Jeff’s Kitchen

Since I have moved to Michigan from California. I have felt as if I have fallen in a black pit of culinary diversity full of burgers, beers, and sandwiches. Don’t get me wrong, I love the beer in Michigan and I love the burgers and sandwiches, but sometimes a man wants something else. Sometimes a man wants some xiao long bao.
So this is why I am writing this review, because it’s so damn hard to find some decent Chinese food (in this case Shangainese food) around here. And I was lucky enough to find this place because we had lunch here for my friend’s birthday, so thanks Alan and Happy Birthday. So on to the actual review…
Ambience:
Your typical chinese restaurant (albeit cleaner than I expected) with corny decorations. I think the back wall is decorated with… some Christmas ornaments year round? It’s very cute.
Since we reserved for lunch the entire restaurant was empty except for our group. I guess this is nice in a way, but you kind of don’t get that crowded Chinese restaurant experience where you’re sitting 2 feet away from another table in every each direction and screaming at each other cause it’s so loud. Kind of miss that.
Service:
I really think this is a two person team. Not sure if this was Jeff’s wife or Jeff’s grandma, but I am sure as hell happy that I didn’t get to meet this angry no customer service Jeff who has harbored so many 1 star reviews all by himself. Instead, our party was served by an older Chinese lady who reminded me of my grandmother. She did not speak a lick of English, so thank god some of my friends were able to translate for us and order everything. Other than that, she was very nice, refilled our tea often and said «shi shi» a lot which means thank you.
Food:
Xiao Long Bao (5 stars): For those who don’t know what these are, they are a kind of soup and dumpling hybrid. For starters, you put the dumpling carefully on your spoon without breaking the skin, bite off the top of it, spoon in some soy/​vinegar sauce and slurp that MOFO, then eat it (in any which order you like). But man, I am a little bit sad inside that we didn’t order more of these. Probably could have killed 20 on my own omg, so delicious. These were definitely the star of the show for me and I think I have had a decent amount of xiao long bao in my life (including at Din Tai Fung which you may or may not have heard of). Although they are gigantic, usually XLB (xiao long bao) are like half the size of them here. But their downfall is that they are so large, it is easy to break the skin and all your precious soup falls out :(but yeah anyway, these are a must.
Lion head meatballs: In the words of the late Jerry Lewis, «goodness gracious big balls of fire!» Seriously though, these were some huge ass Chinese meatball looking things. They tasted quite delicious meaty and I would definitely get them again. Not sure if they were both beef and pork or something else…
Grandma’s Pork (Belly?): Hell yeah, this stuff is really good with rice. Comes with some hardboiled eggs and baby bok choi I think. If you enjoy saltier dishes lathered with sauce then you will definitely enjoy this. Thumbs up.
Mapo Tofu w/​beef: Not sure about the with beef part, but I’m sure there’s some in there. Wasn’t super impressed by the dish. I guess I am not really a fan of «soft» dishes without any crunch in them. I think there was a strong herbal scent of some kind.
Crystal Shrimp: Yeah IDK, kind of flavorless shrimp IMHO. I’d skip it.
Chinese squash with fish balls: Mehhhhh. If you like soggy stuff.
Overall:
I enjoyed my meal here and will be back when the XLB cravings hit again. This place really reminded me of a home cooked Chinese meal in someone’s home, so it really was nice to be somewhere else but the land of burgers, beers, and sandwiches for a while. Happy Unilocaling!
NOTE: I think this place is reservations only… so call ahead for your party!

You need to make a bit effort to eat here, but food make it worthy.
It doesn’t look impressive from the outside at all. But the food satisfied my stomach and soul.
No walk-​ins. It’s more like a private kitchen place. They only buy the ingredient they need for the day. You have to make reservation ahead of time, and make the order while making the phone call. The chef will make recommendation to you if you’re not familiar with what to order. He is also very honest. He will tell you certain stuff they can only have canned, since it’s not the season, but he would suggest to replace with a different vegetable they can get fresh.
Best soup dumplings I can find in Michigan. All my friends from Shanghai told me it’s THE AUTHENTIC flavor! Do rush when eating it, as it will be steaming hot.
The fried bun is super awesome too. Definitely a must have item here.
There is a duck dish for appetizer is great too. Not a big portion. The duck is perfect seasoned.
Pork belly (红烧肉) and the pork elbow are both good.
For all the dished I’ve tried there, I haven’t found any disappointment. When hesitate, ask him for recommendation.

