Shanghai Restaurant

Not bad for a place in Fort Lee… a change from the many Korean food establishments. Variety at last!

This place is solid… We usually cross the bridge but the convenience of this being down the block earns an extra star. Service is always exceptional and I never have to ask for more tea or water.
My faves– pork xiao is great, love the ribs and green beans, scallion pancake was a little greasy, and the bok choy was good. Can’t wait to try the pig ear and breakfast dishes!

It’s hard to find a good Chinese place in Fort Lee that serves authentic Chinese food. The soup dumplings are good, but their other dishes are definitely worth trying. The ribs are delicious as are the beef noodles. The twice cooked pork is a little oily but the seasoning is good. For the cold dishes, we have definitely come back more than once for the cucumbers. The kung pao chicken was also quite good even without being spicy as my fiancé can’t have spicy food. The scallion pancake is crispy as it should be.
Also I love that they use whole leaf tea. That’s a detail that is often overlooked, but whole leaf tea has a better flavor than what is often found at Chinese restaurants and I appreciate the detail. Service is also quick and attentive. We have been here multiple times and thus far, we have yet to have a bad experience.

Wow! Good Chinese food in NJ! Shanghai soup dumplings, delicious. Interesting menu, they take the time to prepare their dishes well. Friendly atmosphere, nice owners. Will definitely be back.

I got the pigs ear to start and it was a bit on the dry side but it has a little crisp to it that i like. The soupy dumplings were a disappointment as it does have a good soup amount however it was somewhat lacking in flavor. I would still go to chinatown or another joint around here for better quality. To my surprise, the dan dan noodle had a lot of flavor which is better for my taste palette but the noodles were over cooked. I would’ve like it to be more on the crispy side and not as soft as it was. Overall experience, the servers are friendly and the food came really quick. Perhaps should try other things they might be good at next time.

Have been here a couple times now and tried a variety of the items on the menu.
While their quality is way better than your average Chinese grease-​out joint, I can’t help but feel that some dishes fell short of their potential.
Dumplings and wontons would be my focus here, since they have been consistent good and tougher to find elsewhere.
Next would be the fried rice and pan noodle dishes. While they are not stellar, they are still better than average. They even got some spam action going on in the fried rice for some Korean influence.
Last and most disappointing would be the protein dishes. I have tried two different chicken specials as well as the twice cooked pork. Have to say that the main theme is pure heat. Outside of that, both texture and flavor are a bit lacking for me. Some dishes are also overly salty at times.
Overall, good place to dine if you’re looking for better than average Chinese in the area. I would focus on their stronger dishes though.

This restaurant never disappoint me, good dumping soup good service. I recommend many friends/​family to come they all enjoy their dumping soup yummy!

I live right across the street and I visited this place for the first time yesterday.
Only had the soup dumplings and seafood noodle soup but man… It’s good.
Portions aren’t huge, but prices are reasonable. If you’re craving soup dumplings, this is a sure bet.

If you can’t go to chinatown to get good soup dumplings just come over to this place. They offer crab/​pork soup dumplings and their shanghai soup dumplings. My husband and i liked the ShangHai soup dumplings better than the crab/​pork one. It was mostly pork than crab but still good. I cant say much for the other dishes as we only ordered dumplings but the rest of the food looks good and the restaurant itself is clean and well kempt. We went here on a saturday afternoon and was seated in more or less 10 mins. Also they have both street parking and their own parking lot at the back which is a plus! Give this place a try

Great food and service. Came here after seeing a friends review, definitely did not disappoint. Usually the only place to get good dim sum around here is to cross the bridge, and late on a Sunday night that was out of the question.
Food was fresh, and the portion sizes were perfect. Not to mention the waiter was extremely attentive, didn’t have to wait long for anything. Also the restaurant itself was very clean, pretty quiet as well. Only bad thing was we drove by twice before we actually saw it! A little hidden, but that’s okay. There’s parking in the back also, which is very convenient when on a busy street.
We left very satisfied and will deff come back!

