Shanghai Flavor Shop

Come from Shanghai! Love it so much! Like my Mom’s cook! Love All stuff on menu! Why it’s shorter than most! Cont stop love hometown food! Why need post longer! One of my friends worked there 3years! Visited there many many times! Lollll

Other reviewers are complaining about their prices but the Bay area is expensive in general. I’m always happy to help a mom and pop shop!
DO NOT BE DUPED BY THE ‘COMBO’ MEALS unless you want a bowl of warm water and noodles. I’m serious. Instead, order separate dishes which are more authentic and tasty, like their pan fried pork buns. In fact, just order one for each person and you’re set.

Will do a quick run down of what we ordered and their ratings.
Pan fried pork bun: 3 stars, maybe just not my thing but left me craving Xian bings
Shredded pork with green onion sauce and noodles: 4 stars. Chewy qq noodles, good sauce, but like pretty much no pork at all.
Shanghai egg roll: 1 Star, very dry inside and funny taste, like it was made long time ago then fried.
Sliced marinated beef: 4 stars, was good but pretty small for price.
The noodles here were good, I’d come back to try more noodle dishes.

My colleague brought me here for traditional Shanghai food that I had never had — it was pretty awesome!
The sheng jian bao were being ordered by the dozens (I kid you not!) at nearby tables, but we opted for the basic order of 6, which was still more than enough for the two of us. The outer shell of these dumplings are thicker, and chewier (and thus, more filling) than those in many other places — definitely a different type of dumpling.
We also ordered two types of noodle dishes — the shanghai fried rice cake (it’s not really a cake), and shanghai style chow mein. The fried rice cake looked so bland when it arrived with literally no color — the majority of the dish is composed of fried rice sticks/​cake sauteed with cabbage and bits of pork. To my surprise, it turns out it had a nice, light flavor and was plenty flavorful! I can honestly say I’ve never had another Chinese noodle dish that tasted like this, but I would definitely order it again — so good!
I didn’t know what to make of the shanghai style chow mein either, but it was by far the most flavorful chow mein I’ve had. The use of soy sauce is definitely more generous, hence the darker brown color, and the cabbage and chicken pieces sprinkled throughout the dish were a nice departure from the overly loaded chow mein dishes you typically see here.
Overall, it was interesting to see that while meat was present in each dish, it wasn’t too dominant in any one dish (none of that general tso style chicken piled on, if you know what I mean). Shanghai Flavor Shop is definitely a hole in the wall in a strip mall in Sunnyvale, but one that tops my list for bao and noodles!

This place is amazing, they make their own dumplings and sauces and it tastes super amazing. There are very view places who serve this type of dumpling in this area !!!

A friends said they have the best Sheng JIAN Bao. I ordered three order as well as some other dishes. Here is $ 5.75 beef and
Bao chai. Pretty pathetic portion! The service is bad too. Three stars are for the taste of the Sheng JIAN BAo.

It troubles me that I have to write a bad review for a restaurant that I patronized over a couple dozen times. I would patronize the restaurant for the Sheng Jian Bao.
The wait staff is extremely RUDE!
I went to lunch as a single diner. Both of the wait staff were disgusted that I said party of ONE. They both shook their heads when they talked to each other. I was told to wait and then was shown a table when another couple arrived. I was seated in my own table next to the couple that arrived after me.
We were finally given menus, however the couple seated next to me was given the ordering tag and a pen and I just had a menu. When the waiter came to take the order, I told him that I didn’t have an ordering tag. He muttered something and asked what I wanted.
The food arrived promptly and I ate my meal. They usually give you your check at your table. When I request my check he pointed for me to go to the counter and pay. Odd, because while I was there, he gave other people their checks.
I hand the waitress my credit card and tells me CASH ONLY. What the hell? I’ve been here several times before and used a credit card. I said, I only have a credit card. She said, $ 20 minimum on a credit card. I did not see any signs that there was a minimum purchase on a credit card. I asked when this changed. She reluctantly took my card and muttered that it’s been over a year that it changed.
A word of warning to anyone that is looking to patronize this restaurant.
There is a $ 20 Minimum on a credit card
The Wait Staff is extremely rude.
Now, I need to find another restaurant that serves Sheng Jian Bao’s because I will not be coming back.