We went as a group of 6, 2 of us are from China, 4 are Americans. The dishes by Chinese standard is very authentic and fresh. The Americans love their soup dumplings. I also got an extra serving of the soup dumpling (uncooked) for 9 dollar, which includes 8 dumplings. And they could be frozen for about one month.
Obviously Jeff is the only cook their and but they don’t seem that busy when we were there. Even though the food is good, I may not go back because of all the troubles with reservation and call in advance. When I want Chinese food it’s usually spontaneous and I usually couldn’t wait ;)

Very special place. They do special dishes that you may want to special order before you go. super tastsy！Love all

I will admit that the food is very good. Unfortunately I don’t feel as though it is worth it if I have to put up with Jeff’s crap. I would rather go somewhere where my business is appreciated rather than be treated as if they are doing me a favor by serving me.

Real shanghai cuisine remind me of my hometown food. Have to reserve for spot and dishes, very expensive compared to other Chinese restaurants

Most authentic Chinese cuisine I have ever had in US! If you have never met a perfectionist chef, you will meet one there. He doesn’t offer whatever you want, he offers you what he has the best available material on that day! You need to order first on the phone when you make a reservation, otherwise nobody will be served. He might be sometimes rush or grumpy because there are only himself and his wife cooking, serving and cleaning. We need to understand that he prefer to serve you the best and fresh food than serve you bad food but good service.
He has his dream, but his dream needs a team. He is willing to teach and coach you, but he has his three requirements: 1. Passionate about cooking; 2. Cooking with your heart; 3. Hard-​working. His story will be continued…

I have never felt so insulted as a customer. Tried calling in for a reservation and putting in an order for food. I asked them about pricing since they raised the prices on everything I ordered compared with the original menu. I ordered over $ 100 for food for two people, Jeff then goes on about how he usually have clientele that order over $ 1000. He hears my entire order but then says to call back at 9 since he was busy. I told him that I may be busy later tonight. He then tells me he doesn’t have room for me anymore in his restaurant when just 10 minutes ago he said he had.
I’ve been twice in the past and its great food but horrible horrible customer service. The owners are way to prideful of their overpriced food. I’d go elsewhere as the food does not make up for the rudeness.
Lastly, not sure if this is related… but I’ve definitely had GI issues the times I’ve been afterwards…

I laughed a bit when reading reviews of this place. But you know what they say: truth has two sides. From dining at Jeff’s more than a few times and chatting with the man himself, here’s my take:
This is not a «normal» restaurant with a whole staff of cooks and chefs in the kitchen, a front of the house, servers, and the whole shebang. The entire business is owned and operated by two people: Jeff and his lovely wife. Sometimes grandma is there helping out, but she is more often in Shanghai. Right or wrong, the entire operation of prep work, cooking, bussing, serving, cashing people out is done by that duo.
Therefore:
1) You must order ahead. The food is prepared fresh that day, and Jeff needs to gauge how much of each to make.
2) Sometimes you will have to wait for the food. I would highly suggest not dining here when you are in the «hangry» stage. Usually one person out of the husband and wife duo will be in the back cooking, and the other manning the customers. I still don’t understand how one person is able to cook all that much food, with that much variety!
3) After waiting for the food, you will have to wait for the bill. Jeff is NOT a fan of split bills. He told me once that running 10 different credit cards while trying to keep the rest of the restaurant going is a giant hassle.
4) You have to make reservations. Often weeks in advance for a weekend dinner reservation. Call after 9PM when they are done with dinner service if you want «nice Jeff.» Call during 6PM during rush dinner hours and you will get «grumpy Jeff.»
5) Don’t be late, or Jeff will get yell-​y. They are so incredibly busy that they are often booked back to back for tables.
6) The only thing that gets Jeff madder than people being late, trying to split the bill, or adding on food at the last minute is order Americanized Chinese dishes. I once overheard a table next to me try to order General Tsao’s chicken. Jeff’s reaction was not pretty. Whoops.
That being said…
6) You will eat the best Shanghainese food in Michigan here! My absolute favorites are the xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and sheng jian bao (pan fried dumplings). They are hand-​made and utterly fantastic. Of equal goodness are the fried green beans, nian jao (rice cakes), and mapo tofu.
Do I think that Jeff needs some additional hands for help? Oh yes. Do I wish he would hire those hands immediately so I can stop in whenever I want? Absolutely. Every time I go I beg him to hire more people so I can eat there every day, but he shrugs and tells me in typical Shanghainese fashion that «they’ve got it covered.» OK, Jeff, whatever you say. As long as you keep cooking all that amazing food, I’ll keep following your rules!

