Shanghai Taste

When I don’t have cash and want to get my xiao long bao and spicy tendon fix. I go to Shanghi taste. This restaurant is great! The only issue I have is the lack of space. It is always busy!!!
Get here early and you will be happy. :)

Food is average, i would come back if they change the waitress. First of all: she didn’t know to be a waitress. No say Hi and when we say «thank you «she just didnt care at all. Dont give soup spoon when we got food that use spoons. Then I came to ask for the spoon the lady in short hair is so rude, and she did not listen to me cause she got her eyes on the TV in front of her. No refill water. We didn’t have a chance to ask for waterefull cause we didnt want to interrupted their conversations

This is the best Chinese restaurant in Rockville-​Gaithersburg at the moment. Not because it’s not easy to find authentic Shanghai cuisine but it’s well prepared, good coverage of mainstream Shanghai dishes (most that I can think of).
Service is good but quite a long wait to be seated due to it’s a small restaurant with good popularity.

Small restaurant but offered a variety of dishes. We tried a few small plates such as the tendon and marinated tofu puffs. The dongbo kou rou (pork belly) was fatty but not tender soft. The rice cake was lightly seasoned. The soup dumpling was meaty but not the best I had. Overall, the food was good and the staff was friendly.

Solid place for shanghainese food. Had their xiao long baos, other dumplings, Chinese vegs, and salt pepper pork. Everything was pretty good. I would definitely go back.

Best for shanghai steamed chicken, delicious xioa long bao, da bing and scallion pancakes, go early or late or else you will wait.

Their Special Beef Noodle Soup was by far the best beef noodle soup I have in the DMV area. It wasn’t as salty and oily as most of the other restaurants. The beef was cooked to the perfect tenderness. I would give the noodle soup a 5 stars, but I also has their soup buns, it was okay but the skinny was a bit too tough. I had better ones before but that was actually in Shanghai so hahaha. I would recommend this place though! Check it out if you get cravings for a yummy Beef Noodle Soup.
**One thing to keep in mind, bring cash.**

What you need to know: It’s got a wait on Saturday night, and it’s CASH ONLY. Get the braised pork belly – no regrets.
I got the XLB and it was OK, I think the pork flavor is not as refined as Nan Xiang in Flushing, NY which is probably my gold standard right now. The skin was not as delicately perfected. But I would say it’s comparable to Bob’s Shanghai and any other XLB in the area. They have a fried version of the same thing which some people like.
Anyways, I think the top 2 things I’ve ordered here are the braised pork belly (perfectly fatty, soft and richly flavored) and the beef noodle soup (broth is not that full-​bodied but the choice of thin noodles and surprisingly TENDER beef made it good). I got the Chinese watercress (kong xin cai) but was disappointed by how long the stems and leaves were, even though I requested some cutting. If you like that dish more finely done, cut into smaller stalks, this is not the place.
I’m not a fan of cold chicken, but friends loved the chicken rice dish that came with a soup and sauce on the side. The coconut rice was really tasty.

Finally made my first visit to Shanghai Taste today.
With my friends total 6 of us, we decided to get to the restaurant by 11am, the opening time, thanks to the great advise from my fellow Unilocaler Ruth C.
When we got there at 10:58, the place was already ¹⁄₃ occupied and at 11:15, it was full and people started forming a line. Amazing.
We had 2 orders of pork XLB and 1 order of Crabmeat XLB. We also had a Chinese Watercress 空芯菜。
The XLBs were very good. I thought they were equally good with Joe’s Shanghai’s. We all agreed that we liked the pork better. The Chinese Watercress sautéed with garlic was very good too.
This was a very good experience.

Based on a recommendation, my wife and I visited on a pleasant Saturday afternoon. Arriving at 2pm, apparently after the lunch rush, we had no problem getting the one open table. Then, the fun began!
We enjoyed a perfect crunchy and savory scallion pancake, tasty wontons in a not-​too-​hot chili sauce, and stupendous steamy soup dumplings with more flavor in the broth than I had ever previously experienced. To top if off, we ordered the Chinese vegetable they had on hand, watercress, sautéed with garlic. It came with some simple white rice but was so flavorful, crunchy, green and wonderful that I can’t stop thinking about it, two days later. The waiter told us it would be great and he was right!
Perhaps we will move to the area so we can come here more often?!

