Shanghai Dumpling

Just what the doctor ordered after a few hours on the Santa Cruz beach+boardwalk. :p
Our friends are regular here and introduced us to the spicy wontons, crab/​pork XLB, fried pork bao zi, and eggplant. All were delicious. The XLB were perfectly soupy.
Sadly, since our Chinese reading skills left much to be desired, we didn’t go with a prex-​fixe family meal, but I’m super curious, and would love to try one of them if we return!

I came here because others mentioned that their xiao long bao is good. We ordered the pork xlb and pan fried xlb. Very disappointed with the dishes. Both were extremely sweet and taste like molasses. The xlb skin was very thick. This place is nowhere near DTF.
There were flies hovering around inside the restaurants.
Will definitely not come back again.

Food is good but service is horrible. Owner should hire experienced good manner waitresses, could be benefit for yourself. It’s very noisy at dinner, families are talking s*** and laughing at each other.
Next time just order something to go.

Ok, came here for their reviews of soup dumplings (XLB) — it was yummy, give them 5 star on the regular pork dumplings. The ones with crab was really so so.
We also ordered onion pancake and Shanghainese noodles, and OMG I cannot imagine a restaurant that can make these 2 dishes substandard, especially on the noodles! How hard is it to put soy sauce and sugar and fried some noodles? One star.
The service, I have to say this is what make this restaurant a 3 star restaurant. Service is zero star! The service is nonexistent and when we do ask a question, it felt like a burden.
Definitely not coming back, there are more XLB places with better service and other dishes to accompany the XLB.

The service is absolutely horrendous here. You’re supposed to put your name down on the paper in the front, then write what number you are on another piece of paper. Then, while you wait, an angry-​looking lady will walk around and yell numbers. If you try to ask her a question, she’ll just walk around you.
When we finally got our seats, the angry lady threw the menus down on the table and walked away. But, once you get seated, the service is okay. The soup dumplings were pretty darn good, but the dumpling skin was too thick. Don’t get the Wonton with spicy sauce, because it’s covered in peanut sauce which made it taste gross.
They were out of Xiao Mai at 12:30PM. The spicy seafood noodle soup was not spicy, there were not enough noodles, and not much seafood. Don’t get it.

Came here on a Saturday afternoon around 12pm. Walked in and was immediately irritated by the hostess. When asked a question she barely acknowledges you and she answers wit the meanest condescending tone like you should’ve known the answer. Wtf.
We sit down and I’m trying to get anyone’s attention to order. A busser (not any of the 5 waitresses) sees me and tells the manager to come over. She comes over with the worst resting bitch face I’ve ever seen. Doesn’t even say anything and grunts as she leaves wit our order… Um wow… and this is from their manager W.T.F.?!
The food was good BUT there was a bunch of rotting cabbage/​veggies in my soup noodle… EW quality control guys. Come on. I expected more.
I’ll always enjoy their xlb but if they don’t improve I’ll definitely be looking for somewhere else to go!

