Sha Bistro

PSA: THEY GOT COCKROACHES UP IN HERE.
Came here with my fam because we hadn’t tried this place yet. Got seated immediately and my dad made some comment about seeing a roach on the wall. Honestly just thought my dad was messin with me until one scurried across the table. It might’ve even touched my hand. Bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I nearly lost it. I am fine with yall on the floor and the walls but I am really not tryna share my food with you (IDFWU!). This happened right after we ordered our food so we just told the waitress to cancel our order and left. Btw, I smashed it (RIP little one) and told the waitress, but she was really nonchalant about it.
So they might have some bomb food here but just make sure yall hide yo noodles, hide yo Chinese donuts, and hide yo xiao long baos cause they crawlin up on everybody’s table out here
But if yall also have a fear of roaches like me, there are some good Shanghainese restaraunts in Fremont!

My experience with Sha bistro was horrible. I felt uncomfortable with their customer service. The owner constantly yelled at the server rudely in her language while she sat her lazy ass gossiping with her friend. Our server had to come back and forth. We waited for over 30 minutes with our shrimp fried rice, pork chops and sesame chicken. That sesame chicken did not taste anything like chicken!!! The consistency was more like fish. But that’s just not it. Our bill was miscalculated. I was overcharged. I took a picture for proof. I even calculated everything and the total was incorrect. I called the owner over to ask why I am overcharged. Her explanation was the tax is higher this year than last year. It was 9% higher?! I’m not that dumb. My advice, don’t come here at ALL!

My co-​workers and I came here for lunch yesterday, Fri 6÷27÷2014. This place was picked by someone in our party of 4 and it turned out good.
Anywho, it’s about the food so here are what we ordered:
Pickled Radish & Cold Boiled Chicken Feet (complemtary on the house)
Fish in wine sauce
Tofu seafood
Preserved eggs congee
My bad that I didn’t capture all dishes name right. Will go there again and take pic of the menu.
Service? Ok
Food? Good
Ambiance? a hole in the wall type like
This place will charge you a dollar more for Credit Card usage. But, the waitress was kind enough to give me a warning before she go ahead with the tab. That’s a bonus.

ZERO ZERO ZERO STARS
–cockroach in dragon bun steamer
–burnt fried donut (twice)
–raw pork in the other batch of dragon buns
–sugar in salty soy milk
–and charging us for this!
These people who run this place should not be doing restaurant and handling food. Please do not go here. Unsanitary, health dept needs to come to this place and shut it down for good

This is my first time order Walnut Prawn.
Man, it was horrible. The prawn taste bitter, and the walnut was burned.

Located inside the El Mercado Shopping Center is Sha Bistro, an Shanghainese & Szechuan Asian restaurant.
A little history regarding this place: I’ve been here ever since it used to be called «Little Potato», then they left, another owner bought it and kept the name «Little Potato». Finally, «Little Potato» came back as «Little Sheng Yang» in the same center, a few doors down. Now however the original «Little Potato» is now gone.
So, in this review I know what I’m talking about here. This restaurant is actually owned by the people who now own «Little Sheng Yang», which is also another Chinese restaurant here in the same shopping center, next to New China.
Now onto the food. The food here is pretty good and decent sized.
We’ve tried a few dishes here:
Fish with Wine Sauce
Chef Zhu’s Tofu
Preserved Pork with Vegetables
Chicken
Beef with Vegetables
Eggplant
And more!
The food is somewhat tasty and it’s worth giving at least a try once or two. Although, I’ve been here quite a few times, lol.
ORDER ONLINE HERE:
SHA BISTRO WEBSITE:

Service, meh. Needs some improvement because well they don’t speak much English at all… Chinese mostly.
It says CASH ONLY, however if you want to use Credit Card, they have to take you over to «Little Sheng Yang» in order for you to pay, like really???
Over, yeah 4 stars.

Cheap and large portion! This is definitely a go to place if you want some mom/​pop home-​style Shanghainese or Szechuan food. Everything here taste so good. I recommend the Special Grand Fish Imitation Crab Meat, Spicy Style Boiled Fish Filet, any of their noodle soup, and their pea sprout. But seriously you can’t really go wrong with anything you order here.
The service is lacking though. The servers rarely check on table besides when they bring out food – so ask whatever you need when they put down your food. I had to wave them down a couple time for bowls and the bills. Also, they never say thank you when they pick up the bill or when you leave.

