If you have not tried here before. Why not give it a go?
They do not speak English fluently. which usually means they serve authentic style food.
Love their food!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Much better than expected!
Service: 8/10
I don’t expect much hospitality when I dine at Chinese establishments but the waitress was surprisingly decently polite and helpful. She brought us water and closed the window when she noticed us getting a little chilly.
The other worker didn’t really respond to our requests as efficiently as it took quite long for them to respond to our requests.
The food was served within minutes of ordering and was constantly being dished out.
Food: 9/10
We ordered a wide range of dishes and the portions were generous, and overall wasn’t too greasy.
The steamed dumplings were filled with delicious soup, the filling was super soft but still held its place, the skin was thin and chewy.
The fried whole blue cod with sweet sour sauce wasn’t very crispy because it soaked up the sauce.
The braised pork with dried tofu was super tender and the fat soaked up the sweet soy sauce flavour.
The fried beef with fried bread was soft and tender, which contrasted the crispy fried bread.
The salty duck yolks with prawn balls were light and crispy, the yolk flavour wasn’t too strong.
The sautéed lamb slice with cumin was aromatic and had a hint of sweetness. The bread was steamed nicely, soft and airy.
The fried eggplant with sweet chilli sauce didn’t have substantial flavour.
The fried noodles were perfectly chewy and had a light soy sauce flavour.
The pumpkin pie wasn’t crispy on the outside but the inside was chewy with a sweet red bean filling.
The wine dumplings were warm and jelly-like, the balls were chewy and sweet.
Ambiance: 8/10
The restaurant is located on the second floor which provides a magnificent sunset view from the big windows, which is a great atmosphere for dinner.
It can get quite cramped when the restaurant is full as it is quite small, but luckily today, there weren’t that many people.
There is quiet music playing which encourages a calming environment.
It is quite clean and tidy inside with typical Chinese dining cloths and old fashioned curtains.
This is definitely one of the more authentic shanghainese restaurants in Auckland providing good quality dishes and a stunning dining view.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Craved for Shanghai cuisine for a while. Finally had lunch in an eatery specialized in Shanghai food, not as authentic and well excuted as the dishes I can get back in Shanghai but it will do for now.
Ordered sweet spicy fish slice, shaomai, seasoned vege fried with soybean and shredded tofu sheets, and pork with bamboo shoots soup, all these only for $65 for us three so quite worthwhile in quality and quantity.
The sweet spicy fish, which should more accurately be translated as sweet smoky fish is not spicy. Hope people will not put off by the name. Technic supposedly involves marinating fish pieces in sugar, soy sauce and all the other seasoning, then deep fried and or smoked. Fish tastes full of sweetness and saltiness, tender but crispy outside. Highly recommend this traditional dish to most people as long as you do not mind to debone a bit.
Shaomai is a bit let down this time. It barely has any pork mince and diced mushroom stuffed inside. And sticky rice is bit dry for lack of pork oil.
Pork with bamboo shoots soup is one of the signature dish in Shanghai and closeby regions, with ingredients including fresh and salted pork belly and ribs, tofu knots, winter bamboo shoots, which would be placed in casserole then simmered for hours until all the ingredients release their natural aroma in the soup which tasts delicious. Then you would toss a sprinkle of spring onion before serve. However this dish from Shanghai Lou omits fresh pork, bamboo shoots is tasteless supposedly did not simmer long enough, and without spring onion as final touch and the out of porpotion size of soup, have to mark one point down in presentation. I know I am too critical on this one only because I am local with higher expectation.
Overall, still recommend this place on shore if you would like to give Shanghai cuisine a go.
If you are looking for good satisfying Chinese meal with extreme value for money, this could be it.
We ordered the following cold dishes - smoked fish, pork ribs, gluten with mushroom and they were delicious! Especially that fish and the gluten dish.
For mains, we got the prawns with salted duck egg, cumin lamb (delicious), fried beef with Chinese doughnut (FAVOURITE and most unique), pork chop, Xiao long bao (generous fillings but average) and Shanghai noodles (can't resist noodles).