I will give fucking 0 star to this place. The service is terrible! No one serves us and fucking slow! And the man force us to tip him over 20%!! What the fuck! I don’t know how the man is thinking about!
NEVER NEVER come here !!

The WORST experience ever. Extremely mean and terrible service. And please, if this is a «reservation only» restaurant, mark it somewhere other than a sign on your front door. People drive more than an hour to your place and they don’t deserve to be kept out because they didn’t know your ridiculous rules. Besides, if you are serious about this whole reservation only thing, improve your restaurant in every single way. But anyway, no way I’m going back to this place.

I have traveled to New York and San Francisco, and eaten at many chinatown restaurants. If you want authentic soup dumplings in Michigan, this is the only place, I know where to get them. These were just as good as the ones, I have eaten at Joe’s Shanghai in New York. In addition, we ordered the Shanghai style crispy duck which was absolutely wonderful. In addition we had the Peking pork which was wonderful, it was served with bamboo and the sauce was out of this world. For authentic Shanghai cuisine this is a must try.
Some other necessary info that most Americans are not going to be used to when coming here. The service here is a little off putting. You have to call your order in advance, the front door says reservations only, so I feel sorry for people who go there and do not know this. This is a little inconvenient for the customer in my opinion. When we called to pre-​order he was busy and could barley take our order, thank god my wife is Chinese or else ordering would be quite interesting. They were out of spring rolls, when we sat down they served us hot tea but offered us nothing to drink, we had to ask for water. I doubt they have any sodas. So my advice call ahead with your order stick to the soup dumplings or other authentic dishes do not try and order sweet and sour or general tso’s anything, this guy will throw you out.
All this being said about the service, if you want some of the best soup dumplings and Shanghai food, you simply have no choice but to put up with it. Smile nice, bone up on your chop stick skills and enjoy some awesome food.

I’m sorry to have to write this review.
I was really impressed by Jeff’s cooking when I made my 1^st trip to your restaurant over 6 months ago. Since then I’ve been there a couple of times, each time feeling a little more disappointed than the last.
On my last visit, as usual, I made a phone call 2days prior to reserve a table, and told him what I wanted to order. Let me tell you this. This, in itself, is not a simple process because there is no printed menu, and I need to get into Unilocal app to find a photo of a menu someone posted. Well, I normally spend about half to one hour «planning» the menu. But that’s alright because I’m having fun planning this meal. As usual when I call, I get a man (Jeff’s I presume) who sounds rather abrupt and grumpy. I tell what I want to order. He repeats my order, then hangs up without even saying thank you or good bye. Alright. Fine. Maybe he’s busy and doesn’t have time to say that. Maybe I’m just over-​sensitive.
I arrive at the restaurant and waiting for a couple of friends to arrive, maybe 2 – 3 minutes. Jeff comes out, asking if we are all here. I tell him a few minutes. He then tells me that he needs to prepare for his next reservation, so I must tell my friends to come quickly. What? I just got here, not even late for the time I specified, and now I’m feeling rushed to finish eating the meal that planned so ahead of time, and so carefully, and haven’t even started??? I thought that is RUDE. Or maybe, I’m just a bit sensitive. Just a little.
The food was good as usual, but because of the service that preceded to this, I’m not sure I’m ready to come back here again for a long time. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about good food. But I’m a paying customer, I feel that I deserve not only good food, but also even half-​way decent service or courtesy. Why do I feel like I’m lucky that I get to eat here? I mean, is it such a privilege to be able to sit down at this restaurant and eat their slightly expensive food, and be treated like I’m begging to be fed? This reservation only and pre-​order requirement is getting to Jeff’s head in my opinion. I’m sorry, but I would rather go to the other place in Canton, where they treat me like a customer, who’d small talk even when busy, and I don’t even need to plan ahead and spontaneously show up and food is still excellent and doesn’t cost as much.
Now, Jeff’s wife shows some smile and says thank you and such, but she’s usually in the back kitchen, and customers are usually left alone. I thought this restaurant was the ONE but unfortunately no longer. Jeff is a excellent cook but he needs to learn some customer service, or stop taking calls and not come to the front of the restaurant. So unfortunate…

