Shanghai Winter Garden

Restaurants pretty big and spacious. so that was nice.
The food is average shanghai food, but I’d come back.

I drove by here today and saw the place has closed down. However, I saw a listing here on Unilocal of a restaurant with the same name just opening up on Broadway in SF Chinatown, so it could be that they relocated there. I’ll find out one day soon if that’s indeed the case. Otherwise, it was nice visiting them while they were at this location.

ehhh, funny how I had lunch here about two weeks ago and a week after that, they have closed down. haha. I wonder why…

My hubby saw this by chance in a news article so we decided to give this place a try. Upon entering we felt like it was a little understaffed as there was just one customer waiting for a table and a small table available. The restaurant was pretty full with customers so that was promising. We ordered, the beef pancake, xiao long bao, pan fried buns, tea smoked duck and spicy green beans. Unfortunately the xiao long bao did not pass the test. There was no liquid in it. I expected the juice to squirt out when I took that first bite. I was disappointed. The beef pancake was okay but the beef smelled funny to me. And I didn’t like that. The spicy green beans were okay but they were really skinny green beans and I expected that crunch you get when eat string beans. The pan fried buns were the best. They were delish. The tea smoked duck was also pretty good. So Dumpling Kitchen still wins it for their delicious xiao long bao! No one in my opinion has been able to beat them. Duck was decent but I’m still waiting for Great China to reopen. Worth trying but not for the xiao long bao.

I’d been wanting to try this place for a while, and finally came in on a Wednesday afternoon. Just so happened that my girlfriend wanted something truly authentically Chinese, and the owner mentioned the fish head casserole (which I notice that no one else has reviewed on here). She acknowledged that it is not easily found outside of China, and was eager to try this establishment’s rendition. Danger: ’tis not for the faint of heart, and the serving size is probably meant for at least 4 adults, as there large hunks of fish. Granted, we were still capable of finishing it, though we wound up doggy-​bagging the chow mein w/​hand-​pulled noodles that we’d also ordered. By itself, I could have, and would have, easily finished the noodles, but soup is harder to doggy-​bag.
The fish head «casserole» was basically a large fish stew in a clay pot. The fish head was cooked within a soup broth, mixed in with the likes of fried tofu, bamboo shoots, seared garlic, and wide sheets of cellophane, green bean noodles, which are apparently characteristic of the regional Chinese cuisine from which this dish originates. The fish head flesh (for lack of a better term) was amazingly smooth and gelatinous… and provided a fascinating juxtaposition to the delicate texture of the cellophane noodles. The broth was also particularly tasty. Less experienced eaters will need to be very wary of picking bones out.
Of useful note — soy bean milk and donuts made fresh and available only on weekends.

I’ve come here a couple times and the food has been good, especially the Shanghai noodles– those are THE item you have to order any time you come in. The noodles are handmade, and the flavor is phenomenal. The other items we’ve ordered were decent, though the Shanghai dumplings weren’t anything special. When we ordered chicken and green beans, the beans were undercooked.
The downside is that the staff don’t speak much English. I’ve always come with people who can help me order, yet our orders always get mixed up at least a little bit: bringing fried noodles instead of fried rice, cold water instead of hot water, or ordering both dumplings when we just wanted one kind. Still, I’ll overlook it since their Shanghai noodes are pretty good.
It would be somewhat challenging to come here if you don’t speak the language, but I say you should at least give those Shanghai noodles a try. While I’ve never seen the restaurant full, I’ve seen a lot of customers come in for take-​out.

We chose this restaurant only because there was ample parking available. At lunch time, this restaurant was also empty (not a good sign). So things were not looking up…
If you order the standard Chinese fare, it will be meh… not bad, but not outstanding. The lunch menu is standard fare — I would skip it. The free hot-​sour soup was meh, as was the egg roll (really?). The green beans were okay, but a bit too saucy for my taste.
Where this restaurants stands out is in their hand-​pulled noodles. Their pan-​friend Shanghai hand-​pulled noodles are AMAZING — And I don’t give out such praise lightly. They have just the right amount of Q-​Q (Taiwanese for al dente). And as far as I can remember, probably the only restaurant to do noodles this way in the U.S. (yes, you read that right).
Come here just to experience hand-​pulled noodles.