5÷20÷16: My 400^th review. Fitting that it’s for a Xiao Long Bao restaurant – one of my favorite Chinese foods there are.
I was recommended this place by a friend, who also told me not to pay heed to its remarkably low score of 3 stars flat. He said most of the low score was probably due to bad service and not the food, so I came here expecting the very worst Chinese service. And I say Chinese service not cause I’m racist against my own kind, but you know, I know how they roll. «It’s all about the food» say all my FOB friends. Service isn’t something you should ever expect from an authentic Chinese restaurant.
But… I was pleasantly surprised!!! The servers, though were short with their conversation, well, who am I kidding – conversation? Ha ha k. Well, yeah, she took our order and left quickly. But the food came pretty fast, and ACTUALLY IN ORDER! That’s my biggest pet peeve of Chinese places – main dishes would come out before appetizers, or basically in random order. But, they actually brought out everything in the order stated below – that is, as expected. Very nice.
Also, they continuously made sure our tea was filled, and I can’t say this is the case with the majority of Chinese places. And I might have been imagining it, but I think they might have actually dropped by our table to check on us. Would you believe that?!
So, for a Chinese restaurant, service was actually above average. Very nice.
And the food…
1. Vegetarian Delicacies $ 5.95: Probably not the best title. Yes, at least it’s vegetarian, but really all it is are gluten cubes (like chewy tofu), mushrooms, and black wood ear (fungus). Strangely it’s served very cold. Absolutely the wrong way to serve gluten – we brought half of this home, and warmed up in the microwave it tasted 10x better (and actually pretty darn good!). And when I say cold, so cold that they could nearly be used as ice cubes. ³⁄₁₀
2. Stewed Duck with Bean Sauce $ 6.95: So, again, they serve this ice cold, like the gluten. Though, unlike gluten, cold duck is actually a thing in Chinese. So, the style might be authentic, but again, they set their refrigerator far too cold – another 10−15deg higher would be much appreciated. Anyway, temperature aside, the duck was just okay. Not especially tender or juicy. All the flavor comes from the dark and sticky «oyster» sauce covering the plate. ⁵⁄₁₀
3. Shanghai Style Stir Fried Noodle $ 7.50: Well, you can’t have Shanghainese food without getting noodles right? Well, I would say these were pretty typical in flavor. They used udon noodles though, which I would guess is was authentic, though I’m not 100% sure. Anyway, nothing special here. ⁵⁄₁₀
4. (6) Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings $ 6.50: Et voila! Alright, screw the rest… this was why we came. And I really can’t believe I’m saying this, but these totally put the new Din Tai Fung to shame:
The Skin: Not as thing as Din Tai Fung, but well, none are. But unlike that new DTF, the skin is actually moist and tender. And though it is thicker, it is not doughy. Also, for those without chopstick-​mastery, these are easily picked up without popping… and you definitely don’t want them to pop cause…
The Soup: WOW. I always say, more soup the better, and gawd, they absolutely maximized the volume within that dumpling. Basically any space not occupied with meat was filled full with soup. Check out my picture of the thing opened – inside’s a huge lake of juice! So, alright, there’s a ton of it… but was it good? Well… it’s quite savory and the flavor was awesome except for one thing: it’s pretty frickin’ sweet. Far too sweet to be optimal. But despite that, it still was very delicious.
The Meat: Well, the meat’s tender, fatty, and yummy as hell. That’s all there is to it.
… I give it a ⁸⁄₁₀
5. (6) Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings with Crab Meat $ 7.95: Same deal as the standard Pork Soup flavor, but with some extra texture from real crab. The crab flavor isn’t very strong, but it’s there. And besides the flavor, the crab adds a very nice texture and complexity to the mouth feel. Just a tad of the fibrous texture of crab, and a touch of that meaty crab sweetness. Very nice. ⁸⁄₁₀
So, here I have a dilemma… honestly, most of the dishes were pretty average tasting,… so averaged out I think I would have normally scored this place 3/​5, but given it really is a Xiao Long Bao specialist restaurant, and I think that’s the main reason people would come here, perhaps I can leave a higher score for now…
⁴⁄₅
#chinese #xiaolongbao #shanghainese #xlb

I’m so disappointed that I can’t give this establishment a higher rating. The chefs deserve an award for the quality of my food today. The pork soup dumplings and pan fried pork buns were orgasmic~
The staff needs to chill the f*** out. I have never felt so rushed to pay in my entire life. They served me the check before I was even finished and asked me to pay almost immediately. The waiter even proceeded to point at the check numerous times as if my goddamn rent was due. RUDE!

The pork with crab xiao long bao was really tasty. Roast duck and pan fried pork buns were decent. Next time I will only order the xiao long baos. Service wasn’t that bad except our waitress gave us our bill when we were still eating like she was rushing us out. We ignored it though.

********-5stars for service***************
********3.5/5stars for XLB***************
*********Crab XLB doesn’t have the orange colored juice and flavor*********************************
Thank you for telling me «service is free» This is the 1^st time, the waitress/​waiter controlLed me not putting a tip on the tab! When I walked in, 2 servers attitude was like I owe them money to begin with, and to the end was the same. Altho their XLB is better than Milpitas, San Mateo down town, and SF whole in the wall places.
But:
Crab XLB 5pc ($ 8) VS Din Tai Fung (valley fair mall) 5pc ($ 8) w/​regular pork maybe it’s not crab filled but only 10mins away, Din Tai Fung gives WAY better quality of XLBs’ JUICE, TASTE, ambience & service!

Great food, mediocre service (likely the cause of their subpar reviews). We got the pork soup dumplings, the pan fried pork buns, and the green beans, and I definitely recommend all of them. The pork soup dumplings have a very savory, but rather fatty filling. I was into it, but I could understand if people didn’t like it.
I’d definitely recommend coming here, but don’t expect much out of the service here!

