Shangri-la Gourmet Chinese Food

My family has been ordering from Shangri-​La for almost two decades. While we mostly ordered Chinese take-​out for delivery, when I was a little girl my dad and I would sometimes sit down inside the restaurant for a meal. I remember being mesmerized by the huge aquarium full of colorful fish.
Unfortunately, the quality of Shangri-​La has really deteriorated over the years. The Asian owners we knew years ago sold the restaurant. I think the current owners are Middle Eastern. Not that I have anything against people from the Middle East — I’ve just noticed a decline in quality with the change (s) in ownership.
We ordered food this past Christmas Eve, and it was actually pretty good (see my picture). The honey chicken was tender and saucy, the lo mein was flavorful, and the chicken fried rice was moist.
More recently, I ordered food again about a month ago in May. The honey chicken was very hard and difficult to chew. Several pieces actually had to be thrown out. It was pretty disappointing.
If ownership hasn’t changed since Christmas Eve, then it seems the food here is now a «hit or miss» kind of situation. Such a bummer, because I grew up knowing Shangri-​La as the go-​to place for Chinese food. I’m hoping that my next experience is better.

It’s been years since I’ve eaten at this place, but today I’ve got to say the place is under new management, but otherwise the interior is still the same. I stepped through time this evening, and got away to eat a plentiful, we’ll done meal, leaving with a light heart, full belly, and feeling as though I got the finer end of the bargain. You get what you pay for and more. Can’t wait to eat with the family here again

This place is right by my new apartment, so I frequent here quite a bit for takeout. While I wish it was better, it gets the job done.
Shangri-​La is not your typical Americanized Chinese establishment. I would say it takes a step in the authentic Chinese direction. Is it super authentic? Probably not. But you’re not gonna find standard Americanized items like Crab Rangoon. Also many of the items are not cooked in the way I’d expect. The Sauteed Broccoli is more of a Broccoli with Garlic Sauce, and the Szechuan Eggplant is more like General Tso’s Eggplant. This isn’t really a compliment or a criticism, but I feel like that should be mentioned above all. This is not a standard American Chinese restaurant with a stock menu.
The other important thing about Shangri-​La is that it does somethings very well and other things very poorly. Based on what you order, it can be night and day.
Let’s start with a positive. The White Rice is outstanding. It has a great texture, and it goes well as a side dish. It’s the kind of rice you actually want to eat with your main course. I feel like getting the rice right is very important for a Chinese restaurant, and Shangri-​La accomplishes that. I have not tried their Vegetable Fried Rice yet, but based on their success with the regular rice, I assume that it is good. This is easily the best part about Shangri-​La.
The vegetable dishes have all been solid. Like I said, the Szechuan Eggplant was more of a General Tso’s Eggplant, but it was quite tasty and it practically melted in my mouth. I love me some Chinese eggplant, so I was very happy to see it on the menu. The Dry Braised String Beans were also very good.
I should also mention that Shangri-​La offers a small and large size for vegetable dishes. Many places just offer the large size. I very much appreciate being able to get the more appropriate small size when I’m not as hungry. The restaurant also gets props for actually making my dishes spicy when I ask for them to be «extra spicy». Kudos for following directions.
Now let’s get to the bad stuff. The portions are kind of stingy in my opinion. They don’t seem to fill the containers all the way. The prices are very fair, so it’s not too bad of an issue, but it is something. At the least the value is good for what it is. The wait times can be somewhat long too.
The food is generally pretty decent, but it doesn’t strike me as very fresh. I’m a vegetarian, so I’m not too concerned, but I’d be somewhat afraid to eat meat from here. Nothing seems spoiled or anything, but it’s just not as fresh as other places I’ve been in the past.
And now, we’re at the single worst issue of the restaurant. The reason this place gets 3 stars instead of 4. The Soup. That’s right, the soup. It’s bad. Like really bad.
The Egg Drop Soup was the single worst Egg Drop Soup I have ever had, and I’ve had really bad Egg Drop Soup before. They put vegetables in it, but they were all soggy, much like a wet noodle. The soup was watery, and it had a metallic taste. I am convinced that it came out of a can. That’s just completely unacceptable. Egg drop soup is not hard to make. I would have been much happier with a basic, no-​frills egg drop soup than the garbage Shangri-​La presented me.
And you’re probably thinking, «well gee Poads, why don’t you just not order the Egg Drop Soup?» And that’s exactly what I do — I stay away from it. However, Egg Drop Soup is one of my favorite cheap go-​to items. When I have to avoid the soup, that’s a bummer.
While I’m at it, let me also mention the Vegetarian Hot & Sour Soup. It’s not as bad as the awful Egg Drop Soup, but it’s still below average. It’s watery, it doesn’t have enough mushrooms or tofu, it has no scallions (my favorite) and it lacks that soury vinegar tang that makes Hot & Sour Soup so addicting. In fact, it seems to me like they put miso in the soup. Maybe I’m totally wrong, but I swear it tastes like miso. I don’t look for a miso flavor in Hot & Sour Soup! The only saving grace of the Hot & Sour Soup is that it has a small kick to it, but even then, it’s kind of a let down.
Shangri-​La gets 3 stars. It tries to be a step-​up above most American Chinese restaurants, but it fails in that regard. The rice is the best part of the entire menu, and absolutely nothing about the restaurant will blow you away. The place is a good value. I can go in there with $ 10, and I know that I will bring home enough food to be quite satisfied.
But with the disgusting soup and lack of freshness, I can’t give this place an above average rating. It’s just simply not on par with the top Chinese restaurants. But the value is there, and some dishes are good, so it’s a three stars well-​earned.