If your white (not Asian) he basically tells you to leave, that you won’t like it ! Ha
«Not for you, you won’t like»
It’s funny to hear all these reviews of how is he so nice … Then you look at the reviewers profile and sure enough… Asian !
He does not like white people … If your black. lol, don’t even think about it !!
Yes he will serve you and I’m sure the food will be great but …

Soup dumplings were pretty good. Everything is wrapped and cooked fresh. Must make reservation and order ahead of time. Otherwise menu is limited. Food is expensive.

This is an awesome fooding experience that doesn’t just stop at how delicious the food tastes. As many have posted, this is a reservations only place and according to the chef, for Saturday and Sunday, you should call in a reservation a week in advance. Jeff has a very unique and different philosophy when it comes to cooking. He will tell you that yes, he was trained in Shanghai cuisine in China, but he values quality and the customer above making money. He sources his ingredients so he know the food is fresh, thus the reservations and pre-​order rule. He also cooks table by table so you need to show up on time or else you may not get your food until the rest of the tables after you are served. He is the only chef and his wife is the only hostess/​waitress/​busboy. The food is a bit pricey but when you have good quality and a chef who really loves what he does, it’s all worth it. I brought my friends here for dinner and we ordered 2 servings of soup dumplings, wontons, grandma’s pork, giant meatballs, rice cake and mapo tofu. All of the food is freshly made and handmade and that includes the skin of the dumplings and wontons. The servings are generous and very savory. The rice cakes are cooked to perfection and the braise on the pork belly was amazing. Jeff came out later to chat with each table and I thought that was a great touch. He loves it when his customers have a great experience and guarantees you will not only be full but will want to come back again.

For Michigan this place is dope! Hands down the best Shanghainese food I’ve had. The owners are very nice and spoke Mandarin and Cantonese. I guess they also know Shanghainese. The owners actually moved to this location from NJ/​NYC area so it was taste of home for me. Don’t forget to make reservations! I made the mistake of just walking in with some friends but the owner was nice enough to let us dine-​in.
The soup dumplings used pork meat that were slightly sweeter than what I’m used to back home but the skin had a chewy factor that I preferred and didn’t break too easily. Definitely a must get item!

4.5 stars — My wife found this place after talking to some friends. Her hometown is about 2 hours south of Shanghai so this place appeared to have the closest thing to her childhood food in town. As I am sure countless people have already mentioned, this restaurant does not accept walk-​in business. So you need to order your food before you come to the restaurant. The owner explained that the reservation-​only policy was to ensure that they had all the raw materials for orders and to ensure peak freshness. I am sure it helps with wasted food costs as well.
The restaurant is located in an unassuming strip mall on the south side of Maple. The décor is relatively sparse and when we walked in we were greeted by a host and he sat us down. It was a Friday around 730p and there were a few other parties in the restaurant. the first round of food (pan fried dumplings and some kind of spinach with tofu came out quickly) My wife and I mowed through them quickly and my wife saidthat they were very close to the ones she get from her hometown located in the Zhejiang province. The pace slowed down pretty dramatically for the main course, but the food was very good. We had a Mapo Tofu and something called Grandma’s Pork, which was stewed hunks of pork belly that were glazed with a semi-​sweet brown sauce and served with bok choi. The pork was tender and melt in your mouth good.
In sum, if you are a fan of Chinese food and are looking for something closer to «authentic», Jeff’s Kitchen should be on your short list of places to try. The only knocks I had on this place is that the rate of service was a bit off during my first visit. Hopefully it will be better during the next one.