My family has hit the record on the number of times we’ve eaten here. My mom literally calls this our «family restaurant», even though we have no part in the business. This is authentic, partly because the owner is actually Shanghainese!
The soup dumplings are great; thin skin, lots of soup, and flavorful meat. Shen jian bao’s are only served on the weekends. They serve their dishes so fast I feel like they’re cooking with magic; and the portions are HUGE so those with small appetites should be wary of ordering too much. I cant say a single thing wrong about the food here; we’ve enjoyed everything we’ve eaten.
The restaurant is a bit small so be prepared to wait during peak hours. If you pay with cash, you get a discount.

Came back again since I hadn’t visited in a while and also because I thought on this particularly hot spring day that the double whammy of Shanghai Taste with Carmen’s Italian Ice afterwards would be perfect. We also got to try more of the menu, in addition to their soup dumplings, of course.
The menu also has an English translation where you can play a matching game to the English laminated menu and the Chinese-​only «check off» list to order from.
— Hong You Chao Shou — wontons in red oil — I know it doesn’t sound appetizing, but they are super flavorful and it’s really not as spicy as you might think. The hot oil adds a lot of flavor and although they are small on the meat, they are big on flavor.
— Shao Mai — Steamed dumpling with glutinous rice — I think I love it just because of the glutinous rice but they were delicious.
— Xue Cai Bai Ye Mao Dou — Snow Cabbage with Bean Curd Sheets and Edamame — classic cold appetizer but it was done well and was a great way to start the meal.
— Yu Xiang Qie Zi — Eggplant with Garlic Sauce — well-​fried and very flavorful. Good addition to the meal and I like that you can order it in a small or a large size. Love getting more variety from smaller dishes!
They were severely understaffed on Memorial Day and it took quite a while to be seated.

The 411: this is a place run by ethnically Chinese workers that seem to care very much about the dishes they specialize in.
The menu here is pretty large. The specials were all written in Chinese, and I had no idea what they were. This didn’t discourage me, however.
I came here on the advice of an ethnically Chinese friend from the Rockville area. They told me to get the soup dumplings.
As soon as we sat down, the waitress gave us a hot kettle of jasmine tea. Good service.
I originally came with a few friends, and we got a few dishes. One got the Thai basil chicken, another got general tso chicken, and the rest of us stuck with the soup dumplings that we heard so much about.
The General tso was what you’d expect: crispy chicken in a sweet dark sauce. Garnished with green onion and served with white rice.
The Thai basil chicken was nothing special, but if you’re dying for a taste of Thai basil, go for it.
Upon revisiting, I tried their spicy beef noodle soup after someone recommended them. The soup itself was quite good, and had large and substantial chunks of beef in it. It had a great ginger taste.
I’ve heard there are other places that have a better version of Chinese spicy beef noodles, but I couldn’t give you a specific place. However, this version is good.
THE DUMPLINGS: these were the best soup dumplings I’ve ever had on the east coast. The outside was even and not too soft or firm. There was flavorful pork meat on the inside and a heavy serving of concentrated broth inside the dumpling. Very tasty. The sauce on the side was also vinegary and a great complement to the dumplings.
Bottom line: this is a place that knows it’s dumplings. Every other item, you can get elsewhere and it’d be pretty much the same.
You can’t get better soup dumplings anywhere nearby.
Don’t come here for orange chicken or general Tso! This is a place for dumplings

Authentic, delicious and fresh Shanghainese food. My parents and grandma (true Shanghainese) approved. Very small restaurant, like something you’d find in New York. So don’t go hungry or be prepared to wait for a table.
Everything we ordered was great. Chinese dish in pin yin and the English translation in parenthesis:
Cold appetizers:
— Kao Fu (Wheat Gluten)
— Zui Ji (Drunken Chicken)
— Xun Yu (Smoked Fish)
Main dishes:
Tang Tsu Pai Gu (Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs)
Xiao Long Bao (Soup buns)
Sheng Jian Bao (Fried pork dumpling — like the soup dumplings but fried! Note: Only served on the weekends)
Nuo Mi Rou Yuan (Sticky rice dumplings)
For a group of 5, we were stuffed!