Negative stars for service. They kept rushing us by taking away the leftover dishes without asking whether we had finished it.
The tall waiter and the cashier lady were especially rude. They came multiple times trying to clean the table because there were people waiting at the door. When we told them, sorry we haven’t finished yet, the guy twisted his face, and the lady looked as if she was going to explode. I got my phone ready to tape her but she didn’t explode :)
We picked this place for weekday lunches because of its convenient location, and well, their sheng jian bao. We are not gonna come back.

The sheng jien bao is so good but the service is absolutely terrible.
my family and I will take an hour long trip out here because these little buns are just that good. Since we only ever come out on Saturdays, it’ll get quite packed. They have a clip board with a table waiting list that they don’t look at and may seat others before you, even if you came first. This almost happened to us until my mother decided to nag/​yell at the little server/​hostess about the situation and she rolled her eyes and yelled «wait!».
Once we were seated, we asked to order 6 plates of the buns ahead of time because we knew that it would take a little while and out tall-​ish male server rudely THREW THE PEN AND PAPER AT US and told us to finish marking the paper. It took him a while for to get back to us to take our ordering paper so as the hangry person my mom is, she raises her hand a little catch his attention and he has the nerve to say «IM COMING ALREADY. JUST WAIT» from across the room. Once he does finally come by he snatches the paper, looks at it, then tells us «it takes 45 minutes for the buns to cook.» (That’s exactly why we asked politely at first but were rudely shot down.)
Anyway. The buns are great. 5 stars. Soup inside is delish, piping hot and full of flavor. Bread/​skin is delish, crisp and doughy at the bottom and thin at the top. Every thing else is meh. They’re better as just fillers and mediocre appetizers as you wait for the good stuff.
The restaurant itself is pretty run down and on the dirty side. Tables are pretty much always sticky, they dont wipe it down much after they clean off the dishes. Mirrors are oily and smudgy and just not cleaned at all. I feel like everything is just sticky TBH. Make sure you wipe down your dishes before you start eating BC they are not washed very well.
But at the end of the day. I go to restaurants to buy good food, not service. The great food outweighs the the rude staff. And I can look past the stickiness for an hour or so since the food compensates for that issue as well. Two stars down for service and another for cleanliness.

Excellent Sheng Jian Baos. I had one order (6) nice crunch on the bottom as is expected. Lot of soup inside also a must have.
This is s busy place at lunchtime. So you may have to wait.
I had the combo. $ 1.75 more than just ordering the Baos. Save the $ 1.75. The soup has little flavor. Very watery. They should just describe it as flavored hot water with noodles Calling it soup should be a misdemeanor.

Customer service and greeting is very important. If you owner only know how to give her «killer «face to her customers, give an insulting eye when you asking for a plastic bag, plus the dirty floor and sticky plate, who care how good the food going to be. Indeed, the foods also under average .
Good luck viewer !!!

Legit Shanghai Food!
The beau was the one that found this place… ate there first when I wasn’t in town and told me all about it. So I had to try this place out… so I dragged him there the first day I was back in town.
Ordered:
Pan Fried Pork Buns — Comes in an order of 6 for $ 8. Yummy! Be careful when when they put it down on the table. The inside of these buns are still steaming hot. Let it sit for a little bit before devouring these buns. They are good and juicy.
Shredded Pork and Noodle with Green Onion Sauce — My favorite noodle dish! You’ll have to mix it yourself when it comes to the table. Portion size is also good.
Baked Radish Cake — Flaky and fresh. Yummy.
Since trying these 3 dishes and loving them, I’ve brought some of my cousins and also told my brother in law about his place. They all love this place.
We have also tried other dishes since the first time here too… Shanghai Style Rick Stick, Sauteed Eel with noodle soup, Spicy pork noodle soup, sweet and sour spareribs, slice marinated beef, and eight treasure rice cake. They are all yummy.

I hesitate to give this one a 4-​star, because I feel like the dumplings was the only good dish here.
TIPS: to avoid burned tongue, try to youtube how to eat Xiao Long Bao before coming here.
The dumplings were pretty good though, with real pork juice and was right-​off-​the-​pan hot. Be careful or you’ll burn your tongue.
I will repeat, just for the unique dumplings though.

Waiting to try this place since they have been closed for 4 weeks for the holidays. Since many Unilocaler said the best buns in the Bay Area.
The place is really run down, a true hole in a wall, which is perfectly fine so long the food is good.
First of all, I m not a expert on Chinese fried bun (San Jiang Bao). Just a normal patrons. I do not find their buns to be the best of the bay. It was very juicy and it was ok. Probably not enough for me to come back.
We also had fried rice cakes, it was also just ok, nothing special. The disappointment goes to the Shanghai fried egg rolls, it was doubled fried!!! Which mean it was pre fried and staled, so they retried it again.
Hum hum ho ho — nothing special!

