Shanghai House

Come to Shanghai House for the short lines, and the Shanghai street food, not for the XLB’s. If you’re looking for XLBs go to Kingdom of Dumpling!
* XLB — 2 stars: Kingdom of Dumpling is nearby and much soupier. This one is hard on the outside, and mushy on the inside.
* Fried Chicken Wings — 3.5 stars: Not as good as San Tung, but no wait here! You can find my favorite wings at Hot Sauce and Panko
* Fried Silk Buns — 3 stars: I ordered it because it looked cool on Unilocal.Didn’t realize these are deep fried buns served with condensed milk. Didn’t like the oily aftertaste and was too sweet for me.
* Rice Roll — 4.5 stars: Excellent ratio of rice to meat/​fried roll! Loved this, just wish it was bigger!

My expectations of this place were very high because my friend recommended it to me but after eating here, it was vwey disappointed. The food was awful and the service was even worse. My friend told me i ordered the wrong items on the menu but i do not think i will be giving it a second try.

Place was OK but I wouldn’t go back. There are definitely better places in SF to get your Shanghainese/​Chinese food fix. The restaurant is super small and compact. Seems like this place is family owned, where there’s only 1 waitress taking orders and 1 person just serving the food.
All in all, the service pretty much sucked. Super slow and inattentive. A 5 person family dinner that could’ve easily been 1 hour turned out to be 2 hours. The food came out pretty slow where my fam would eat 1 dish, finish the dish, then wait for the next to come out.
Their dry-​fried chicken wings are pretty comparable to San Tung’s, texture and flavor wise. But I wouldn’t go back just for the wings. Note that there are less wings in their serving, but definitely bigger & thicker wings than San Tung’s.

A very small with bare wall atmosphere and often a wait. The food is top shelf Chinese cuisine from the dumplings to the pigs knuckle, the pea shoot sautéed in rice wine. The dry fried chicken for which they use honey rather than sugar to sweeten the spicy sweet sauce is far and above better than the well known San Tung on Irving. You get less pieces in your order than San Tung but the pieces are larger with more meat. The Shanghai style braised meat balls are outstanding as are the spare ribs. If you are expecting 3 star Michelin service this isn’t the place for as there is just one woman who takes orders and runs the dining room, thus you need to be patient. There are of course many many Chinese restaurants in San Francisco and after more than 30 years here I have been to quite a few. The food at Shanghai House is up on top consistently.

I couldn’t decide between 2 stars or 3 stars; and don’t know where to start! Lets start with the lines and work our way in.
First off, the food is good, overpriced, the service is poop, and the place is small with little walking space. This place is recommended for parties of 2 – 4, 5 max! If the restaurant is full, the first group will have to stand outside and wait in line. Though, there is no designated area to wait. If you’re standing outside with your group, it looks like you’re loitering. We came during dinner, just in time to beat the crowd. From what I witnessed by the windows, it was cold out. The second group of people that came in ended up coming into the restaurant to wait in the walkway and it seemed like they were also trying to cut the big group of people outside.
My party of 5 was seated next to the door. For our table that seats 4, my cousin had to sit on the side where the walkway of the door is. The customers at the restaurant would be rude and pull the door in, hitting him instead of pushing. The restaurant should have a push/​pull sign so customers know what to do without hitting others who are dining. When we first came, there were 2 tables often. The one next to the doorway and the table next to that one. We wanted the one inside because we knew someone had to be seated in the walkway, but she put us by the doorway which was very inconvenient. There seemed to only be 1 waitress and she was rude. She would see us waving her down then disappear into the back for a few mins. Come back out and talk to other customers who came in. Took us 5 – 10 mins to wave her down for the check and we were close to dine and dashing because it took so long. Took her 5 mins to come take our orders as well.
As for the food, it was delicious. My party and I did something similar to family-​style, but it was little food for the 5 of us, I think. We ordered the Shanghai Dumplings, fried chicken wings, spicy noodles, and green onion pancakes from what I remember. All were great choices, delicious, but not enough for the party of 5 (but didn’t want to order more because overpriced for it’s portions). I ended up having to go next door to buy a sandwich. Surprisingly, located next to my favorite smoked salmon sandwich café (La Promenade). Popular for the Shanghai dumplings aka Xiao Long bao, I think the quality of it was average. Did not taste any different to other ones I’ve had.
For the portion size, I felt that the food was overpriced. Service was crap, but food was good. Not worth it, and wouldn’t recommend coming back here unless there is no wait and you want to spend your money on small portion sized food but good. Haha.

The food here is great, but their service can definitely use some work.
I walked in to order food at 9pm, and the woman tells me I can only have the food to go because they close at 9:30pm. However, 10 minutes after I placed my to go order, a couple came in, spoke to the woman in Chinese, and then she let them stay to eat. A couple of minutes after them, a Caucasian couple came in and she told them the same thing she told me: only food to go.
Pro tip: if eating late, come here with a Chinese-​speaking friend.
I think I’ll be sticking to Shanghai Dumpling King. Their staff is so much more friendly.