Delicious, authentic, hard-​to-​find Shanghainese cuisine. It’s rare that I simply haven’t heard of a place, especially a place this good, but it doesn’t pop up on a lot of searches that you’d be likely to make, and they don’t do much (if any) advertising. And in a way, that’s what made discovering and eating at this place so enjoyable — it was just so unexpected and surprising. You’d never expect to find a place like this, which would be rare even in a city like Chicago, anywhere in Metro Detroit, and certainly not in Walled Lake.
Frankly, they don’t seem to need the publicity. From what we were told, and saw on the Saturday night we went, they have a solid local following of almost exclusively Chinese families, who all come out to eat in huge 6 to 12 person groups around their traditionally large, circular tables (complete with lazy susan in the center).
Disclaimer, for those who aren’t familiar with the food of Shanghai, which is almost impossible to find in the midwest: it’s not the spicy, deeply-​flavored, MSG-​laden stuff that you might be used to. It’s delicately, laboriously and skillfully prepared, with subtle flavors and textures. And Jeff, who does ALL the cooking, is a master of his craft, hand-​making everything from the noodles and dumplings to the meatballs.
That point is an important one to reiterate: Jeff makes everything himself, according to the orders he receives for that night. Which is why RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED. They weren’t at first, which is why this place started out with some poor reviews for service and wait times, but now that Jeff and his (beautiful) wife have their reservation-​only system down, everything hums likely a finely tuned machine.
This reservation-​only system does mean that you have to ORDER IN ADVANCE, too, but the menu is available here on Unilocal,and Jeff will be happy to help pick things out for you when you call. And once you’re there, you don’t have to worry about the selection process — things just start coming out to you in a steady flow, like your own personal tasting menu. It’s pretty awesome. A brief list of what we had:
— Pork-​filled soup dumplings (delicious)
— Fried pork buns (very similar, but also delicious)
— Wonton soup (filled with HUGE, silky, flavorful wontons)
— Crystal shrimp (barely cooked, they just pop in your mouth)
— Shanghai green beans (a favorite of most at the table, packed with wok-​seared flavor)
— Shanghai mushrooms with bok choy (simple and fresh)
— Stir-​fried chinese bacon over rice (I enjoyed it, but it was the least favorite of the table)
— Stir-​fried udon noodles with pork and vegetables (I ordered it largely as an approachable dish for the less-​adventurous of our group, but it was very good)
— Shredded pork in peking sauce (a very popular everyday dish in China, it was a sweetly flavored crowd pleaser)
Definitely worth the preparation required. A truly unique dining experience in Metro Detroit.

Definitely not your usual let’s go out for dinner somewhere tonight experience… thanks to the other reviewers, we did call ahead first for a reservation, and yes, we did need to preorder. But think of it this way… Chef Jeff is your pesonal chef, cooking a feast just for you! He did stop over for a chat and explained to us that it’s just him cooking, so he wants to make sure he can spend the time to produce quality with fresh ingredients.
So…do call ahead. If you’re familiar with Shanghainese cuisine, Jeff will create all of your favorites as good as, if not better, what we had in NYC & Nanjing Xi Lu. Really! Saves a lot of airfare, it’s great to have this calibre of food right here nearby.
If this is new for you, have no fear — as the saying goes, try it, you’ll like it! Do start with the soup dumplings. The skin was nice and thin & the soup was flavorful. Also try the crystal shrimp — the texture and ‘bounce’ was delightful.
We also ordered kaofu — braised gluten with bamboo & wood ear mushrooms — and ma lan tou, a dish of green veg with pressed tofu. Yeah, these descriptions don’t do either justice, but try it., you’ll love it! :-)
For entrees we ordered fish in wine sauce, delicate & light, goes great over rice; a braised pork roast (Shanghai ti pang — I’ll post a picture so you can see how delicious it looks), and a noodle dish, noodles tasted fresh made.
We’ll definitely be back. It does take a bit of spontaneity out of going out, but once you’ve ordered you can start imagining how excellent it’ll all taste!