I had to come back and update my review -- Shine's has changed, and I think it's great. I hadn't been here since pre-COVID, but a few months ago my family decided to give it another try, and we've been back regularly ever since. The menu is almost completely different from what it was back in 2017: they are focused on authentic dishes, and doing it very well. I wish I'd come back sooner! The menu contains a lot of choices that aren't typical, but are very tasty. We particularly like the Rougamo sandwiches (listed on the menu as "burgers", but that's not exactly how I would describe them) and the "pancakes" (more like stuffed crepes, sort of), particularly the shredded potato pancakes. The soups are also excellent and unusual. And there are still areas of the menu we haven't explored at all. (I have no idea what "Toofy" is... guess I'll have to try it.) My only (minor) complaint is that you order at a kiosk (or online, for take-out) so you can't ask the waiter/waitress for any info/recommendations.
Mina Ha
Went here to try the Xi'an style food specifically. The lamb sandwich was excellent. Heated up great in the toaster oven. Pulled noodles were good but a little too greasy. Will try again!Parking: Paid street parking expect free on Sundays
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Amanda Wong
Super large menu from Chinese foods, Thai food, Vietnamese food and bubble tea!! Got free parking right beside the store. Price is very reasonable. Staffs are fast. There is seatings too. Big and wide windows. Many Vegan options too. Always have new dishes added.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hallie L.
Very typical American Chinese food (although this may be due to me ordering an American Chinese dish, General Tso Chicken). The dishes were a tad too salty for my taste but the flavor itself is not bad. I wish I ordered plain white rice with the chicken as both the salt in the chicken and the fried rice was a little overbearing. However, the establishment itself is very clean and well kept. Ordering, water, and dish cleanup are all self serve but the food itself will be delivered to your table. Our waitress was very sweet and was constantly bustling around, making sure the interior was clean.
jim
Food is so disappointed, No any service, even fill cold water! Waitress never come to you after bring the food, no smile, no talking, until you leave! Would never come again.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
hanster d.
What makes this establishment terrible is the awful and slow service! There are many employees but no one seems to be able to put any order together.
Silas C
Very interesting new pop up with great foods for an affordable price. The rougamo was ok. I do like that it is flaky, but it is missing a lot of sauce and chewiness that goes with it. The dumplings were good. The popcorn chicken was so-so. Used the wrong type of batter. Otherwise, great go to place for quick eats.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Jonathan B.
I think they've given up. Spent a ton of time placing a huge order for many people, and at the end it refuses the order. Their website said they were open. I suspect they are in the process of going out of business. Call before heading over or ordering despite what their hours claim.
Dell Conagher
Best authentic Chinese food in the area! Good for casual eats.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Go S.
Don't be fooled by the huge pan-Asian menu. If you look closely you can see that in addition to the American Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese dishes, it has Chinese cuisine from central/northern China - not typical for a pan-Asian restaurant. I recommend items from this category - the biang biang noodles, liang pi noodles, the rougamo, etc. all items were delicious - excellent taste and texture. If you're not trying these items you are missing out!
The food here was sooo good and flavorful. Definitely come here if you love spicy food. The noodles are very fresh and there's a lot to chose from. The restaurant itself is casual so it is a great spot to grab quick lunch a dinner.
Taylor Shishido
Authentic delicious Chinese food! The pork stew rougamo and cumin lamb were my favorite dishes. I have searched long and hard for cumin lamb in the Boston area, and this is the first place I’ve found! Their prices are also very reasonable for the quality of food. All of the dishes had great flavors and good size portions.
Taylor S.
Authentic delicious Chinese food! The pork stew rougamo and cumin lamb were my favorite dishes. I have searched long and hard for cumin lamb in the Boston area, and this is the first place I've found! Their prices are also very reasonable for the quality of food. All of the dishes had great flavors and good size portions.
Hubert H.