All for only $29 per person divided by 6!
Lots to take away too.
Service is friendly but don't expect them to provide you water or refill your tea. You have to get their attention, which is normal I guess for a Chinese restaurant.
As many have noted, locating this place can be a mission in itself. However after dining here I would highly recommend this place everyone.
Cosy. The restaurant isn't huge but the feeling and mood of the place was relaxing and warm. The service was great, we were quickly seated and poured tea before ordering our dishes.
It's important to note that authentic Shanghainese food is rare, so we were pleasantly surprised at the authenticity and rich flavours of the dishes.
Showstopper: Chicken wonton soup was hearty and wholesome.
Overall Grade: A-
Blink and you'll miss this place, its a doorway between the fish shop and the supermarket, with the restaurant upstairs. Its decorated with old world pictures of Shanghai ladies and has a great authentic feel to it.
We've had the Shanghai rice dumplings, the beef balls, the rice cakes (with and without pork) All are excellent.
Excellent for a group as they have large tables that can accommodate 12 easily (they also have smaller tables for 4)
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Shanghai Chinese Restaurant is upstairs to the Real Fresh seafood / fish and chip shop. It can be tricky to find as there not many signs to indicate the stairway to the top. Cutting to the food: their fried chilli chicken was delicious, with just the right kick of spice (as long as you don't try to eat the whole dried chillies as served with the dish. Tip: be mindful of the micro shards of bones still in the chicken when chomping down as not all pieces are boneless. We also tried the Shanghai fried noodles which had a satisfying texture to them (egg noodles). The end result wasn't too greasy and the portions were generous. Serving was quick though we were the only people left to order when we arrived. Big ups to this place for being the only restaurant in Northcote open after 9pm on a Friday night. We were able to stop by for a quick meal before they closed up at 10. Would definitely revisit with a big group of friends; this is the type of place to go for ordering multiple sharing plates of mains.
I was invited to join Auckland Food Tours for another adventure - The purpose of this tour is to showcase that, while we have a lot of Chinese Restaurants - they have been (ever so slightly) "westernised" and it was explained to me, that while they will have a full menu - they actually have a couple of dishes that relate to their locale of origin, that they do REALLY well - and that is what you eat when you go to that particular restaurant. This is one of them....
The Rice Cake Dish
and the
Braised Lions Head in Sweet Soy Sauce
is what you eat here!!
Perfect premise for me embarking on a foodie outing "lets go to 5 restaurants for lunch and only eat their best food...." !!!!! Enough said. I was not disappointed!!
The full Journey is on my blog under "food adventures" and is part of the context of this review.
Shanghai Chinese Restaurant (Shanghai Lou) is where my family goes when we are too tired to cook. The food here is consistently tasty and the service is quick. The sweet and sour spare ribs and spicy fish slices (although not spicy) are our favourite cold dishes and are a perfect starter for the evening.
The Chinese rice cake was paired simply with pork and cabbage which was a nice accompaniment to the very flavorful hot and spicy chicken (for some reason not on the zomato menu).
We also had the baby spinach cooked with preserved egg which was a nice change from your usual garlic stirfry.
We love coming to this restaurant for Shanghainese food. The best dish is the prawns fried with salted egg yolk. The portions are large and the food is good
first time to go there. yummy food but some dish was bit salty for me.
OMG!
So delicious and the portions are huge.
I like bamboo shoots and jellyfish dishes.
Food was delicious and price is good too. 👍
It's nice! Its been there for a very long time.
Great place. I've been numerous times now with colleagues and everyone always enjoys their meal. Service is quick and meals are a good price for the portion size. There is a bit of a language barrier but it hasn't caused any problems to date.
The food is always great here
Good value, loved the braised eggplant, my parents enjoyed mapo tofu. Would like to go again and try other dishes I didn't try today e.g. stir fried green beans etc.
Have had a few dish from here and it's good food, reasonable prices. Happy to keep going back to try.
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