This rating is solely for the shanghainese dumpling only !!! Best ever in Bay Area so far. This dish alone is enough to have me return again and again …
Authentic SH dumpling definition :
Paper thin dumpling skin
Soupy meat fill-​in with a tint of sweetness flavor
Black vinegar Dipping sauce with finely sliced ginger.
Ok. Return for dinner the other day. Finally got to try the green onion pancake … Like like like! Recommend .
fresh & salted pork with bamboo shoot soup which is SH special soup wasn’t too good, lack if flavor, usually you use cured ham and fatty pork, but they didn’t use any of those …
Service really need a bit of improvement. I tried to make reservation for Saturday night for 5, they told me ok and ask me to make sure to come in time, and we were 5 mins early, but when we got there the guy told us they don’t accept reservation unless for party of 8??? Humm…
Anyways, he told us this time he can seat us for the next available table (thank you) but I think he can use a bit more smile on his face .：p

I LOVE the soup dumplings here, but the customer service is terrible! I showed up Monday night at 8:29 hoping to get a takeout order (they close at 9 pm). From past experiences, I know better than to call for this.
I was given the option of sitting down to eat or takeout, but was informed I could ONLY order soup dumplings. That was all they had left. I was a bit bewildered because there were enough full tables waiting for their food. Were they all just waiting for soup dumplings at 8:29 pm? How weird!

Came here on a Sunday after my client visit. This is our family tradition since we eat here at
Least once a week. This is our go to place for xiao long Bao. This is their specialty and they are delicious. Soupy, flavorful and great with rice
Def get their soup dumplings with pork
Won ton in hot peanut oil
Soup dumplings with crab
A coke and just eat
Oh and their Shanghai noodles and greens are deelish.
Service is very asian like I am. You come here for the food. They know us because of Skye.
Matt looooves their dumplings and always wants to come here

Meh– The other reviews are so true. The service is not friendly. We had to ask the waiter assigned to us for everything– even a napkin. Okay.
Food I actually tasted:
Veggie Dumplings– Actually tasty! Some of the better ones I’ve had so far.
Honey Walnut Shrimp– $ 17 They shrimp are huge, but nothing special
This place is just not my jam, especially with all the other delicious Chinese food in the area. Go elsewhere.

3.5 stars but rounding up since some of the dishes were really good and the prices are very reasonable. Make sure you come early for lunch if you want to avoid the crowds and want to avoid them running out of food (I came close to closing time before and they couldn’t seat me since they were out of food). We got here close to 11:30 on a Saturday, and got one of the last tables. We tried:
–Glutinous Rice w/​Pork in Bamboo ($ 11.95,
): Yum. This dish is definitely on the rich side since the pork has a ton of fat on it, but the pork is tender and flavorful. However, they needed to give you more glutinous rice to help soak up more of the sauce, since it was a bit on the salty side. I would order this again though.
–Steamed Loofah & Pork Soup Dumplings (6 pcs/​$ 6.95,
): Eh, not so great. I thought the loofah made the dumpling soggy, the filling was bland, and the dumpling skin was too thick– skip!
–Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings w/​Crab Meat ($ 7.95,
): This was better than the loofah & pork version, but it was also just ok. The skin was still too thick, but there was broth inside. I would consider getting this again if I were here and really craving soup dumplings, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get this.
–Wonton w/​Spicy Sauce ($ 6.50,
): SO DELICIOUS– the wonton skin was nice and thin, and the filling was good. The sauce was one of the best sauces I’ve had in a while– highly recommended!
–Shanghai Style Stir Fried Noodle ($ 7.50,
): This was a solid version of the noodles, and had good flavor. They also give you a sizable portion for the price, so recommended if you’re in the mood for noodles.
I had really low expectations for service so it was better than I expected– they took our order right away and we got our food pretty quickly. Our server also came to check on us once or twice, and got us our take out boxes without us having to remind them. Parking was the most difficult part about coming here since the lot isn’t that big, but if you come early you shouldn’t have an issue. I will likely be back in the future to try additional dishes, especially the Dong Po Pork Shoulder (and order additional spicy wontons)!

I come here usually for lunch. 小籠包 is famous and really good. This place is good for group.
I like Spicy pork and garlic cucumber too. Enjoy!

The dumplings are excellent here but the service is poor. My boyfriend and I ordered the crispy pan fried noodles along with dumplings. The noodles were okay but the dumplings were delicious and juicy! I would give this place 4 stars but as mentioned earlier, service was terrible! Also, be careful… they charge you for water here.