The xiao long bao or soup dumplings are a bit better than Bob’s Shanghai, I think, since they are more flavorful and I found the crimping at the top less thick than on the ones at Bob’s, which was good. I also really liked the sheng jian bao, which have thicker, more bread-​y wrapper and a great crispy bottom.
The rest of the food was kind of whatever. The beef noodle soup had boring thin noodles (I prefer the thicker ones) and the soup was pretty salty. We got a variety of little snack plates. The marinated cucumber was light on the flavor and the skin was too thick (I think the variety of cucumber wasn’t quite right for this). The scallion pancake was a thicker type than I prefer. The cold tofu with peanuts was pretty good.
It’s a tiny little place– less than 10 tables total. It was pretty crowded on a Sunday night, with lots of people getting carry out and several people waiting for tables by the time we left around 8.
I’d go back, if just for the xiao long bao.

Tucked away in a small shopping strip, Shanghai Taste can be easy to miss. The restaurant is on the smaller side so I would recommend coming here in small groups and avoid the weekend lunch rush by arriving before noon.
The only dishes I recommend is the xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and the pan fried xiao long baos. Both were incredibly delicious. The sticky rice roll (fan tuan) is also very good and hard to come by at Chinese restaurants so I was impressed!
The downside: beef noodle soup is meh; not the best in the area. The marinated cabbage and cucumber were way too sweet.
I would just come here for the soup dumplings and the pan fried soup dumplings! Yum! :)

Xiao long bao! Mmm! Soupy dumplings are so delicious here and very soupy! A whole spoonful worth! Me likey! Definitely order right when you sit down since it takes a while to prepare.
Crispy beef is very crispy and not overly sweet. Ma po tofu actually had some nice heat to it and wasn’t overly spicy.
This place is very tight and definitely no frills. I like to come at odd times to eat not during the typical meal times. This way I don’t have to fight for a table. There only about 10 tables or less.
I’ve been here a few times now and love the food. The service is not bad. Hit or miss at times. Not the friendliest bunch all the time but still brings the needed items to the table.
Will return at my non popular eating times! :-)

Frankly, it’s only an average Shanghai-​cusine restaurant, despite the positive recommendations. In terms of authenticity, they do try to make their dishes as ethnic and authentic as possible, but it lacks a bit of flavor and quality. The business has no more than a handful of tables, so it gets especially cramped in there.
Like many customers, I was ecstatic about visiting after I heard they have soup dumplings, but sadly it wasn’t worth the visit. The dumplings barely had any soup in there; I was in shock for… well, my whole meal because the soup dumplings had no soup! mind blown. Also, it wasn’t flavorful either… I am not the biggest fan of Bobs Shanghai, who also have soup dumplings, but Bobs definitely won. As for the other entrees I’ve tried, they were just as disappointing. To rephrase, I’m not saying the food was awful, but it just isn’t good enough for my return.
However, they do get quite busy, so there must be something about this restaurant that I didn’t encounter. If you’re around the area, it wouldn’t be a terrible decision to try. I’ll probably return and try more of their entrees and hopefully update my review with my positive comments.

I decided to give them another chance since there really are slim pickings here in MD sniff sniff T_​_​_​_​_​T
I got take out to be safe (so I can’t comment on any changes in table service) and surprisingly, the food improved! The soup dumpling had a lot of broth in each one (see my most recent photo) and it was really tasty, even the peel. I tried the rice cake dish and the glutinous shumai and I actually liked both as well!
The lady that took my order was pleasant and the food was ready in 15 mins. Maybe my last experience was just a one time deal… Hopefully… But I’ll be back! :)

My family and I frequent this place pretty often due to its no nonsense charm. We go to eat the xiao long baos (soup dumplings) and other small dishes. Normally we go for dinner on a weekday, but today (Sunday) we decided to Asian-​brunch-​it-​up and go around 11:45AM. There was a wait, but I was impressed with how quickly we were seated.
We already planned out what we were going to order: xlb, kao fu, scallion pancake, Singapore-​style radish cakes (this was a weekend special), soybean milk, and pan-​fried buns. The kao fu is wheat gluten with shiitake mushrooms and bamboo and I believe it is normally served chilled, but ours was lukewarm at best today (the other times it has been chilled). My sister did note that Shanghai Taste’s kao fu was bigger than A&J’s.
Most of the food came out very quickly after we were seated and the quality of everything was good. The pan-​fried buns were a bit slow but that was because they had to freshly make them when we ordered it. Service was not great and we had to wave them down, but they were speedy and efficient regardless.
One hilarious observation (and a testament to how great the place is) was that after an older Chinese woman dunked her you tiao (Chinese cruller/​donut/​breadstick/​fried thing) into her soybean milk bowl and ate it, she did a happy dance in her chair. Haha, good for her.