Shanghai 46

this place is getting worse every time we visited. not sure I will go again.

Food are good, but service is NOT. When we asked for spare spoons, the waitress responded «you already have» and then walked away.

Food looks nice and fresh. Chow fun is pretty good. Pork belly was very disappointing. Very dry and has the texture of jerky. Also the buns that it came with was hard as a brick. I would not come here again.

I am so glad to enjoy an extensive menu selection of authentic Shanghai dishes. The Chef’s Brown Sauce is perfectly seasoned complementing the ideally prepared proteins. Tender, succulent and tasty! Always fresh, quality ingredients. I am also a big fan of all their soups and dumplings. Shanghai 46 is my new habit!
Always welcomed upon entry. Seems Eric is that magic element that ties the front of the house to the back of the house which ultimately super exceeds my expectations as a customer. Eric seems to always conjure up my inner creative cuisine curiosity! The dining rooms (and restrooms) are very clean and maintained, well lit, and mood setting soft traditional Chinese music in the background pumped at a proper volume. As I walk in, I never detect any offending odors such as week old fry oil or a ridiculous unnatural air freshener. Service is quick and efficient. Food is consistently prepared to order with fresh, quality ingredients and authentically seasoned, not Americanified for us locals not born into Asian heritage. These are the some of the many reasons why Shanghai 46 is MY repeated choice of venue for Chinese/​Asian cuisine. Plus it’s just a few minutes from my office AND home — too convenient!
The soups at Shanghai 46 are superior to others served in West Essex. My two go-​to faves are ShangHai Shepherd Purse Wonton Soup and the Beef & Noodle Soup. I enjoy the levels of flavors in the broth and I was surprised how extremely tender (and yet not fatty) the bigger than bite size beef pieces were, due to the fact that the beef did not seem to become overcooked from the amount of time it spent immersed in the hot broth. I sometimes get these soups to go, and they withstand both the travel and reheating as the wontons and noodles are packed separately from the broth. Did I mention the beef also survived! Yes!
This visit, for my entrée, I opted for the Sauteed Shredded Eel in Chef ‘s Brown Sauce. I usually don’t drop the «f» word often, but it was truly «phenomenal»! The eel was fresh and the texture was not mushy. The brown sauce was so spot on: perfectly seasoned not overpowering the delicate eel, and mostly, it wasn’t sodium or MSG overload — much appreciated. This was the third time I ordered a Shredded Eel dish here; all were excellent. I’m a big fan of Shredded Eel & Yellow Leeks. Wish I could upload a photo here :-(My choices usually are selected from the Shanghai 46 menu pages detailing their Authentic dishes. I have enjoyed different variations of their spectacular Sauteed Squid. I recommend and encourage folks especially who say they don’t like squid to try this. The chef’s knife cuts hashtag-​pattern scoring this creature of the sea effectively renders it succulent, never tough or chewy This procedure also results in that fantastic sauteed flavor achieved from preparing with proper heat and subtle seasoning. Without being obvious, I always scope out the dishes on the tables of the Asian diners.
Shanghai 46 seems to be always taking pleasure in some great smelling and attractive, unusual dishes being passed around between their intimate or extended parties, seemingly family gatherings or of a business nature. Of course I have to get verification and details from my server or Eric to help educate myself. My goal is ultimately to experience every item on Shanghai 46’s menu, not all in one night of course. Forgot to mention Shanghai 46 is BYOB. Good to know, but dining solo I prefer to consume jasmine or dandelion tea. Can’t wait until I return to sample some Dim Sum served on the weekends and even some Signature dishes. After reviewing their interesting Asian Fusion dishes on the menu, I have my eye on some Thai Basil or Curry! I plan my outings with the reminder that Shanghai 46 is closed on Tuesdays. I will likely be happily reporting again soon!

Good food, great soup, the original soup dumplings or juicy buns as they are referred to here are great. The crab ones are good also but, not as good. Vegetable rice is nothing to write home about. But overall good hot food and good service.

The juicy buns are to die for. I have had my fare share of dumplings but these will keep me coming back for more. I couldn’t get enough of them. And there wonton soup… OMG! And I hate wonton soup. The broth was just right and the wonton were perfectly done.

Great Shanghai food!!! And convenient to get to off route 46. The scallion pancakes are a must and the soup dumplings. Service was fast and friendly.

We have had the pleasure of dining at SHANG HAI 46, both dining in and take out since they opened. We just had dinner there tonight and so glad to report the food is just as wonderful as ever.
Not only is the food outstanding but the service is as well. Always attentive and professional. Everytime chief Eric recommends delicious food to us and he is really nice to us. In all the decades we have frequented SHANG HAI 46 we have never had a meal that wasn’t perfection.
上海46是我和男朋友最常去的中餐馆，味道非常正宗地道，不论是堂吃还是外卖都棒棒哒，沈师傅更是热情好客，会认真聆听顾客的意见。还有其他的服务员也都很nice,各种贴心。
极为推荐酱牛肉(入口即化)，鱼头粉皮大砂锅(内容丰富，味道浓厚)，红烧肉(地道地道地道)，酒酿圆子(每次必须吃的)，赞！！！

I’ve eaten here quite a few times few years back. There brunch and dinner is good. There soybean milk with fried cruller is a must order. Along with the beef egg wrap.