Yum– this was such a satisfying meal! We ordered shanghai noodles, 2 orders of pork soup dumplings, cold cucumber appetizer, and the green sauteed vegetables. I would do it all over again exactly the same for my mom, sister and me. The service was very kind and efficient. They were perfect attentive and so extremely polite.
Their soup dumplings, while not the absolute best after being spoiled in Asia/​NYC, are reallyy good and hit the spot especially with the recent winter weather. Their sauce was perfectly on point and the ratio of filling, soup, and dumpling casing was great. I’m so glad Unilocal led us here.
My mom who is really hard to please when it comes to trying new things can’t wait to come back and that says a lot. Good stuff =]

My first review on Unilocal… This restaurant has the worst service and very strict rules. They won’t let you sit down until your party has all arrived, even if you tell them you’ll order for the whole party. In addition, the order they seat you is not based on your order of arrival (the # you got) but based on which party would maximize utilization of the table size. The wait was quite long and the waiting area is really small, hence very crowed. During my 30min wait, I was constantly herded to the corner by the seat manager, yelling «please keep out of the dining area.» But there was simply not enough waiting space.
This is the first restaurant I’ve been to that uses paper plates to hold food. The servers are not very polite. You can’t use a credit card if your purchase is below $ 25, but there was no sign indicating so.
Ask for change explicitly after you pay the bill, or else they will take it as a tip. BTW, the food is really so so.

My husband got some take out from here.
Interesting dishes of loofah xiao long bao and freshwater eel with green onions.
Interesting but no thank you.
(This entry was written by the husband)

Worst worst service!
They charge you for fountain water!
The service was so bad.,. That no word can describe it

I usually write long reviews and give a complete overview of food, service, and atmosphere. But for this one, I’m going to keep it short. Because I’m hungry just writing /​thinking about it.
Soup dumplings… amazing. Hands down best in Bay Area. Good size soup dumplings. Thin skin, so practice you chop sticks skills so you don’t rip it and spill the soup. The soup is flavorful, and enough to fill your entire spoon plus more.
Pan friend buns are equally good. Nice and juicy. But definitely not the best. Those are in Sunnyvale.
All other dishes were very authentic Shanghai food. Very well made. Below are some items I would recommend besides the dumplings:
— Shanghai thick pan fried noodle
— pork chop vege rice bucket
— walnut prawns ($ 17 but damn the prawns are huge)
— Shen Gian bao (pan friend buns)
— lion head (meatball)
— bean curd and sliced pork
My #1 /​go to spot for Shanghai food.

The place is clean, but the food is really so so, I order the onion oil dry noodle, taste so badddd: (it’s only oil with noodle. very unpleasant，I don’t think chef is shanghainese. food looks very messy

Since my last review, I think I’ve been here 2 or 3 more times, and the xiao long bao and the pan fried buns, have been excellent each time, so I’m bumping up my review one star. The xiao long bao is always steaming hot, and I haven’t experienced that strange heavy fatty soup, that I stated in my last review. The pan fried buns have also been super cruncy and hot, and I think since I’m such a carb fiend, I might actually enjoy these more than the xiao long bao.
My last visit, my dad wanted to get their kung pao chicken, because he’s in love with that dish, so that’s really the only new things we’ve tried. The portion size of the kung pao chicken is pretty decent, but the overall flavor isn’t quite there. The spice level is fine, but the kung pao flavor is a little bit weak for me. It’s not bad, but it’s not something I personally would order again, and it probably makes some sense, since their specialty is dumplings, so definitely try and focus your meal on their dumplings and buns!

This is my first time at Shanghai Dumpling and I thought the Xiao long bao and pan fried jian bao were super yummy!!! I went with my friends and got 2 orders of each. We also ordered the string beans, kung pao chicken, and sour spicy soup. All was pretty yummy. They hand roll the skin for the xiaolongbao and it doesn’t break easily. The jian bao was my favorite!

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I wouldn’t come back here, but the food is just so-​so. I prefer Shanghai Garden on Homestead, although the service seems better at Shanghai Dumpling. Some notes below:
— Noodles are too oily
— Rice cakes are actually not bad
— XLBs are just so-so…but seriously, anything other than DTF is just so-​so. Also, only get the pork ones.
— Walnut prawns are ginormous and not that great… the tail is left on there as well (?!!).

Pork soup dumplings always satisfy my cravings. Eggplant and spare ribs was good. Sauce is a tad salty. Just discovered their pork chop with rice and ham. This is framing delicious! Fried chops with bacon veggie rice. So good! Love coming here. Prepare yourself for a wait if you go during lunch time.

