One of the best Shanghainese restaurants in the Los Angeles area for over 10-15 years, and most dishes are pretty authentic Shanghai dishes. We cannot go back to Shanghai anytime, but this restaurant has served some of our favorite Shanghai dishes.We are surprised this restaurant is not as busy as in the good old days. The major reason for losing dining customers is due to the Covid19 pandemic, and also could be the outdated 140 San Gabriel Square Shopping Mall on Valley Blvd. There are about 4-5 waitresses provide the excellence service for customers.
JOEY LOPRESTI
With friends, they ordered all sorts of tasty items.Great service
Iris Li
It’s my first time having xiaolongbao without soup in there, super dry.
Julia S.
My go to Shanghainese restaurant closed during COVID, so I came to look for a new go to. Definitely will be coming back! The food tasted super authentic to my mom who's originally from Shanghai. Highly recommend all the dishes that we got (especially the eel). I found everything fairly priced given the quality and quantity. On a Friday night at 7, there weren't that many people (sadly) so service was extremely attentive and food came out fast. They also speak Shanghainese for anyone looking to practice/speak!
Caelie P.
I personally love Shanghainese food and my parents are both from Shanghai so we stopped by to try out this restaurant in San Gabriel. To be honest the food and quality was disappointing. The beef with onions were a little too sweet and the squid did not taste good at all. The soup dumplings weren't great either especially the presentation. I loved the shredded tofu with pork and the fried buns but other than that everything else was just okay. The service was fine and wait time was a little long but not bad.
Andrea C.
We love this restaurant. The waitresses are always kind and know us, the food is always excellent and there is often a wait for good reason. We've been coming here for over a decade. Consistently great food
Sarah Dominick
I was invited to a birthday party here and it was wonderful. This is authentic Chinese cooking (no Panda Express here). The atmosphere is bright and cheery and the wait staff is attentive and accommodating. Since I didn't pay for the food, I'm not sure about the prices but the place was very busy.
Emilie P.
We came here for a Father's Day lunch because the dim sum spot we wanted to eat at had a very long wait and honestly, it seems as if the quality of the food here is not quite as we remembered it to be. My parents were both born and raised in Shanghai and they found the flavors in the dishes to be slightly off and thought that some things were a little too oily for their liking. Overall, I'd say that the food would land around a 2.7 or 2.8 star rating; however, service was pretty attentive and the dishes came out quickly. We ordered: Xiao Long Bao (2/5): Good amount of meat filling inside these, but these are a soup dumpling so I was pretty surprised when I bit into them expecting soup but found either no soup in some of them or a very tiny amount. They also had a very thick wrapper enveloping them and looked horribly misshapen in the steamer. These are usually my favorite but I could not eat more than a couple. Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns (3/5): These pork buns also did not have the soupy filling I was expecting but these at least had the expected appearance and textures. The outside was nice and crispy on the bottom with a good amount of flavorful meat filling inside. Pan Fried Shredded Meat with Yellow Chives (2/5): I don't know why this was advertised as having shredded meat because the entire dish was literally entirely composed of tofu. The amount of pieces of shredded meat could be counted on one hand. This was a little too sweet and included very few yellow chives as well. Not worth the price tag in my opinion as you do not get much of the meat you are paying for. Sautéed Beef with Black Pepper (3.5/5): Nice, tender slices of beef! As we ate through the dish, we realized that the beef was also overly sweet and was difficult to consume without more rice or a saltier dish. Sautéed Beans (3/5): The green beans had a light crisp and the minced garlic and meat mixed in were excellent. The downside was that the entire dish was too salty; unfortunately, the kitchen not being able to nail the flavors of the cuisine was a recurring theme and was disappointing.
Jinyo L.
Apparently been going to this plaza for decades and this is the first time to this place. Very authentic Shanghainese cuisine and the flavor, taste and consistency is spot on. Shanghai San Huang chicken - oily, not over cooked, tender and flavorful Sautéed green been - standard, but again pretty good Sweet and sour spare ribs - now this was really spot on, slightly crunchy, sweet and savory. Recommended. Shredded meat chives - sliced very thinly as it should be and it's saucy. Recommended Bamboo shoot in casserole - this is more like a soup and flavor is spot on again. The waitstaff was pretty nice and attentive. Overall good food, fair pricing. Fav Shanghai restaurant.
