Shanghai Restaurant. Oops.

[Bjartmarr]

My sweetie and I stopped by the much-recommended Fantasy Eatery in San Gabriel tonight, which apparently was a bad move because it has closed. In its place is one "Shanghai Restaurant", which was packed to the gills so I figured we couldn't go far wrong by trying it.

In a stunning display of Chowmanship, I scanned the dishes on everybody else's tables while on the way to mine, then quickly located them on the menu. Everybody's got some of the fried pork dumplings, so we'll need some of those. And this "House Special Spicy Beef", which looks like nothing so much as meatballs buried in a mound of grated Parmesan cheese, seems very popular. The clay vats of soup look delicious, but that's way too much food for the two of us. And the crab noodles are a little spendy. Hmm.

The third time the waiter asked if we were ready to order (about five minutes after we sat down), I gave in and ordered the dumplings and the beef. Needing a third dish, I asked him for the restaurant's specialty. "Sweet and sour pork". Of course. Sigh. I should have seen that one coming. If I ever have the opportinity to serve you dinner, you're getting Kraft macaroni and cheese.

So we settled on the shrimp dish that I saw on a few other tables. Perhaps not the best choice, but I was rushed.

The shrimp were fresh and shrimpy, glazed in a mild clear sauce. As hard as I try to describe the flavor of the sauce, I can't, because there really was none. But they were shrimp and they weren't overcooked, so we ate them. The "snow" covering the beef turned out to be Panko bread crumbs with a flake of red pepper or a mashed black bean here and there. The dish was sort of interesting at first, but the novelty of trying to eat dry Panko with chopsticks soon wore off. The flavor was okay, kind of...beefy. My sweetie pointed out that hunting for the beef in the Panko reminded her of cleaning out the cat-box. Now you see why I like her.

Our third course of apathy arrived in the form of the fried dumplings. They were round chewy things, browned on the bottom, sesame seeds on top, pork in the middle. Um...they tasted like pork and dough and oil. They failed to distinguish themselves.

I won't mention the slow service, close to two hours from start to finish. Oops, I just did. What I meant to say was that this would be a perfect place to take old friends whom you had not seen in a long, long, long time.

I don't want to give the impression that the food at Shanghai Restaurant was bad, because it wasn't. And it was actually really exciting to look at. Perhaps my stunning display of Chowmanship was less than stunning, and I failed to order the correct dishes. (Perhaps I should have taken the waiter's advice and ordered the sweet and sour pork.) But as I sit and write this, I yearn to return to New Chong Quing that we visited last weekend; the only thing I yearn for from tonight is to get my forty dollars back.

[sillygoosedown]

Shanghai Restaurant has been there for at least a year. I haven't been in a while, but it's probably my favorite Shanghainese restaurant in the SGV now that Green Village is gone. Shanghainese food does tend to be blander than other Chinese foods. I do think you probably ordered the wrong dishes.

Anybody else have Shanghainese restaurants they prefer to Shanghai Restaurant?

[Servorg]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/691360

[sillygoosedown]

Will check it out, thanks.

[Chandavkl]

Prior to moving to the old Fantasy Eatery space last year, Shanghai had previously been in a smaller space a couple of doors down for a few years. Clearly it's quite popular as they expanded into new quarters. I had heard a mainlander comment that Shanghai was the best Shanghai style restaurant in LA., so they certainly have their following.

[will47]

We went once (to Shanghai Restaurant); I didn't think it was bad, though we didn't try that many dishes since there were only two of us. The texture of the niangao was perfect, at least the night I went. At the least, I think it's better than the other Shanghaiese place in the same plaza.
http://www.nakedsushi.net/2009/11/sha...
The 80s decor is awesome too.

I like Shanghai Xiao Chi (forget the English name - something Wok maybe) and Mei Long Village, though the latter seems a little neglected lately - less people. But the one in the thread linked above (Shanghai Yu Yuan) is pretty good - probably the best of the ones I've been to in LA. Wang Jia Sha is decent too.

[raytamsgv]

Wang Jia is definitely worth the money.

[will47]

Keep in mind that plenty of people don't like Shanghai area cuisine, so if you don't like it, you'd be in good company. People often complain that it's too sweet, too bland, etc. I personally like Shanghai food for several reasons, but it is certainly not to everyone's taste. However, you might try another visit, either to this place, or to one of the places mentioned in this thread, and order some dishes that are a little more typical of Shanghai food, before writing it off entirely.

re: Sweet and sour pork, maybe you did get whited by that waiter, but there is a famous Shanghai dish that's sweet braised pork ribs...

[Bjartmarr]

Thanks. I may try the place exilekiss recommended. But from what I've read since, I doubt that Shanghainese food is ever going to wow me, so it may be a while before I go.

I usually research restaurants before I walk in the door, and therefore have an idea of what I'm going to order. If I haven't done so, I try the "order what everyone else is ordering" strategy. It's rare that it fails me this badly.

[sillygoosedown]

I went to Shanghai Restaurant with my BF today. We wanted to go to Yu Garden but apparently it's closed on Wednesday. But no problem!! We thought Shanghai Restaurant was very good, especially for the absurdly low price ($13 for the two items below with soup, tea, and rice). We ordered the vegetarian duck and the croaker fried in seaweed. The vegetarian duck similar to the vegetarian duck at other Chinese restaurant--that is, a dry bean curd crepe stuffed with mushrooms and veggies. I understand the vegetarian part but I don't see what's so ducky about it. Anyway, Shanghai Restaurant's version was good, a little better than the norm in our humble opinions.

The croaker deep-fried in light seaweed batter is one of those very special must-order things. We used to eat this at Green Village, and it was excellent there, but it might be even better at Shanghai Restaurant. I really liked the salt with crushed szechuan and black pepper that they serve alongside it.

So our verdict: Shanghai Restaurant is the new Green Village!!

[Chandavkl]

Vegetarian duck is also often called vegetarian goose at Shanghai restaurants. There is a fairly good physical resemblance to cleaver chopped pieces of roast duck.

[Mr Taster]

OK, I've had lots of Shanghainese food, both in the San Gabriel Valley and in Shanghai, and I would never categorize it as bland. Ever. It may be a too sweet and greasy at times, but bland? No.

If you're going to a Shanghainese restaurant, don't waver from ordering those dishes that Shanghainese restaurants are known for preparing. That means Lions Head Meatball. Spare ribs. "Pork pump." Xiao long bao (juicy pork buns, a.i.k.a. "soup dumplings"). Shanghai cuisine is rice-based, not wheat based, so aside from XLB keep your orders away from noodley things.

Mr Taster

[trojans]

Sigh. I should have seen that one coming. If I ever have the opportinity to serve you dinner, you're getting Kraft macaroni and cheese. BRILLIANT! Very funny.