I only come here for the soup dumplings (小籠包) and the braised pork belly with sticky rice in bamboo tube (竹筒糯米肉). Their soups and noodle soups are generous in portion size, but the quality of the meat and vegetables in the dishes is lacking.
Usually it’s pretty busy here, but a lot of people have taken off for the holidays, so we were seated immediately. The servers appeared somewhat apathetic and confused (one waiter brought water to two different tables — neither of which had asked for it), but service was average for a typical Chinese restaurant.
Overall, some decent dishes with generous quantities. Worth a visit for the dumplings and pork belly. They also have quite a few large tables, so it’s good for groups.

For a place called Shanghai dumpling, their dumplings are are just so-​so. Also tried the stir fry noodles (too much oil yet somehow still lacking in flavor) and rice cakes (not bad but also a bit too oily). Waiters aren’t particularly polite or friendly. To top off a just «meh» experience, we were given paper plates and plastic spoons (I’m assuming they ran out of clean dishware but really?)… wouldn’t say this place is terrible, but it’s just a good solid 3 star. Nothing great but nothing exceptionally bad.

Apparently there was an accident with a baby carrier and a server so this place has become baby unfriendly. Toddlers are ok but forget bringing your stroller and carrier inside. So disappointing not to mention discriminating.
Edit:
I had to upgrade the star because this place is still has the best xiao long bao in the valley.

Shanghai Dumpling (SD) is a popular Chinese restaurant located in a mostly Asian-​centric shopping center at the Cupertino/​West San Jose border. They specialize in the Shanghai, or Hu, Cuisine and are mostly known for the ever-​popular soup dumplings: Xiaolongbao (aka XLB). I had seen/​heard about SD before, but their low Unilocal average had kept me from giving them a shot in the past; but my main Unilocal Damey’s (E-​Dubya) high recommendation changed my mind, and I’m glad he did. The fun/​best part about this style of restaurant is to order a nice smattering of dishes to try out and, over the course of my two visits, we did just that:
Shanghai-​style Stir-​fried Noodles– Pretty good rendition of this dish; the noodles were soft and tasty, but it could’ve used more meat and veggies to beef it up. 3*
Fish Fillet with Salt & Pepper– This is battered and fried pieces of fish served with lightly fried Onions and Bell Peppers. I’m not sure what kind of fish they use, but it tasted 90% like Catfish to me – which I don’t have a problem with. The batter was crispy and hot with just the right amount of salt, but not much pepper to be tasted. It was so good we ordered it on both our visits, but I must say the batter was crispier the first time than the second. However, with that said, I’d probably get it again. 4*
Shanghai Pan-​fried Buns stuffed w/​ground pork– This is a pan-​fried version of their XLB (Minus the soup) which was really good, but I think I prefer the original better. It was still good as the wrapper had a nice crunch, and the pork filling is delicious. 4*
XLB– SD’s namesake and signature dish is certainly not to be missed. They even have a little bit of showmanship going, as when you first walk in as there’s two ladies in a glass booth busily making the XLBs. My previous attempts to eat XLBs have been a bust with most of the wrappers tearing before I ever get a chance to suck the soup out of them – but not here at SD. A few people have mentioned that their wrappers are a bit thicker than the norm, but if that’s what they have to do to keep the soup in then I say go for it! The soup is the classic Chinese Pork soup, but maybe one of the better versions you’ve had. The filling is juicy, porky and just the right amount of spices. A definite «must get» item here. 4.5*
Smoke (sic) Duck– If the owners picked their name off their signature dish, then they really should’ve called this place «Smoke Duck,» because it is just fabulous! You could smell the smoke emanating from the plate while the waitress was ten feet away, and man was it pungent – the way I like it! The meat was indeed smoky but not to where you couldn’t taste the duck; they even managed to keep the skin nice and crispy. I was like a dog gnawing off every piece of delicious smoke-​filled meat from the bones. Highly, highly recommended! 5*
Service & Ambiance– The interior is your typical slightly higher-​class Chinese/​Dim Sum joint with white tablecloths and lazy susans. The décor isn’t as ornate as some Asian restaurants are want to be be, but I like it kinda plain. The service seems to be hit-​and-​miss, as my first visit was pretty good with the server being attentive and the second time they were a bit more elusive and a bit gruff but overall pretty decent. To be fair I am used to dining in Viet joints where the service is usually non-​existent, so if you’re used to getting good service I could see why most people would complain. 4* Ambiance/3.5−2* Service
Value– Good value as the quality and taste of the dishes ranged from good to stupendous. The avg price seems to range at $ 9 – 12 for each dish. 4*
SD just goes to show you that sometimes the Unilocal average is wrong, as I put them at a solid 4.5-stars with the questionable service being the final determination between 4 and 5 stars. With all that being said SD has become my new «go-​to» spot for a delicious lunch when I’m on this side of town. Highly recommended. Wŏmen qù chī fàn ba!