We realized that this restaurant has the same owner as Chengdu 23. So if you’ve been there then you know kind of the standard they run on.
We had the lion’s head casserole, snow pea leaves, mock duck, crystal shrimp and steamed fish. Like Chengdu 23, don’t get the whole fish. It wasn’t steamed all the way through and didn’t taste like it was freshly caught.
However, the lion’s head casserole was pretty good and so was the snow pea leaves. The mock duck was just okay and the shrimp was okay but they gave a ton of shrimp which means value.
Overall, it’s a decent place to eat when you’re in Jersey. Don’t miss the restaurant or it’ll take you 10 minutes to loop back around, that was one big pain in the neck but has nothing to do with the restaurant itself.

Excellent spot.
1) Finally found a spot near my work/​home for authentic Shanghai cuisine and dim sum.
2) I love their Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings), which is my favorite dish.
3) The prices are very reasonable.

I went there last night (Tuesday) just before 8:30pm, and the restaurant is closed at that time. will call next time before I go there.

I have been there few times for dinner and brunch. Their Shanghai cuisine and dim sum are authentic and delicious although overall the sauces are too sweet for me. Some dishes are really good!
The environment and service are adequate. The prices are reasonable.

Nice food with authentic taste. I like the fried garlic vegetables and «xiao long bao». It’s the 2^nd time I am here in favour of the nice shanghai Cuisine here.
Staffs were friendly and helpful. Even though I stayed till 3pm the staff did not hurry me at all. I had a great time with my friends there.

Don’t be confused about the Dim Sum here. This place is Shanghainese, so no Cantonese style Dim Sum. It’s more like 小吃 or snack. They have the typical northern style small dishes like spicy beef «burger», fried crullers (long donuts), soy milk (sweet and salty), drunken chicken, etc. If you come here to expect siu Mai or shrimp dumpling, go elsewhere. No little old ladies pushing carts!
This place has changed hands like four times over the past seven years, always having the Shanghai/​Taiwan theme (I do miss the stinky tofu, though), and then they tried Japanese, which didn’t last very long. Then they removed a very important landmark, the Panda! Although the food remains similar to its predecessors, the dining room has gotten a facelift to look more elegant. They ripped out the dingy carpet and replaced with shiny wood floors, and rearranged the right side area with more tables for larger groups. There’s still the table set out with cold dishes. Prices are comparable to previous renditions as well.

I’ve been here numerous times with my parents for dimsum. Our favorites are their chinese donut (cooked close to what I’ve had in beijing, i’m an original beijingner), unsweetened soy milk, Shredded beef wrapped in scallion pancake, Seafood Casserole, and the veg and pork wonton soup! The prices are unbelievably affordable and the wait staff are all pretty attentive. I’ll def be visiting again soon!

My husband and I had high expectations for this place from reading all the positive reviews. The staff were very attentive and friendly but the food was sub par.
Pork juicy buns: meat was overworked and too smooth so it yielded a tough dumpling
Shredded pork noodle soup with pickled cabbage: noodles were probably pre-​cooked and put in the refrigerator. The soup was lacking with flavor, there was very little pork and cabbage, the noodles were mushy and cold. There were jot and cold spots in the soup. That whole dish should have been perfect. It is a shanghai specialty.
Beef sauteed with scallions and onion: beef was tender, but flavor was not outstanding. It tasted like a regular American Chinese restaurant dish.
Although the service and staff were great, we can’t come back just for that. The food was just not good

Excellent food, very nice décor and surprised super service. We definite will go back for weekend dim-​sum.

Unfortunately, the location of this restaurant can be a pain, especially because I work east of this restaurant. For awhile, even since the previous establishment, Oishi, we’ve tried to find the best route to this restaurant when coming from the east, but it looks like the U-​turn about 2 miles away is the best way to get here, so be sure not to miss the entrance.
The first thing I noticed when we were seated was that parties seated on the left side were of Asian/​Chinese decent, and my party (as my coworkers and I consist of various backgrounds) along with other non-​Chinese parties were seated on the right. To me, it was no big deal, and may have been purely coincidental, but I did notice it and found it a little amusing.
Taking a look at the menu, the dishes they serve seem very authentic, and not your typical Chinese take-​out, which is what I was looking for. Based on the menu, they specialize in Shanghai Cuisine. If there is one thing I love and wish I could get more often without driving to NYC is Xiao Long Bao/​Steamed Juicy Buns/​Soup Dumplings/​however you want to call it.
My coworkers ordered both the Pork Xiao Long Bao and Mixed Pork/​Crab Xiao Long Bao. The buns came out steaming and very juicy. For my actual dish, because it was my first time there, I played it on the safe side, and ordered my simple staple, Beef with Broccoli for my lunch combo.
Because the Xiao Long Bao was delicious, and the menu was very well priced, I look forward to coming back and trying some of the more authentic dishes that they offer on the menu.

If you like the quality and authenticity of the food at Chengdu 23, you should try this place. It’s the same owner and staff ;) which made us feel more assured once we stepped in the door and realized. The cuisine is definitely different though, being that this one is Shanghai cuisine– which we don’t have in the area. We came for weekend brunch and it was good! We had the bean curd jellys– be aware there is a strong ginger taste in the sweet one. The shredded beef burger and fried leek dumpling are very good. We’ll be back and think this place will do much better than its predecessors. It’s is very authentic, so if you want American chinese, this isn’t your place, but definitely worth a try.