Hidden gem. Outside looks like nothing but the Inside is actually cute. The food is good and prepared quickly.

Yhis place is quaint. It has an old world charm. The food was tasty and the service was good. I had a full course lunch for $ 7.95. I’m glad that I took the chance and tried this restaurant.

Its hard to make veggies soggy when stir frying but somehow these people manage to do it.

Disappointing…
The last two times I have ordered take out it took over an hour to arrive. At home, sick with a cold and all I wanted was some white rice, soup and a can of soda. HOW DOES THAT TAKE OVER AN HOUR?! You know those things are already prepared. They are only 10 blocks away!!!
I actually had to call them to inquire about my order. They promptly charged me… getting my order promptly was all I wanted.
I’ve ordered from them for 4 years. The quality, flavor and delivery time has become unacceptable. I’ve also read their health inspection, Yikes!!!
I’ll NEVER ORDER FROM THEM AGAIN. EVER.
Overpriced for the quality, I want my $ 16.00 back!!!

Not everything on the menu is great (in my experience). However, we have settled on the lemon chicken which is usually pretty good. I recently tried the phoenix salad which is cucumber, chicken, cashews, a little onion etc. With a sweet, vinigar-​y dressing and it was DELICIOUS! I’m sure there is other stuff on the menu that is good, but I’m a little scared bc of our past experiences. It’s hit or miss I guess.
Revised: I’ve branched out and everything has been pretty epic. I’m adding a star. My bad experiences were about a year ago. Maybe there’s a new chef?

This place blows… I think the other reviewers concur with me.

In a word, «No.»

The food tastes like the air freshener or whatever cleaning products they use. It’s really too bad because they are very nice people. I just can’t eat there anymore, I can taste it in my mind as I write this. Ugh…

Yuck! Lets just leave it at that…

I have ordered take out from here for years. Our old boss loved it so much that he decided to take us out for lunch here before he left. Everything was going good until I went the ladies bathroom. The lights were off, I turned on the lights and a cockroach ran away into the sink. I was thinking about giving it another chance until I read the resent health inspection. Never again! :P

we wanted some quick & dirty chinese food the other day. shangri la is close and previously had some pretty decent food. i don’t know if i’ve been spoiled by better chinese restaurants or if what we ordered this time just wasn’t some of their better dishes.
so, on to the food. i ordered the mushu pork. most places use thin strips of pork sauteed with cabbage, veggies and other happy making flavors. shangri la used the same pork as i traditionally find in the barbecue pork dishes. the flavors didn’t really mesh as well as other mushu dishes i’ve eaten.
my partner ordered the pork egg foo yung. i’m pretty sure the egg ‘patties’ were pre-​frozen. they were not tasty and had a weird texture. the sauce was thick and overpowering.
the food actually tasted better a day later when we mixed all the leftovers together in the same dish, added some of the rice, nuked it all and drenched it in soy sauce!
i don’t think we’ll rule them out yet, because we’ve gotten better food from here in the past.

Usually ok Chinese. However, the last 2 times I’ve ordered from them it had upset my stomach. They used to be the best! I sense they’re quality is failing to maintain consistency throughout the years.