I’m officially going to need Shanghai Dumpling every week now that I’ve finally had their food.
To be honest I didn’t think the service was as terrible was people say– it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible either, if anything they are very curt and quick and don’t make with the niceties and small talk.
That being said don’t go for the service, go for the dumplings.
Definitely order the XLB, Fried Pork Dumplings and the Chili Wontons. All worth it!

The service here was pretty bad. After we were seated, we waited for a waiter to come by with menus, but no one came by for 10 minutes. We then had to flag down three different waiters before someone finally came with ONE menu (We were a party of 4).
The food itself was extremely greasy. The Xiao Long Bao didn’t really taste right to me. They were too big, too salty, and the soup inside contained globs of pork fat. It was leagues away from the quality you would find at places like Din Tai Fung. The other dishes we ordered were also way too greasy.
I had a stomach ache for a good hour after this meal. I’m definitely not coming back.

Soup dumplings with crab are delicious. Lots of soup inside the dumplings, but could use a little more crab meat. They’re a little larger than the traditional xiao long baos but very tasty. The traditional Shanghai noodles are good. Noodles are super thick with veggies. I only wish there was more meat in it. The green beans are really good too. The food is a bit greasy and oily however what kind of chinese place isn’t?
Tips: Soup dumplings with crab run out later in the day so make sure you get em early! This place also gets really crowded on the weekend afternoons do its best to get here early.

Let me tell you about a dream I had once.
It was pretty hazy and one of those dreams where you can’t really tell where the setting is. I think it was in some sort of canteen because I had a bright orange lunch tray in front of me and was eating 1 basket of Xiao Long Bao. When I came to the end of the basket, I was pretty upset, but then looked to my right and another basket of XLB magically appeared on my tray! Dream Me thought, «Awesome!» before I woke up.
I’m telling you this dream to make sure you understand that simply saying that I love XLB would be an understatement.
And let me just say that Shanghai Dumpling’s XLB were the best I’ve had.
~ Customer Service:
A lot of these negative reviews are for the service and I completely agree. The boss flaunts his restaurant’s success in the worst way possible. Namely, by having his bright blue BMW parked right in front of the restaurant and literally doing nothing but sitting at his chair playing games on his phone. Can’t even be bothered to greet customers. I almost feel guilty giving this place a 5 star review because I don’t want to support any of the people here (besides the chefs).
~ Food:
As I mentioned, the best Xiao Long Bao I had. They were so incredibly juicy and the broth was so rich it hit me like a ton of bricks. My method of attack for XLB’s are to normally bite a bit and slurp. I kept slurping and slurping but there was still so much broth left. Initially looking at the menu I was a bit disappointed that 1 basket of XLB only contained 6, but 1 of these are pretty much worth 2 because of how massive they are. When my stomach was bursting, I felt a tinge of sadness that I had to leave the restaurant and couldn’t order more.
Honourable Mentions:
— Wontons in Chili Oil: Another one of my go-​to dishes. Love the dish at this place! The sauce used for the chili oil was divine and had a great balance between the peanut-​y flavour and the spice. After I was finished with the wontons, I had to fight off the waiters who wanted to clear the plate because I wanted to keep the sauce to use for my other dishes!
— Sheng Jian Bao: The bun part was really great and it was overall really tasty but I wouldn’t bother getting this dish to be honest unless you’re particularly a huge fan. There was’t much juice inside but it still had a great flavour. I was upset because it wasted space in my stomach when I could’ve had more XLB.
—
A must try.

Followed the recommendation of Unilocaler Ellen C. to try the XLB at Shanghai Dumpling last night. The XLB’ s are excellent !! We ordered the regular ones and the okra filled XLB’s both were excellent with extra juice inside, each order you get 6. Along with XLB’s we ordered the following:
Veggie rice with smoked pork and pork chops: the rice was good the pork chops were meh.
Pan Fried Dumplings (8) good but could have used a little more browning.
Smoked ham with bamboo shouts soup (s) actually a large bowl was good.
Service was good but robotic and cold. Lot’s of parking in the strip mall.
There is a charge of 20 cents for water.