The Story: I came here with my mom for brunch. I really wanted to give this place 5 stars but I can’t =(
Food:
As usual, I ordered a ton of stuff.
Pig Ears in Chili Sauce — they were okay. I feel that it wasn’t spicy enough.
Soy Milk — I feel like it is over priced for the amount you get.
Fried Dough — I did not enjoy these at all. They were not even crunchy.
Wantons — The filling needs more salt.
Scallion pancake — These things were the bomb. nice and crispy.
Soup Dumplings — I must really hate soup dumplings. I’ve tried them everywhere that offers them. I just don’t like them.
Décor: Seats about 20 people tops. Small café feel.
Price: Over priced for the type of food you’re getting but hey, I save $ 15-​$ 30 on tolls.
Service: They were on top of their game. For a table of 3, we were demanding. (blame the child haha). They did a good job.
Parking & Finding the Place: Right off main street, has mini parking lot in the back.
Additional Thoughts/​Tips: Would definitely come back to try other things. They take Mastercard and Visa

I hate to report that the soup dumplings did not live up to what I had hoped for. In my search to find the best soup dumplings in NJ, these were just missing the sweet/​pork flavoring that I prefer. We also ordered the dan dan noodles which were lacking in flavor and spice. The «breakfast» dumplings were soaked in a dark greasy sauce that looked like they had so much flavor potential but there just wasn’t a lot going on. The highlight was the pork string beans which made vegetable eating completely tolerable. Sadly, just a solid A-​OK from me.

This is a fantastic little restaurant with top notch authentic Chinese food. It’s on the small side and the lighting and seating reminded me of a cafeteria or the inside of a fast food restaurant, but what it lacks in ambiance Shanghai Restaurant makes up for in food quality.
Service was attentive and we brought two toddlers who had a blast, so in that sense I would call this establishment more or less «kid friendly».
I believe I may have had the BEST General Tso’s Chicken I’ve ever had here at Shanghai last night. If not the absolute best than it was up there in top two and I’ve been ordering General Tso’s for as long as I can recall.
Everything was fresh, delicious, and cooked to perfection. Soup dumplings were large and in general portions were nicely sized and prices were fair.
Would definitely return to Shanghai Restaurant and would recommend to others!

If you’re craving soup dumplings and stuck on this side of the Hudson (away from China Town), this is the spot to head to! The soup dumplings here are delicious and quite authentic.
The menu is limited but all the food looks great. The waiter recommended the spicy noodles and yes, they were super spicy. It actually messed with my taste buds a bit. But that’s exactly the kind of heat I was look for! It was definitely really good.
The place is BYOB and we had to ask for water. However, the wait staff were all super friendly and let us sit there for a long time after chatting. There is parking in the back which is easy to miss. The location is small and not many tables.
Also, remember, this is CASH ONLY. I wasn’t aware of this — and thankfully I had cash on me!

Come here for the dumplings, and enjoy some other dishes! I would have given this a higher review but two things — not many vegetarian options and theyre BYOB but were strict about the whiskey i had. Bummer… i guess wine only. However, the 6 stuffed to the rim veggie dumplings i had were killer. I was a little bummed that it was 6 but those 6 were perfect. Loved the pairings of glass noodles and veggies. Also, having them in a steamed basket was adorable. The seseme pancakes were really fried, but i loved it. A must get in my book. Also, my friend got some spicy soup and boy was her face on fire. So if youre not a fan of spice – beware!
PS…parking in the back and cash only!

Average for Szechuan food… Not amazing but I would come back if I’m around the area and craving Szechuan. Their spicy beef tripe had too many big pieces and the spice wasn’t that great. The soup dumplings are not on par with Joes Shanghai and Shanghai café in Chinatown. Far from it. Everything is average here.

They open on major national holidays like nye, which was why we ended up in this place. Service was very friendly, which is the main reason for the 3 stars. The dishes tasted like they came from an amateur cook. The soup dumplings were good, tasted healthy, like from an aunt’s home kitchen, but flavor wise, I’ve had many better ones. The rest of dishes don’t taste any shanghainese, and the cook certainly likes ginger a lot. We found lots of chopped ginger in many dishes that don’t usually come with ginger. Dishes were also bland, that my boyfriend had to rely on the salt shaker to finish his meal.