Don't be fooled by the staid interior and lack of in-person diners in this local Asian establishment. This restaurant, serving mostly Szechuan Chinese dishes, is a real treat in the Belmont Center district. Walking in, you're greeted by ... 2 large screens. Yes! There are not many people at the register. The screens let you choose a variety of dishes, from hot noodle soups to more traditional entrees to cold dishes. It's a bit disorienting not to have more human presence, but I guess that's just the way they run things. The dishes themselves were often top notch. The homemade pork and chive dumplings were often a bit too tough on the skins, but you could tell that they were homemade. The hot and sour beef noodle soup with glass noodle was as advertised a nice mix of hot and sour; they noodle itself was chewy, not too mushy soft, and not too tough as to render it inedible. The peanuts were crispy and really nice. The wood ear added some nice textures, and the soup itself was flavorful. I would have limited the amount of oil in the soup. The XLB (Xiao Long Bao) was really good - might be the best in the Boston area (not a town known for its XLB)! The skins were relatively thin and the soup inside really hot. Too bad there weren't ginger strips to accompanying the useful vinegary sauce. The Hand-pulled Biang biang noodle with spicy cumin lamb was quite good as well. The dish could have been presented with a bit more finesse; the lamb bits were all mixed in with the noodle, and the noodle itself was a bit thick. But the flavoring was excellent and many of the lamb pieces were rendered tenderly. The baby bok choy with tofu skin was definitely stir-fried in a lot of oil! They were really yummy, but I felt they got that nice crispy veggie effect by using a lot of oil. This environs presents something of a conundrum ... who's the market? It looks way too casual for the prices to be located in the low 10s / high 10s range (dishes were served entirely in plastic containers). But the quality of food is on par (and in some cases better) than many other Chinese restaurants in the area. But those restaurants are usually conceived of as carpeted dine-in / service places. If indeed the establishment is looking to create a casual dining experience in the Belmont area, then maybe it should remove some of the more usual shared entree type dishes on the menu (e.g. hot oil spicy fish, the famous Szechuan dish). But again, who are the expected patrons here? If they do want to have a sit-down place, make the chairs somewhat nicer (and maybe brighten up the place). Service was really quick. Looking forward to seeing this place do well!
Dil S.
Not sure what I missed. The general tsou was certainly not fresh. Pad Thai was not flavorful. Gyozas were fine. May give them one more shot.
I had to come back and update my review -- Shine's has changed, and I think it's great. I hadn't been here since pre-COVID, but a few months ago my family decided to give it another try, and we've been back regularly ever since. The menu is almost completely different from what it was back in 2017: they are focused on authentic dishes, and doing it very well. I wish I'd come back sooner! The menu contains a lot of choices that aren't typical, but are very tasty. We particularly like the Rougamo sandwiches (listed on the menu as "burgers", but that's not exactly how I would describe them) and the "pancakes" (more like stuffed crepes, sort of), particularly the shredded potato pancakes. The soups are also excellent and unusual. And there are still areas of the menu we haven't explored at all. (I have no idea what "Toofy" is... guess I'll have to try it.) My only (minor) complaint is that you order at a kiosk (or online, for take-out) so you can't ask the waiter/waitress for any info/recommendations.
Went here to try the Xi'an style food specifically. The lamb sandwich was excellent. Heated up great in the toaster oven. Pulled noodles were good but a little too greasy. Will try again!Parking: Paid street parking expect free on Sundays
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Super large menu from Chinese foods, Thai food, Vietnamese food and bubble tea!! Got free parking right beside the store. Price is very reasonable. Staffs are fast. There is seatings too. Big and wide windows. Many Vegan options too. Always have new dishes added.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Very typical American Chinese food (although this may be due to me ordering an American Chinese dish, General Tso Chicken). The dishes were a tad too salty for my taste but the flavor itself is not bad. I wish I ordered plain white rice with the chicken as both the salt in the chicken and the fried rice was a little overbearing. However, the establishment itself is very clean and well kept. Ordering, water, and dish cleanup are all self serve but the food itself will be delivered to your table. Our waitress was very sweet and was constantly bustling around, making sure the interior was clean.
Food is so disappointed, No any service, even fill cold water! Waitress never come to you after bring the food, no smile, no talking, until you leave! Would never come again.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
What makes this establishment terrible is the awful and slow service! There are many employees but no one seems to be able to put any order together.
