Old Shanghai Kitchen

My parents like this place and say the food is authentic, that is the only reason I’m giving it two stars. The problem I have is not with their food but with their service. We went there as a large group with children and sat on one of the two large tables. One of the ladies seems to have a major attitude problem with kids. With grade school kids it can be loud sometimes but all the time we were there we constantly reminded them to be quiet and not to disturb other people having lunch, but the «children hater» lady was constantly complaining about our kids and giving us a bad look on her face, even though no other customers complainted or even looked at us, it seemed like the only person that felt disturbed was her and nobody else. I really feel she does not like kids at all, as she told us «the kids should be seated separated with an adult in between them», whoa, what the… that was when we first got there and now that I think about it, we should have left the place at that moment…

original founders of wang jia returned to LA and opened O.S.K.
don’t the the exterior fool you, the interior is much nicer than you might expect. but it’s about the food. shanghai regional cuisine ranks up at the top in terms of most nuanced IMO; emphasis is on fresh ingredients and sauces that compliment, not overpower these ingredients in their dishes.

This place is like Shanghainese comfort food. Their specialties are in their dishes, rather than dumplings (like many Shanghainese restaurants). The ingredients are authentic (cooking Shanghainese noodles in the darker soy sauce) and they don’t skimp out. The duck drumstick soup was served with a warmer so the soup was hot throughout the meal.
The dishes reminded me of my grandma’s cooking. I went during the day time, and so did many elderly people. It must be good if seniors are coming in!

I love this place. It’s literally a hole in the wall so there’s not that much seating but I don’t mind because I feel like it adds to the authentic feeling of the food. I’m Chinese (Guangzhou) but I’ve never seen or tried the unique Shanghai dishes served here before at any other of the many Chinese restaurants I’ve been to. I came here with my friend whose parents are from Shanghai so they ordered the food. There’s a yummy eel dish in a sweet sauce which I really liked. All the other dishes I’ve tried were also very good and were perfectly seasoned. None of the dishes were too strongly flavored/​tasted like MSG or anything.

Small mom and pop place, the food is excellent, the place is a hole in the wall but dang its delicious.

So glad we found this Shanghai restaurant with good authentic taste… and with great value, and good portion. They sure stands out from the competition in our opinion. Wish there are more restaurants that delivers unassuming good quality dishes like Old Shanghai… compliments to the chef …

Wonderful unassuming Shanghai restaurant that provides authentic, great flavor food. It is hard to find one that taste really great and authentic in SGV and we are so happy to find one here. My favorite Shanghainese dish is the chicken and shredded bean curd and after trying many, Old Shanghai’s is the best! Of course their other dishes that we tried such as drunken chicken, meat ball casserole, combination casserrole is great in flavor as well. Basically their Chef’s cooking style is not too greasy and not too salty and the flavor is just right and perfect ! A rarity in the SGV where many chef’s style is to drench their food with oil and salt and you cannot taste the food. I will for sure make this one of my go to spot for great meal and highly recommend this to friends.

Having grown up in NY, LA, and Hong Kong (though not Shanghai), I’ve had my fair share of good and bad Chinese food. So when friends had recommended an amazing Shanghainese restaurant, I was a bit skeptical. To their credit though, Old Shanghai Kitchen did not disappoint.
Sautéed Shrimp is very fresh and flavorful. The simple addition of scallions with a touch of vinegar does a nice job of accenting the natural taste of the shrimp.
The Chinese Squash is an excellent companion dish. It’s elegance comes from the simplicity of preparation and reliance on the prime quality of the Chinese squash itself.
The Salted Meat with Vegetable Rice is a go-​to dish if you’re hungry and want a complete package in one.
For the more adventurous, be sure to try the Sea Cucumber with Shrimp Eggs. The dish combines very tender sea cucumber with a savory shrimp egg sauce for a festive punch.
If it’s available, the Chef’s Specialty Cured Duck and Bean Curd Skin Soup (off menu, handwritten in Chinese on the whiteboard) is not to be missed. The broth that pulls flavors from the duck, tofu, ginger, bamboo shoots and goji berries is delightfully comforting.
I’ve heard that the fish is just okay, so decided not to try. But feel free to venture if you are in the mood.