I’m pretty sure I entered the establishment and ordered a good 5 minutes before this other party BUT WHERE THE HELL IS MY FOOD & XLB?
Right now, I see that the other party ordered 2 XLB, whereas my mother and I only ordered 1 XLB, but in what world does a party, who orders later, gets their food first??? LIKE BRUH.
if you really want good xiao long bao, go to Dumpling Kitchen on Taraval– at least they have good service there.
If you really dig the dry chicken wings and San Tung’s line is too long, try Chang’s Kitchen, which is across the street from San Tung.
Stop giving this place more credit than it deserves. This place is not worth a detour.

I live in Nob Hill, but sometimes I take a 40 minute bus ride all the way to outer richmond for the:
Pan fried buns (Sheng Jian Bao) — not on the menu, just ask
Dry Fried Chicken — not on the menu, just ask as well
Jiu Niang!!! (Sweet rice wine dessert with sesame ball)
— which makes a perfect afternoon snack for me.
Service can be good or poor depending on the person, but if you speak Shanghai-​nese dialect with the owner, you automatically get better service.

OMG My standard for Asian Food, (I lump them together) is Eliza’s at California and Divisadero. But I saw Shanghai House on KQED’s Check Please and thought I would try it out. We were at the Ferry Building and it is a LONG ride on Muni 31 to Balboa and 37^th. You see too many sights like this 30ish attractive woman unable to move (drugs???). I almost was too sad to go on but wanted to try Shanghai House. We ordered the House Special Eggplant. My preference is Eliza’s but hubby liked this just fine. I would rate this dish a 3. There was also Sweet and Sour Soup. Again, for me, Eliza’s has the edge. But still we got carry out and soup came with it. Another rating of 3 for me with hubby liking it more. BUT THEN we ordered the Dry Fried Chicken Wings. This is more than a «5». I thought I went to heaven. We are part timers and alas must return to Ohio but I am getting an order of these to go for the plane next Tuesday along with a sandwich from Saigan Sandwiches. That should keep both of us happy for lunch and dinner when we get home. It is cash only. Next time I am taking bus 38 out there, faster and not as depressing. This place is a winner.
Oops the dang place is closed on Tuesdays. No chicken wings for me to eat on the plane.

Came here on Friday at 7pm and were seated immediately. Seems to be popular with locals who don’t want to venture out to Chinatown.
The fried chicken wings and sweet n sour spare ribs came drenched in a caramel like sauce which hardened after a few minutes. What amount of sugar and corn starch was used to make THAT happen? ¹⁄₅
Xiao long baos and Nian gao noodle were decent but not amazing. 3.5÷5
Service was average — very business like and not all that friendly until they get your cash + tip. This place is cash only FYI. The only redeeming factor was Purple Kow across the street for dessert.

Don’t go for the hospitality. Indeed you need to have a little bit of patience being served but it is worth the wait. Excellent quality of food for a reasonable price. I thoroughly enjoyed my shrimp fried rice. The food is piping hot when served
The only thing that lacks this place is a toilet

Came here for a quick dinner with my brother and got seated right away. We had shanghai noodles and dumplings. I have to return for the wonton in chili oil because those are one of my favorite dishes and Shanghai fried pork dumplings. I would also like to return and try the deep fried saucy chicken wings. Not bad and service is quick.

Shanghai House is a small restaurant with plenty of parking around the area. It’s also the only place I’ve been to that has both fried chicken wings and xiao long bao! Service is a bit slow, and it can get crowded since there’s only a few tables, but the wait is worth it.
FOOD:
* Xiao long bao — One order comes with 10! The soup dumplings were good, with a nice thin wrapper and tasty soupy insides. These were some of the better ones I’ve had in SF.
* Dry fried chicken — One order comes with 8 pieces. The chicken wings were slightly larger than I’m used to. The chicken was sooo moist and tender, and full of sticky sweet and spicy flavor. SOO GOOD. My boyfriend says San Tung’s wings are slightly better, but that these are comparable (and less of a wait!).
* Pan-​fried steamed pork buns — This item wasn’t on the menu, so show them a pic on Unilocal!Comes with 8 piping hot buns. The wrapper on these are tasty and chewy, like your standard Chinese pork bun, but pan-​fried on the bottom. The inside pork was like a soup dumpling — it tasted good with the vinegar sauce.
Overall, 4.5 stars. Will definitely be back for the XLB and fried chicken!