4.5 Stars
This place is an authentic hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant with GREAT sheng jian bao. The place looks a little run-​down and outdated, but the food is great!
This place has really authentic Sheng Jian Bao (pan fried pork dumplings)!! $ 7 for 1 order (6 buns). The buns aren’t super big, but it’s still juicy with lots of soup inside with the outside layer being crispy. (⁵⁄₅).
I also ordered the Shredded Pork & Noodle w/​Green Onion Sauce. (⁵⁄₅). The noodles are super chewy, and the sauce is very flavorful with roasted green onions.
I wouldn’t recommend the bok choy because I found the sauce too sweet, but that just depends on your preference.
Eat here if you want authentic shanghai-​style food! Minimum $ 20 order to use credit card (Visa and Mastercard only).

Food wise I am keeping my rating of Shanghai Flavor shop at 3.5 stars. The awesome pan fried soup dumplings.
However, as you can see from the current menu and pictures of past menus the price keeps on going up! Keep that in mind and you won’t be surprised.

I’ve always wanted to come here to try their fried dumplings. One day, after a movie, we made a quick pit stop before coming home.
The parking lot can be a mess because the spaces are a little small and there are a bunch of other restaurants in the same complex. Walking in, we notice that it’s not a big place. But, luckily, there was 1 table, albeit number 13. Who cares, I’m not superstitious! Except when it comes to my sports teams.
We just wanted a snack before going home so we just got the Sheng Jian Bao and Green Onion Noodles. Keep in mind that 1 order of the dumplings is 6 pcs, so don’t go ordering 2 thinking it’s like dim sum. The texture is pretty interesting. It’s part steamed, then the bottom is fried and crunchy. Inside is a delicious soup and meat filling. Best to make a little bite, so the soup comes out onto the spoon, so you can blow it cooler, before eating the whole dumpling.
The noodles come with a blackened green onion sauce. The flavor is that of… well, green onion. I like green onions, but I’m not sure I like the flavor. It’s a little odd, but I’m torn between liking it and not. Weird feeling. The noodles were cooked perfectly, though. Nice and chewy.
Service is both good and bad. Bad because it was a little slow and it was hard to communicate in English. Good because they were friendly. The menu was in Chinese and English, but the ordering slip was in Chinese. Luckily, I put my 2^nd-​Grade matching skills to good use and was able to match the Chinese characters!

I love the pan fried soup dumplings (shen jian bao) here. I think they just raised the prices. They are now $ 7? I remember that they use to be around 6 something. So its getting a little pricey now.
Another favorite is the Noodles with shredded pork in green onion sauce. Must get as well. The menu is very limited but I only go here for the noodles and the soup dumplings!
The service sucks. They are pretty rude but whatever, I have my cravings and their service won’t stop me from coming to get the shen jian bao.

The Good:
+ pan fried soup dumplings (shen jian bao)
+ wontons in clear soup
+ radish flake cake
+ any of the noodle dishes will do you a solid
+ about as authentic Shanghainese street food as you can get
The Not So Good:
— other things on the menu are not really worth your time
— service is slow as molasses
— not the cleanest restaurant, but shouldn’t bother you if you’ve eaten overseas :)
— service is rushed
— significant language barrier
— expen$ive for what you get (their shen jian bao are more than a dollar a piece)
The Bottom Line:
Come here if you are craving authentic Shanghai street food. Definitely one of the best in California. Don’t come here expecting to be pampered by service or décor, but do stay for the fabulous buns.

I’ve been eying this place for months, really wanting to try the pan fried pork buns. Finally came over during lunch one day when I had an appointment in the area. I ordered 1 pan fried pork buns $ 6.75 and 1 baked raddish cake 3.50 to go.
The radish cake was piping hot fresh out of the oven. They are about the size of a golf ball, perfect to eat while driving (I know I shouldn’t, but it smelled so good!). The crust was flaky and rich, filled with fresh grated turnip and meat.
The main attraction, the pan fried pork buns, were good but just a bit too greasy for me. The meat was juicy and when I bit in juices dripped out. Only downside, maybe as I had it to go, was I had an aftertaste due to the grease.