My family usually goes down the street for XLB, but we wanted to try this place out. I remember that it was Brothers Deli for a short time and I had always wanted to check it out.
My first impression was the place is cavernous, I mean 20 foot ceilings with white walls that echoed every conversation. I knew right away that this was not the «Cozy» whisper quite eating experience that one should try to impress a first date with. The décor and dishes were mis-​mashed salvaged from previous restaurants. The «Expresso» Chalkboard and the Chinese menu on it with no translations set me up for the waitress that hardly spoke any English was at first, a put off. Good thing the handout menu had English with the Chinese. With my rudimentary Chinese and the help of my pointer finger, I ordered XLB, hand pulled soup noodles, chive and pork dumplings, sweet soybean milk, and fresh veggies.
Wow! I was impressed with the huge bowl (previous reviews mentioned only a small cup) of perfectly sweet Soy that we had. It was perfect in its taste and texture! I was truly tempted to try and order the fried stuff that usually goes great with this dish but I heard in the back of my mind my bathroom scale telling me to «get off!» I mean this stuff brought me back to when I first tried this dish at the night market in Taiwan!
XLB came out piping hot with just the right texture in the light, thin, skin and the burst of flavorful hot broth at first bite! I was pretty impressed! The real surprise was the steamed chive and pork dumplings that had the more doughy taste and texture of the real thing! It brought me back to the small shop in Xi An, China, home of the terra cotta warriors and famous dumplings. My mind reeled at the memory from years ago, almost like the scene in the film Ratatooie, when the reviewer takes his first bite of his childhood dish! This dish is authentic!
However, the best dish was yet to come! The preserved veggie, slices of pork, in the flavorful broth really accented the fresh, hand pulled noodles. This dish was so good, we caught ourselves slurping the dish loudly in the restaurant! Doctor recommended, fresh Veggies were fresh wok tossed with just the right amount of flavor and crunch!
All of the dishes were piping hot and flavorful! Nothing tasted warmed up (you know what I mean). This place is just the kind of place that you want to take your good friends to just chow down with and eat. Just don’t expect too much English or atmosphere and you will have some good times!

No frills, no English (barely) but good food and presentation.
This location has changed hands many times without success. A spacious dining area and a good Shanghai menu. Been here twice and have been satisfied twice.
Steamed dumplings and the hand pulled noodles will hit the spot!

If are looking for some decent Chinese food after a long flight to SFO you can give this place a try. They are just a few miles away from the airport. The food was average. The vegatarian steamed dumpling was good. The street parking was easy to find.

Food is ok here.
I don’t think it is that «Shanghainese» style though.

Really confused about reviews, the food tasted pretty good and came out in a relatively quickly, although that may be because not many people were there in the restaurant.
Their wontons (chaoshou) seem to be made a little bit differently, but still tasted pretty good.
I would have given this place 4 stars if not for the very sticky floors. This place could probably use a good cleaning.

I wish I read my friend’s review first before trying this place. If I could I would give this place no more than 1.5 stars. my girlfriend and I sat down and was given a couple of menus. the waiter then stands there and then proceeds to ask what we want to order. we just sat down, can you please give us a minute or two to drink some tea and look through the menu??? my girlfriend says we’re not ready and want to look through the menu but then he starts making recommendations. I guess he really wanted to take our order, or maybe he had nothing else to do.
we ordered the hot soy milk with chinese donut, shanghai dumplings, shanghai noodles and cold beef tendon dish. the soy milk was hot but served in a drinking glass. shouldn’t this be served in a bowl? just give us 2 straws and we’ll make this a romantic lunch. the shanghai dumplings were the best of the dishes but nowhere as good as shanghai dumpling king. the shanghai noodles were not even hot. it’s as if they stir fried the meat and vegetables and dumped it on top of the noodles.
honestly I don’t think this place will last very long.

Stop complaining about the food this is a great restaurant. Perhaps not the «hands down», «last meal of my life», «food I could get fat off of», etc. but honestly really great service. The waiter was extremely attentive… right as I poured the last bit of tea into my cup and put the teapot down, the waiter came over and politely asked if we wanted more tea… sure! We came during an off-​hour, around 2:30pm, and right after we got our food, all the employees gathered around a large circular table and began eating their mid-​day meal. Very home style atmosphere, yeah the food is fine, well at least I’m looking forward to trying the other Chinese places on same street. So what if it’s not the «best» «hands down» food, its a nice place.