Flush with a zen-​like vibe on a Sunday morning, this modest Shanghai style eatery with on site parking, off the beaten path in Fort Lee, serves some funky and authentic food — and great complimentary oolong tea — at bargain pricing. Not as big a menu as Petit Soo Chow in Cliffside (see:
) but for sure, just as sophisticated — and the service is better and more relaxed.
We went for Sunday morning brunch and shared 6 of their dumpling offerings, sliced cold pork ears, spicy beef and tripe, scallion pancake with beef, kung pao chicken, sautéed pea shoots, breakfast wonton soup, and lots of tea. Our tab for 4 was just under 60 bucks — a bargain in my book considering the quality and quantity of the food.
The cold pig ears were nicely cartilaginous and chewy, seasoned with hints of red chili, star anise, sesame and soy. Served first, with tea, this was an auspicious beginning. Even our fussy 8 year old ate some ears — a ringing endorsement!
The crab/​pork soup dumplings were the best of the varieties we tried — even though the dough used for all dumplings was a bit too thick (Petit Soo Chow does a much thinner dough) but the stuffing was excellent — among the best I have tried. And if you are curious about how they make these puppies, you can watch a video loop of the process on a tv monitor that hangs just outside the kitchen (they fold each one between 25 and 30 times — we counted). The other dumplings were just ok — I would order the shanghai shao mai again — very unique flavor — the filling is drier and saltier than the others. The spicy tripe and beef was my favorite — silky, with good heat and crunch, salt and sweet and some sour on the back end. Umami city!
After brunch we chanced on a Korean barber shop down the block that’s open on Sunday morning (see:
). They gave our boys awesome haircuts for cheap. A winning combo for us for Sunday brunch — and now two reasons to be back, say once a month?
As an aside, I just love the Asian melting pot that is contemporary Ft. Lee! Reminds me of Chinatown in NYC (or SF for that matter) in the 1970’s before excessive tourism and Mayor Bloomberg Disney-​fied the place.

Jersey sucks. But, compared to what?
To NY? Yes. To the rest of the country? No. Why? Cuz it’s next to NY Felecia, that’s why.
In this unassuming little building in Fort Lee (no relation to The General) sits the best dumpling joint in the area. Now, the place is more then just dumplings, but the dumplings here are the Jimmy Jam in your Terry Louis, minus the R. Paws.
The service is pretty damn good, for a Chinese restaurant. They are nice and on top of refills and requests.
Do get :
Salt and Pepper shrimp. Head on, fried to perfection. Best.
Pork dumpling
Shrimp dumplings
Shanghai Shao Mai
Water cress. Best i’ve ever had. Light and garlicy. Winner.
Skip:
Beef scallions pancakes. It was meh.
Beef soup. The beef was tough and the broth was meh.
If you’re in the are and craving some Chinese, do it, because in this area Korean and Japanese is about the only legit thing Asian.
Pro tip: make sure to get they’re punch card for free dumplings after five visits.

We walked in shortly before 6pm on hump day. I had tried their soup dumplings on Sunday via togo but they were all broken upon arrival. I was determined to dine in.
Of the dishes we ordered, only the soup dumplings were really good — but it was sufficiently delish to get a 4 star (although my rents would disagree– they didn’t think it was good at all), taking into consideration the many other fail Chinese restaurants offering absolute garbage soup dumplings.
The spicy dumplings were a bit nauseating– some kind of gravy that tasted a bit mushroomy took over the spice and just wasn’t a good mix but wasn’t terrible either. The Shanghai Shao Mai was good– tastes like sticky lotus rice loaded up and topped with an edamame. The thinness of the skin on these dumplings is what blew me away– seriously impressive! They have a video playing that shows you how the soup dumplings are made. As you leave, they’ll give you a card that says after 5 cat stamps, you get an order of soup dumplings for free– yay!
Maybe we ordered too many dumplings– I’d like to give the chicken dishes a try before putting my foot down and saying this restaurant deserves anything less than 4 stars.
The service was fairly good as well. Looks like a young and very pregnant Chinese couple runs the show with no wait staff other than themselves. I like supporting small businesses, and Shanghai Restaurant is no exception.