Food (⁴⁄₅): My bf and I split the pork and veggie dumplings, a vegetarian dish with bean curd sheets, edamame, and mustard greens, and pan fried pork buns. The first two were solid, and reminded me a lot of my mom’s cooking. The pan-​fried pork buns was the standout dish — they were crispy on the bottom, juicy on the inside, and flavorful throughout.
Note — we didn’t see this dish on the menu, but we just showed them a picture of the buns on Unilocal and they made it. There were a few other dishes I saw on Unilocal but not on the menu, so don’t be afraid to ask!
Service (³⁄₅): Polite but inattentive — if you want something, ask! Don’t expect the servers to come refill your waters on their own.
Value (⁴⁄₅). Between the two of us, our meal came out to $ 30, including tax and tip. We were definitely full, too.

I frequent here a lot. I usually order their steamed xiao long bao, pan fried xiao long bao, veggies, and their dry fried chicken wings. However, there was inconsistency in the food the last time I went but that’s my only bad experience.
I will still come back.
Do not expect great customer service. The place is small. Only Cash.

My boyfriend and I absolutely love this place. He introduced me to this restaurant on my first visit to SF, and I can’t get enough of this place! Our last trip to SF, we ate there twice within the 5 days we were there. We keep it simple and order the dry fried chicken wings and two orders of xiao long bao. That’s it!
Keep in mind, service is EXTREMELY slow. It seems like they pay more attention to take-​out orders because they are always on the phone and working in the kitchen. They hardly ever come out to the dining room unless it is to bring an order to the table. So make sure you catch their attention when they are out in the dining room, because who knows when they will come back out from the kitchen.
They also don’t know when a customer comes in through the doors. There was a time my boyfriend and I were standing by the door waiting to be seated and it took a couple minutes for someone to come out and seat us. There was one instance where a couple was ready to order, but it took too long, they left. I only deduct one star for service, but their food is sooooo good, it really makes up for the terrible service.

I am somewhat of a xlb snob and shanghai house makes by far my favorite xlb in the city, way better than shanghai dumpling king, bund shanghai, etc. the skin on the xlb is not too thick and perfectly contains the soup inside the dumplings. I’ve also tried the fried chicken and I personally prefer it to the famous fried chicken at san tung. The chicken is incredibly moist and juicy inside and the skin is just the right balance of spicy savoriness and sweet.
And yea, the service kind of sucks, but pretty standard and not egregiously terrible.

This was a cute find while out in the Richmond waiting for our Purple Kow! It’s a tiny space with about 8 tables for sit down eating. We ordered to go & waited for our order. The service was pretty mediocre & it seemed like we were an inconvenience being there. After what seemed like forever, we got our food & we bounced. We ordered their fried chicken wings & chow mein.
Fried chicken wings: AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS! It’s super super crunchy btw. Loved the sauce! It had a great kick!
Chow mein: was yummy! No complaints here!
The food I would definitely come back for, especially the chicken. But I would always order take out instead of dining in.

One day after work — as I was hungry and craving Chinese food, I thought to venture over to this place… The one woman… She was extremely RUDE! ((It takes a lot to upset me.)) I received no acknowledgement upon entering the restaurant. Still, I walked up to her and kindly asked for a menu. I conveyed that I was ordering for «HERE». She seemed rushed. Anyhow I sat myself down after ordering three items. By the way, she did not offer water or tea to me — though I wasn’t worried as I happened to have a full bottle of water with me. Though it was slightly bothersome to watch her bring food to people who had entered the restaurant much AFTER me. I waited… Waited… Also, it was so hard to flag her down to inquire re: the status of my order — as she made no eye contact with me and rushed to/​from the back.
Anyway, 45+ minutes later — she brought out my order via packed containers in a plastic bag… WHAT?! Again I reported I had ordered for «HERE» — and this time she replied with something along the lines of «I thought you ordered to go». She did NOT apologize for the misunderstanding. Note — when I’m hungry, I get irritated… Internally, I was so frustrated! Anyway, as I just wanted to get out of there (!!!), I paid (no tip as unbeknown to me, it ended up being to go), grabbed the food, and left (w/​o getting soy sauce).
I’m giving one star as the food was edible… The green onion pancakes, vegetarian steamed dumplings, and vegetarian chow mein.
I wish I went elsewhere… Sadly, this place has horrible service…
As one of the other reviews mentioned, I wish I spoke Chinese. Note, I was the only Indian person in the restaurant at the time. Perhaps the woman thought I was a lost tourist?

This is a small restaurant with about 10 tables, it was a little stuffy and we were the first people (4) to wait for seats, it took about 10 – 15 minutes.
We ordered the dry chicken, sautéed string beans, and green onion pancake. The pancake came out first, and it was pretty good, better than some other places– it was crunchy and not too oily. The sautéed beans were very good, the beans were fresh and green and the sauce was a little spicy. The chicken came out last– it was similar to san tungs but crunchier and a little on the sweet side.
Overall, the food was really good, the food that came out was very hot and fresh.
The customer service is okay, if you need anything just ask and they’ll help you out.
Price was reasonable for the amount of food that we got.
Don’t forget-​cash only!