Rosanna
HORRIBLE PLACE. Terrible food and even worst management. DONT EVER COME HERE and especially don’t book their private room. They take advantage and over charge you. BEWARE
Date of visit: 4/9/2022 My orders: - Shanghai style lions head: ORDER IT! The meatball was super tender and the sauce was very tasty. - Shanghai Ma Bing (House special wheat cake): SKIP IT! The bread here was not as soft and there is too little pork floss inside the bread to my liking. It's basically sesame bread with pork floss filling. I had this dish some 20 years ago when I used to work in Cerritos and it was sooo good! But then I quit and since my house is quite far from my office, I never fancied that restaurant anymore (and I think they're closed now). Since then, I've been looking for a restaurant that sells the same bread as good as it was, but most Shanghai style restaurants that I patronized either don't sell it or has failed me miserably lol. - seaweed fried fish: ORDER IT! The fried fish itself is actually really bland, so make sure you use the salt pepper condiment that comes with the order to sprinkle on the fish. - Braised tofu in brown sauce: ORDER IT! It's basically Japanese (coin) tofu cooked with chopped green & red pepper and ground pork. Our family actually had mixed reviews about this dish with hubby & I liked it and kids don't. Although I liked it, I feel that there was a certain "meat smell" from the ground pork, signaling that it wasn't cooked long enough or it wasn't fresh. But the taste of the sauce was pretty good. - Shanghai fried pork bun (sheng jian bao): ORDER IT! P Service was pretty good for a Chinese restaurant and servers got your requests promptly. Will definitely come back to try other things on their menu.
Qilang W.
My friends and I have ordered takeouts from here several times, and the foods were surprisingly tasty. This is my first time dining in the restaurant. I ordered spicy and sour beef as I always do and also tried their braised eggplant, and I have to said they are doing a great job on maintaining their food quality.
Miranda O.
I took my girlfriend from Shanghai who came to visit me in Los Angeles. She enjoyed the Shanghai food so much that she was almost in tears, she said it was the best Chinese meal she has had in the past year! The food was very tasty and the atmosphere was very good. We will come again when she visits me again. She lives in the mid-west where there is no Chinese food, so she was very happy to eat at this restaurant, which represented her native dishes.
Denise K.
So I was looking for a Shanghai restaurant that can sit comfortably with a large group of people. And this place was perfect, it was very spacious and service was great efficient and good. The food was also good and the portion was decent. The food was very authentic and they had my favorite Shanghainese dessert 豆沙锅饼! (Red Bean Pancake)
Evelin S.
warning ate a piece of raw chicken here. ordered yang chow fried rice and best they did was remake it. if i get sick i will sue. considering i spent $ 163 here and they didnt offer anything else besides remaking the dish. i am livid.
One of the best Shanghainese restaurants in the Los Angeles area for over 10-15 years, and most dishes are pretty authentic Shanghai dishes. We cannot go back to Shanghai anytime, but this restaurant has served some of our favorite Shanghai dishes.We are surprised this restaurant is not as busy as in the good old days. The major reason for losing dining customers is due to the Covid19 pandemic, and also could be the outdated 140 San Gabriel Square Shopping Mall on Valley Blvd. There are about 4-5 waitresses provide the excellence service for customers.
With friends, they ordered all sorts of tasty items.Great service
It’s my first time having xiaolongbao without soup in there, super dry.
My go to Shanghainese restaurant closed during COVID, so I came to look for a new go to. Definitely will be coming back! The food tasted super authentic to my mom who's originally from Shanghai. Highly recommend all the dishes that we got (especially the eel). I found everything fairly priced given the quality and quantity. On a Friday night at 7, there weren't that many people (sadly) so service was extremely attentive and food came out fast. They also speak Shanghainese for anyone looking to practice/speak!
I personally love Shanghainese food and my parents are both from Shanghai so we stopped by to try out this restaurant in San Gabriel. To be honest the food and quality was disappointing. The beef with onions were a little too sweet and the squid did not taste good at all. The soup dumplings weren't great either especially the presentation. I loved the shredded tofu with pork and the fried buns but other than that everything else was just okay. The service was fine and wait time was a little long but not bad.
We love this restaurant. The waitresses are always kind and know us, the food is always excellent and there is often a wait for good reason. We've been coming here for over a decade. Consistently great food
I was invited to a birthday party here and it was wonderful. This is authentic Chinese cooking (no Panda Express here). The atmosphere is bright and cheery and the wait staff is attentive and accommodating. Since I didn't pay for the food, I'm not sure about the prices but the place was very busy.