Very interesting new pop up with great foods for an affordable price. The rougamo was ok. I do like that it is flaky, but it is missing a lot of sauce and chewiness that goes with it. The dumplings were good. The popcorn chicken was so-so. Used the wrong type of batter. Otherwise, great go to place for quick eats.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
I think they've given up. Spent a ton of time placing a huge order for many people, and at the end it refuses the order. Their website said they were open. I suspect they are in the process of going out of business. Call before heading over or ordering despite what their hours claim.
Best authentic Chinese food in the area! Good for casual eats.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Don't be fooled by the huge pan-Asian menu. If you look closely you can see that in addition to the American Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese dishes, it has Chinese cuisine from central/northern China - not typical for a pan-Asian restaurant. I recommend items from this category - the biang biang noodles, liang pi noodles, the rougamo, etc. all items were delicious - excellent taste and texture. If you're not trying these items you are missing out!
Restaurantji Recommends
The food here was sooo good and flavorful. Definitely come here if you love spicy food. The noodles are very fresh and there's a lot to chose from. The restaurant itself is casual so it is a great spot to grab quick lunch a dinner.
Authentic delicious Chinese food! The pork stew rougamo and cumin lamb were my favorite dishes. I have searched long and hard for cumin lamb in the Boston area, and this is the first place I’ve found! Their prices are also very reasonable for the quality of food. All of the dishes had great flavors and good size portions.
Authentic delicious Chinese food! The pork stew rougamo and cumin lamb were my favorite dishes. I have searched long and hard for cumin lamb in the Boston area, and this is the first place I've found! Their prices are also very reasonable for the quality of food. All of the dishes had great flavors and good size portions.
Don't be fooled by the staid interior and lack of in-person diners in this local Asian establishment. This restaurant, serving mostly Szechuan Chinese dishes, is a real treat in the Belmont Center district. Walking in, you're greeted by ... 2 large screens. Yes! There are not many people at the register. The screens let you choose a variety of dishes, from hot noodle soups to more traditional entrees to cold dishes. It's a bit disorienting not to have more human presence, but I guess that's just the way they run things. The dishes themselves were often top notch. The homemade pork and chive dumplings were often a bit too tough on the skins, but you could tell that they were homemade. The hot and sour beef noodle soup with glass noodle was as advertised a nice mix of hot and sour; they noodle itself was chewy, not too mushy soft, and not too tough as to render it inedible. The peanuts were crispy and really nice. The wood ear added some nice textures, and the soup itself was flavorful. I would have limited the amount of oil in the soup. The XLB (Xiao Long Bao) was really good - might be the best in the Boston area (not a town known for its XLB)! The skins were relatively thin and the soup inside really hot. Too bad there weren't ginger strips to accompanying the useful vinegary sauce. The Hand-pulled Biang biang noodle with spicy cumin lamb was quite good as well. The dish could have been presented with a bit more finesse; the lamb bits were all mixed in with the noodle, and the noodle itself was a bit thick. But the flavoring was excellent and many of the lamb pieces were rendered tenderly. The baby bok choy with tofu skin was definitely stir-fried in a lot of oil! They were really yummy, but I felt they got that nice crispy veggie effect by using a lot of oil. This environs presents something of a conundrum ... who's the market? It looks way too casual for the prices to be located in the low 10s / high 10s range (dishes were served entirely in plastic containers). But the quality of food is on par (and in some cases better) than many other Chinese restaurants in the area. But those restaurants are usually conceived of as carpeted dine-in / service places. If indeed the establishment is looking to create a casual dining experience in the Belmont area, then maybe it should remove some of the more usual shared entree type dishes on the menu (e.g. hot oil spicy fish, the famous Szechuan dish). But again, who are the expected patrons here? If they do want to have a sit-down place, make the chairs somewhat nicer (and maybe brighten up the place). Service was really quick. Looking forward to seeing this place do well!
Not sure what I missed. The general tsou was certainly not fresh. Pad Thai was not flavorful. Gyozas were fine. May give them one more shot.