not fresh at all. It was meh. Wasn't chewy and didn't catch on any of the flavor of the soup. I would stir clear of any noodle dish. Will definitely be back for the xiao long bao and dumplings. The other down side is they have short hours. I think they close at 6pm.

Service was just ok, typical of most Chinese restaurants so don't expect much. Did not offer to refill our waters. It was only 1 person manning the place. Parking is free inside the Hilton plaza.

This place isn't the bestest dumpling house I have eaten, but I heard a lot of good reviews, so I thought to come here to take a visit.

Parking can get hard because there are a lot of food and other places shared in the plaza, so do come with some time to spare for parking. There is additional parking underground as well though! (free parking!)

The place is located on the first floor, easy to spot.

I had quite a few of their dishes (remember these are personal preferences as my taste my obviously differ) including regular juicy pork dumplings (5/5), salty egg dumplings (0/5) -i like salty eggs and its related flavor snacks, but this is just not it, spicy wonton (5/5), beef noodle soup (4/5), their dry noodle with sauce (4/5) - I do love that it came with a side of soup that you can either dip the noodles in or drink it, beef pot stickers (4/5).

I do like their spicy line of food, they make it spicy but not too spicy. Enough kick for the road!

Overall I had a great experience, however it wasn't the best food in my opinion as I had better.

The place does not have AC, the day I went was about 90 degrees, and only the door was open, I wished they had AC turned on or a fan, i was sweating while eating the hots.

The owner of the place is Shanghainese, and you can catch him speak with the customers in Shanghainese which is cute, and makes me wish i also speak it so i can have casual conversation about food and this place with him. They do speak Mandarin, so that helps since I can communicate with them. But for regular customers since the servers and owner don't really speak English it makes it harder.

I would totally come back here again though!

I went back with my partner and got two other dishes that were amazing.

The Spicy Pork XLB (13.95) - Good spice and flavor. Never had XLB like this and like the original, it was JUICY and SOUPY.

Also grabbed the Spicy Pork Noodle (with Soup). (12.95) So this is confusing. It's actually with soup.. on the side. it's dry noodle dish and it's phenomenal. Good spring, flavor, texture, everything.

Such a solid dumpling spot and now my favorite for XLB. Whoahhh.

Everything said is true. This is the best, large soupy thin skinned xlb. They don't have ginger in their condiments and their vinegar tastes watered down. Their dumplings are perfection. Call ahead because once they sell out they close.

I've come back again. Yesterday I tried a place across the street so that I could compare. This place is the BEST soup dumplings. I can only speak on behalf of the crab/pork variant because that's all I order. The soup is plentiful as can be seen from my pic. The skin is strong enough to hold together. I would recommend the moment it comes out that you separate them. As they cool they will stick increasing the chance of breakage. The filling is delicious. I can taste the crabmeat. I'm from NYC and have been disappointed in the pizza - bagels - soup dumplings. In NYC I went to Joes Shanghai and I never thought I'd find a place to compare until now. A M A Z I N G. This will be my go to now for crab/pork Xiao Long Bao.

I regret ever coming here, feels like this place is disconnected from the civilized world. The service is a big "can't believe", or better say, If service had a temperature, it would definitely be negative here.

What were the other Yelpers smoking when they gave this joint 2-3 stars? For once, I was so glad that I didn't listen to the advice of my fellow Yelpers and decided to explore Shanghai Dumpling House myself. This place is awesome, and I would give it 4.5 stars (rounding up to 5 stars)

The restaurant is in the corner of the San Gabriel Hilton plaza, I walked back and forth a few times before I decide to venture inside. Ordered their Crab XLB, and Shrimp XLB. On my second visit to this restaurant, I revisited the Crab XLB and also the Salty Egg XLB. Really loved how thin and delicate the dumplings are, and each one of them have soup/juice in it.

Located inside the San Gabriel Hilton plaza, there are plenty of parking spaces available underground. Service was meh, but the food definitely compensated for it. I haven't tried any of their other dishes because I came here purely for the Xiao Long Bao.

Came into town for a wedding, hence didn't have much time to explore the area. I was told by my uber driver that this restaurant has some of the best dumplings ever, and I can confidently say they were some of the best I've ever had personally! The actual dumplings were very flavorful and the wrap was chewy goodness. The soup was flavorful as well yet not overpowering. Mixing the dumplings with the chili crisp sauce was also delectable. Staff were relatively friendly. The waiter herself was very friendly, however. Highly recommend this place if you enjoy dumplings!