We came here for a Father's Day lunch because the dim sum spot we wanted to eat at had a very long wait and honestly, it seems as if the quality of the food here is not quite as we remembered it to be. My parents were both born and raised in Shanghai and they found the flavors in the dishes to be slightly off and thought that some things were a little too oily for their liking. Overall, I'd say that the food would land around a 2.7 or 2.8 star rating; however, service was pretty attentive and the dishes came out quickly. We ordered: Xiao Long Bao (2/5): Good amount of meat filling inside these, but these are a soup dumpling so I was pretty surprised when I bit into them expecting soup but found either no soup in some of them or a very tiny amount. They also had a very thick wrapper enveloping them and looked horribly misshapen in the steamer. These are usually my favorite but I could not eat more than a couple. Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns (3/5): These pork buns also did not have the soupy filling I was expecting but these at least had the expected appearance and textures. The outside was nice and crispy on the bottom with a good amount of flavorful meat filling inside. Pan Fried Shredded Meat with Yellow Chives (2/5): I don't know why this was advertised as having shredded meat because the entire dish was literally entirely composed of tofu. The amount of pieces of shredded meat could be counted on one hand. This was a little too sweet and included very few yellow chives as well. Not worth the price tag in my opinion as you do not get much of the meat you are paying for. Sautéed Beef with Black Pepper (3.5/5): Nice, tender slices of beef! As we ate through the dish, we realized that the beef was also overly sweet and was difficult to consume without more rice or a saltier dish. Sautéed Beans (3/5): The green beans had a light crisp and the minced garlic and meat mixed in were excellent. The downside was that the entire dish was too salty; unfortunately, the kitchen not being able to nail the flavors of the cuisine was a recurring theme and was disappointing.
Apparently been going to this plaza for decades and this is the first time to this place. Very authentic Shanghainese cuisine and the flavor, taste and consistency is spot on. Shanghai San Huang chicken - oily, not over cooked, tender and flavorful Sautéed green been - standard, but again pretty good Sweet and sour spare ribs - now this was really spot on, slightly crunchy, sweet and savory. Recommended. Shredded meat chives - sliced very thinly as it should be and it's saucy. Recommended Bamboo shoot in casserole - this is more like a soup and flavor is spot on again. The waitstaff was pretty nice and attentive. Overall good food, fair pricing. Fav Shanghai restaurant.
HORRIBLE PLACE. Terrible food and even worst management. DONT EVER COME HERE and especially don’t book their private room. They take advantage and over charge you. BEWARE
Restaurantji Recommends
Date of visit: 4/9/2022 My orders: - Shanghai style lions head: ORDER IT! The meatball was super tender and the sauce was very tasty. - Shanghai Ma Bing (House special wheat cake): SKIP IT! The bread here was not as soft and there is too little pork floss inside the bread to my liking. It's basically sesame bread with pork floss filling. I had this dish some 20 years ago when I used to work in Cerritos and it was sooo good! But then I quit and since my house is quite far from my office, I never fancied that restaurant anymore (and I think they're closed now). Since then, I've been looking for a restaurant that sells the same bread as good as it was, but most Shanghai style restaurants that I patronized either don't sell it or has failed me miserably lol. - seaweed fried fish: ORDER IT! The fried fish itself is actually really bland, so make sure you use the salt pepper condiment that comes with the order to sprinkle on the fish. - Braised tofu in brown sauce: ORDER IT! It's basically Japanese (coin) tofu cooked with chopped green & red pepper and ground pork. Our family actually had mixed reviews about this dish with hubby & I liked it and kids don't. Although I liked it, I feel that there was a certain "meat smell" from the ground pork, signaling that it wasn't cooked long enough or it wasn't fresh. But the taste of the sauce was pretty good. - Shanghai fried pork bun (sheng jian bao): ORDER IT! P Service was pretty good for a Chinese restaurant and servers got your requests promptly. Will definitely come back to try other things on their menu.
My friends and I have ordered takeouts from here several times, and the foods were surprisingly tasty. This is my first time dining in the restaurant. I ordered spicy and sour beef as I always do and also tried their braised eggplant, and I have to said they are doing a great job on maintaining their food quality.
I took my girlfriend from Shanghai who came to visit me in Los Angeles. She enjoyed the Shanghai food so much that she was almost in tears, she said it was the best Chinese meal she has had in the past year! The food was very tasty and the atmosphere was very good. We will come again when she visits me again. She lives in the mid-west where there is no Chinese food, so she was very happy to eat at this restaurant, which represented her native dishes.
So I was looking for a Shanghai restaurant that can sit comfortably with a large group of people. And this place was perfect, it was very spacious and service was great efficient and good. The food was also good and the portion was decent. The food was very authentic and they had my favorite Shanghainese dessert 豆沙锅饼! (Red Bean Pancake)
warning ate a piece of raw chicken here. ordered yang chow fried rice and best they did was remake it. if i get sick i will sue. considering i spent $ 163 here and they didnt offer anything else besides remaking the dish. i am livid.