I’ve been to Shanghai more than once and have spent more than a months time there. My dad is Shanghainese. My close friend’s family owns over 20 top tier restaurants across Shanghai, so you can bet I’ve pigged out at them!
All I can say is that this «Shanghai» Winter Garden is pretty embarrassing to that style of cuisine. Their flavors are just not right… Speaking purely from a food standpoint, I would not come back, nor would I recommend this place to a friend. If you can’t prepare basic Shanghainese dishes properly, don’t call yourself a Shanghainese restaurant; simple as that. I am usually pretty forgiving, but not when multiple staple dishes are unimpressive.
Two stars because the service is good… close to 1 star for bragging about being one of the best restaurants in the area =/

Every table was full of cheery Asian families, so you’d think the food would be better. We started with the drunken chicken and the chili oil pork belly. Drunken chicken should be silky smooth and have the floral tang of the wine that it’s cooked with. Not much of that at all and we found ourselves reaching for the vinegar to dunk it in. That’s probably the theme of the food from this place, since everything is super oily for no real reason. Oil brings flavor, yes, but here it seems like it’s splashed on willy nilly. Also, the chicken still had the base of the feathers on a few pieces?
Won ton and xiaolongbao are decent. Nice little pockets of broth and meat. I could eat these again.
Sauteed pea sprouts were flavorless and super oily. As was the fish with wood ear fungus. Super salty and the fungus was undercooked. Ack.

Our family decided to try this place tonight. We went in and the place was crowded. A good sign perhaps. Although there was a table available, we were told it was reserved and to come back in 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, we were seated. The other table that was reserved was still not seated. Eventually the patrons that reserved the table came in and sat down… so we thought. Another group came in and it turned out that the waitress had seated the wrong group at the reserved table. And, trust me on this one, with the amount of stink eye coming from the seated party, nobody was about to get up and leave.
Ambiance — the walls are a sickly green with patches of new green paint where the owners sloppily tried to cover patches in the walk. The place was a former American breakfast/​lunch café — they still used the Expresso chalk board to write specials in Chinese.
We ordered some simple dishes — 7 dishes total. When I mean simple, I’m talking about sauteed pea shoots, Chinese broccoli with beef, braised fish fillets, clay pot, etc. Of the 7 dishes, 5 were waaaay too salty! We mentioned it to the waitress. She didn’t say a word and simply walked off. So, we improvised and politely asked for a pot of hot water and DILUTED the salt ladened dishes. They actually tasted not bad after that.
While we were eating, the chef was carving a leg of lamb at next table and asked the patron to touch a slice of the carved meat to check to see if it was warm enough! OMG! Someone teach the chef how to use a thermometer.
We did not leave gratuity for which we received piercing stink eyes from the waitress. The way I look at it, if we tell the waitress a couple of times that the food is salty, ask for a pot of hot water, dilute the food in from of her and SHE DOES NOTHING, obviously patron satisfaction is not a priority.
After we left, we went home and drink copious volumes of water to de-​brine our palettes.
Ok Unilocalers, I’m all about taking one for the team, but this has to be the WORST Chinese sit down restaurant in Millbrae, if not the peninsula.
SHANGHAI Winter Garden. That’s not snow in the garden, it’s salt!
Should be renamed SHANGHAI SALT GARDEN.

Amongst the many local Chinese restaurants, Shanghai Winter Garden decides to emerge smack dab in the middle of them all; a bold move indeed. On my way there I actually had trouble finding where the place was– they have a sign blocked by a tree when coming down broadway from the north and they have no visible signs on their windows =X.
After finally stumbling upon the restaurant, my family was already seated and food had just started to arrive (lucky me ;D). We ordered the Xiao Long bao, shanghai clay pot with vegetables and salted pork, fried onion pancake, beef noodle soup, drunken chicken soup with vegetables and won-​tons and lastly, sesame pork buns.
I have to agree with the earlier reviews, I feel that the restaurant could’ have used a couple weeks of training before finally opening up. Waiter service was inconsistent with us getting lots of attention at some times and none a moment later. (I was also late in getting to lunch so apparently my family had been waiting for ~20 minutes before the food started to come and, and when it did it all came out at the same time so our table was crammed).
The xiao long bao were a disappointment– thinly wrapped and with no broth at all inside. With no broth the texture of the meat inside was borderline dry; being a Shanghainese restaurant they HAVE to get these right it’s an injustice to the cuisine.
The clay pot with vegetables and pork was actually a real surprise to me and my family. First of all, clay pot dishes are steamed at high temperatures so that you get nice and fluffy rice in the center and crispier texture towards the sections closer towards the pot. So, when we opened the lid, we didn’t expect to see that our rice was still soggy and wet; and with our favorite part of the dish, the crispy edges, to be non existent! A few more minutes in the oven and this dish could’ve been perfect, too bad.
The beef noodle and drunken chicken soup with veggies and wontons were both probably the stars of the meal. The meat in the beef noodle soup were all really tender and plentiful. The noodles eaten in tandem with the soup really brought in the full flavor of the dish, a very good pick when stopping by. The drunken chicken soup with veggies and wontons was also very flavorful. I personally didn’t taste any MSG flavoring in the dish like Eric Y. did, but I can agree that the dish had a heavy salt flavor that I personally enjoyed maybe because I like salt, but that my mom and dad really didn’t seem to enjoy, which could’ve been it. Both soups were plentiful when it came to the meat and both had great flavor; my only gripe is that the veggie aspect was really lacking; barely enough to fill one bowl from each soups.
The fried onion pancakes was not as oily as most places I’ve ordered it, and they were actually really crispy as a result. A crunch with every bite with a good taste; can’t ask for any better.
Lastly, the sesame pork bun was also a nice plus and having been the last dish to come out, was a really good end to the meal. Unlike its xiao long bao cousins, these were filled with the juices from the meat and were very moist and tender; worth the wait? Not really, but still a good dish if it didn’t come out so late.
At the end of our meal the waitress asked us how the meal went, and we openly shared our opinions about the dishes and our experience. I was happy that she took in our responses, but I was surprised that she would admit that their head chef was new and had just started this week and that they had expected to hear us say that our xiao long bao to were dry on the inside and that he did have a heavy salting and oil hand! Honestly, if they knew they’d have these problems, why open and provide half of a good dish? However, she did say that she would relay our response to the chef, which I felt was really open and helped us maintain a positive attitude towards this restaurant; I wouldn’t recommend you rush to grab a bite here, but I know I’ll give this place another try, if only to see that they took our suggestions and criticism.