This is pretty much a hole in the wall kind of deal complete with no sign of the shop over head. Inside is small but looks well kept and staff is nice. I realize it’s Shanghai food but for all intents and purposes, the food pretty much felt like typical Chinese food to me… tastes good but drencehed in oil and salt/​msg. This place is fine but I would probably only come back if dragged by my family…

This is the reincarnation restaurant of the chef/​owner from Wang Jia Sha restaurant, and if those of us loving Shanghainese cuisine keep this place busy enough, all of the menu items will become ever-​present (as opposed to the current situation, which is basically checking while ordering what is available at the time, or ordering a day ahead to give them a chance to stock-​up.) Per my local advisor on such things, «Though the noodle dishes and Shanghai-​style dim sum are excellent here, it is the entrée-​style dishes that really shine here. Standouts include the crystal shrimp, and many excellent pork dishes.»
We had the ever-​astounding Braised Pork Pump (it’s a huge shank, slow braised in yummy soys until it falls apart), excellent yuba (fresh tofu skin sheets) with edamame and pickled turnip greens, another home-​spun simmered pork belly and vegetable soup (with yuba knots), and 3 great appetizers of their pickled jellyfish (super crunchy and crisp), the fried haddock with mozoku seaweed (like a Chinese version of fish fingerling nuggets), and some deep-​fried river bonefish that was deep-​marinated in dark soy that just begged for drinks (though you’d have to BYO, because they don’t have a liquor liicense.)
Sizeable portions, and service is… well, traditional, but polite and quite serviceable. Finding this place may be a challenge for those not reading Mandarin, but it’s wedged right between a Pollo Loco and a Tea House. Closed Mon-​Tue. About 10 tables total (max. seating for about 8 – 10 per table, and maybe 40 max. for the whole place.)
Great find for the best taste of Shanghai, outside of just going to Shanghai, of course.

My father-​in-​law is from Shanghai. He is pretty hardcore about Shanghainese food. So when he tells me that Old Shalghai Kitchen has the best Shanghainese cuisine in Southern California, I listen.
The food tastes great. GREAT. But — on our most recent visit, over half of the dishes my FIL ordered were not available. He wanted to know why they even bothered to open that day, if they didn’t have food to serve. The waitress was very embarrassed.
He also ordered a bamboo dish. Supposedly, it was made from sliced green bamboo. But one taste, and he told them this was a fake. They used some kind of squash as a substitute. It tasted good, and didn’t bother me, and I finished it all, but he was offended that they tried to pass off some squash as the real deal.
As we were getting up to leave, he told the waitress for the fourth time that their bamboo dish was fake. Then he added, «My son-​in-​law doesn’t know anything, he thought it was good and ate it all. But this is fake. And how can you be out of so many dishes??»

Legit Shanghainese food. Went on a Sat lunch and this place was packed with O.G. Chinese people — this is their spot. Lion head meatball (not made from lions), and pickled pig feet (better than it sounds) are pretty good.

We came here because we are hoping to find a great Shanghainese restaurant. It is a little far away from our home but wanted to give it a try. We took the advice of our waitress because she said these 2 are her favorite dishes. 1) lion head meatball. Quite flavorful but has a different tea it. It contains dried turnips mixed with the meat. 2) brown smelt with pork belly and cuttle fish
. Although the dish portion is quite small but the flavor is very unique and tasty. I have no ideal what brown sword belt is but you definitely taste the flavor of garlic, cuttle fish mixed with pork. This is my wife’s favorite so we will be back and try sow of old favorite to see if it passes the test– pork trioller and fish head casserole! Btw, see many older Chinese folks here so it might be authentic.

Wang Jia!
Yes, that is right ladies and gentlemen Wang Jia has reopened as Old Shanghai Kitchen.
The food was just as good as I remembered it from their old location on San Gabriel Blvd.
The owner rang up my aunt to inform her about their new establishment. So we had dinner here last night. Boy, have I missed good Shanghainese cuisine.
The food was exactly as I remembered it, although my diet has changed and I no longer partake in eating refined sugars or carbs (turning down the sesame balls in egg flower soup was the hardest part, its my favorite). The head chef was more than happy to accommodate my particularly difficult diet by removing sugar and roux from multiple entrees.
A must try, one of the best places for Shanghainese food in the area.