Ambiance would make you think that you were eating in a hole-​in-​wall. But then the food arrives and you are transported to a place that serves clean, well-​prepared food with beautiful presentation. SURPRISE!
BASA with homemade sauce ($ 7.50) — This dish surprised me the most because of how they filleted the fish before they fried it. Clearly whoever is doing this has experience in bigger restaurants. It makes it so easy to eat too because you just pluck off a piece with your chopstick. Fish is a thick, white fish similar to catfish and was fried with just the right amount of batter and crispiness. Even though they give you more sauce than necessary and even though it does resemble sweet chili sauce, it has a hint of uniqueness to it that makes you keep eating it.
Chongqing style mala chicken ($ 6.50) — Husband kept saying that there was something in his dish that literally made his tongue numb. I didn’t notice it at all because my mom probably put chile oil in my baby formula. This dish typically does have oil but I like that even the oil is just enough where you can enjoy it but the food isn’t swimming in it. Everything about this just makes it perfect to mix with rice. Each piece of bell pepper, onion, and chicken is covered with seasoning that the rice can tame.
The two items I have just mentioned were on the first couple pages with items that have a «BEST» flag on it. I suppose you can trust in their recommendations.
Shanghai style vegetable with bean curd ($ 6.50) — Whenever I order tons of saucy or heavier items, I need my vegetable to be as simple and clear as possible. This does the job and almost every table there ordered it. It’s just a simple snow bean leaf with thin strips of bean curd with just enough salt and oil.
Pork, melon and bamboo soup ($ 7.50) — Holy moly this pot is big enough for 8 people. It was delicious but I could taste a little MSG. It’s okay, I don’t hate MSG. I use it at home too and am damn proud of it. I’ve never had bamboo stalks in soup and upon first bite, you might not think it was tender enough to eat but it is. The meat is so incredibly tender. You could take them all out of the soup and eat it over rice with some hot sauce.
As you can see, the prices are terrific for the quality and quantity that you are getting. Each dish can easily feed four hungry adults, if not more. Some of the waiters are younger so if don’t be intimidated if you have any questions and don’t speak the language. Also, all the items on the menu have pictures which always comes in handy.

Sha Bistro has replaced the old Zhiwei, which is about a 1 000 000% upgrade. My family came here to have dinner and I definitely have to say that I’m impressed.
Atmosphere:
Don’t expect much about the atmosphere. The restaurant is not as huge as Mayflower (in the same shopping area). If you’re coming here with a huge party, prepared to be cramped and eating shoulder to shoulder surrounding a round table. Sha Bistro is also quite popular, so mind it might be difficult finding seats.
Customer Service:
My family was Chinese, so I can’t speak for the customer service on a regular basis here. I’m sure we all know how Asians can be notoriously horrible with customer service. However, in my experience the waitress was very nice and was joking around with my uncle too. Food came out at respectable times as well.
Food:
The prices are SO cheap for what you get. Expect to pay around 5 – 7 dollars for each dish on average. A lot of other Unilocalers here agree that when it comes to value, Sha Bistro definitely has it right! The menu is extensive with pictures for I believe most, if not all, of the dishes on offer.
My recommendations? The Xiao Long Bao! Juicy and perfectly steamed.
My family ordered loads of food so I couldn’t keep track of what I had, but I can safely say that everything I tasted was enjoyable and cooked to perfection
I would definitely come here again for a cheap lunch. For the past few years, the Chinese restaurants in this area have been shutting down and new ones opening, but I really hope Sha Bistro is here to stay.

Sha Bistro… I think it’s Shanghainese but they also have dishes from other parts of China. The menu is impressive looking — it’s a nice fancy-​looking thick bound book with color pictures of the dishes (though the page numbers are hand written). They have Shanghai dishes like XLB, rice cakes, Shanghai style rice with salt pork, etc.
* Steamed sole fish ($ 6.50): I was expecting a few fish filets but was pleasantly surprised to receive a whole fish, head to tail. It’s steamed and topped with scallions and a light soy broth. The fish is tender and delicate. Very nice.
* Beef with soft tofu ($ 7.50): If you’ve ever had Chinese fish filets boiled in spicy oil sometimes served over a tender soft tofu, this dish is very similar on with big, tender slices of beef instead of fish, tons of soft tofu slices and a generous amount of chili oil, garlic, and chilis. The portion is massive, enough for 6 people.
* Soy milk (sweet): Didn’t have a strong bean flavor but it wasn’t too sweet or watery
The sign in the window says they have a bonus program where you earn a point for every $ 10 you spend. The décor is simple with pink walls. Most diners are Chinese. The shrimp dishes were particularly popular. Beijing yogurt is available.
$ 25 credit card minimum.

Spicy lovers heaven!
I’ve been craving for Szechuan dishes since I’ve moved back from SoCal and I finally found one that same in tastes as my favorite joint in San Diego. Come with a big appetite or a big group cause the portions are definitely family style. As always, I ordered more than I could handle but they were all delicious! I would highly recommend the pork belly thinly sliced with garlic and chili and the fish with tofu in chili.
It’s a hole in the wall joint with limited seating, so come early if you’re coming with a big group.