Uhh… Two stars for being nice since they are new.
Ordered a couple dishes… posted some pictures.
as for the review? What more do I actually need to say?
Restaurants these days really need to learn the drill before they open. Not every mom and pop who’s bored at home can come out and turn a old shack into a restaurant without experience. I don’t care if you renovated the place with cheap interior or hired a bunch of people to work for you.
People these days aren’t old junkies. Everyone expects service, attention and great food. If you open a shop with lack of service and unprofessional training for your employees, your place would slump. This place suffers exactly what I just said. All the waiters were unprofessional. After a week of being open, they still couldn’t get things straight.
Kitchen as extremely slow. First dish came in like 8 mins. Second dish 10 mins after… Third dish another 5 – 8 mins. Then the last dish, WAHOOO! 25 mins! KILL ME, if you want me to swallow cold rice. Oh, not to mention… VERY AUTHENTIC SHANGHAI CUISINE! ~SIKE! Every dish tasted a little sweet (even those that weren’t suppose to have any sugar base) except the Chicken Wonton Clay Pot Soup. That was the only dish that appealed to me and the only thing I will mention for this review. Not to mention, rice was a bit soft.
Another thing that I found weird… they take your order on a chinese invoice booklet… Brings a copy to the kitchen and puts a copy on your table. The cashier doesn’t have a copy of that bill. Therefore, when you ask for a check. You need to wait for someone to come to you. Bring the paper to the cashier. Then the cashier will look at the bill, match the items on the menu and write down the price. Then calculate everything right there. This whole process takes 10 mins! FML, my time is precious.
Oh and if you want to live a little longer, might want to consider eatting somewhere else. The place has high ceiling (20ft, my guess). The kitchen is located in the back, but the walls do not go from the floor to the ceiling. This means that the kitchen is a open kitchen because the walls go from ground to about 8ft high. The ventilation is bad and the whole restaurant smells like food. If you want to be inhaling oil filled oxygen, please come here.
As of now, my review will stay just like this. 2 stars for the chicken wonton soup that was filled with MSG! =)

high ceilings and drafty inside, perfect for eating hot noodle soups and shanghai dumplings. a typical shanghainese restaurant serving soups, rice, noodles, noodle soups, and dumplings.
–shanghai dumplings: i could tell once i picked one up in my chopsticks that it didn’t have enough soup inside. i was right. they were still tasty and the dumpling skin wasn’t too thick. it just needs more soup.
–shanghai fried rice cake with preserved vegetables and pork: super salty.
–shanghainese clay pot vegetable rice: texture was great, a bit oily, but too much white pepper
–beef stew noodle soup: it was fine. sort of tasted like doll house instant ramen.
the service was decent. the kitchen is a bit slow in churning out the food and forgetful as we were missing a few dishes that never came. i saw this happen to other tables also. it was just alright, but if i ever want shanghai dumplings, i’ll just go across the street to the shanghai dumpling shop for some soupy goodness.