Address: | 6718 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin, TX 78752, USA |
Phone: | +1 512-458-8088 |
Site: | shanghaichinesedimsum.com |
Rating: | 3.8 |
Working: | Closed 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–9:30PM 11AM–10PM 10:30AM–10PM 10:30AM–9:30PM |
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A Private User
My wife and I grew up in So Cal and have tried every great chinese restaurant in the LA area. For Austin, Shanghai is hands down the very best in authentic Dim Sum. The folks that own the restaurant are great people. We drive in from Lake Travis just to have dinner and Dim Sum there. The father and the son are the chefs. The father has the old world style and the son has the newer fusion style. Their Hai Gau (shrimp dumplings) is the perfect size and have the right amount of dough and shrimp. It is never over cooked or soggy. They have rice porridge to sweet tofu and custard tarts. Their walnut shrimp is even better than the chinese restaurants in LA. Their have the traditional dinner menu, but if you ask about the dinner specials (not on the menu) you will not be dis-appointed. The other night my wife and I had steamed fresh oysters with scallions and ginger soy sauce. It was exceptional. we have been going there since they have opened and have never been dis-appointed. The shanghai restaurant would be a lot more busy if people that enjoys chinese food found out about them. They dont advertise a lot. They are far from my house but we will drive there for dinner and Dim Sum even with gas at $4.00 a gallon. For now until the secret is out, we will not need dinner reservations to get in.
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Morgan Lai
Rather awful dimsum, but thats par for course in Austin, so Ill give them 3 stars still. Soup dumplings (小笼包): Soup dumplings are extremely hard to make, and so I didnt have high expectations, but tried them anyway given that the dish hails from Shanghai and the restaurant is named Shanghai. I think these might just be frozen pre-packaged dumplings from the supermarket. Really bad, not a drop of soup inside. Shrimp dumplings (虾饺): The skin on these might be the worst shrimp dumpling skin I have ever eaten. Tasted like they might have been waterlogged and they just fell apart like sand in my mouth. Cilantro shrimp dumplings (香菜虾饺): Mediocre, which is to say one of the better items I had here. Egg custard tarts (蛋挞): Decent. I think they might have been reheated, but in a way I thought that extra crisp on the outside was interesting and not disagreeable. Douhua (豆花): Actually pretty good. I was surprised, this wouldnt be considered below average even in Hong Kong. The tofu had a nice smooth texture, and a clean, pure flavor.
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A Private User
Ive only ate here once, and that was a couple of weeks ago. Im actually looking up directions again so I can head back there and figured Id leave a review. Me and my wife have to drive from Temple TX, about 60 miles north just to eat here. So far Ive tried a couple places in Austin, but none has compared in variety and authenticity as this one here. Id like to remind readers that Im only rating the Dim Sim here, as I have not tried anything else on their menu. I think the best way to describe this is that you WILL see Asian people eating here, which typically means authentic and real authentic food is served here. Also I believe from my first visit i saw the owners of the restaurant walking the floor which tells me its family owned, so that usually also means recipes and food is more "real" and they probably use less pre-prepared and "drop in fryer" stuff that most chains typically use. No more driving to Houston to eat real dim sum for me!
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Francis Shue
Let me preface this with I LOVE dim sum buffet Wednesdays, but the food isnt anything fantastic or gourmet. If youre going on a Wednesday and youre bringing along a vegetarian, make sure theyre not hungry because they will be waiting a while to get their order in. They dont really come to refill your water at all. The manager or head of wait staff is very good though, shes on top of everything the last time I was there. Plus it helps if you can speak Chinese. :) but there are times when I see the water girl play on her phone a lot, which kind of irks me. But over all if youre looking for a dim sum buffet (which is super rare) this place is a nice place to go. Just remember to finish all your food! I think they charge for what you dont finish, so take your time and enjoy.
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David Harper
We went here for lunch with friends. Having lived in China for some time I am picky about Chinese food and have different expectations from most. This was very true to a Hong Kong tea house for the most part. Food was great. We have the chicken feet, shanghai soup dumplings, pork ribs, sesame balls, shrimp xiao mai, crab dumplings, shrimp rice noodles, and a few others that I do not recall right now. Everything was exactly the same as I would get in China except the shanghai soup dumplings (xiao long bao) which were served in a small tin which is not normal, but the taste was really quite the same. Prices were also quite reasonable. All of the food was great and service was very good. Happy we went here for a great lunch, and will go back when I am in Austin.
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Janel Chu
Again Im going to have to pull the LA card, but it really is my gauge for good asian food in America. And although I didnt have dimsum that often during my 2 years in LA, if I had dimsum, it was definitely better than all the dimsum places in Austin. BUT, if I am judging Shanghai Restaurant dimsum based on Austin, this is a pretty good place to go. The key thing I think is that they have a good amount of traffic, so the carts go around often and the turnover of freshly cooked dishes is pretty good. Things to order: *bbq pork buns *daikon turnip cakes *you tiao wrapped in dough - I REALLY dont know what this is called or how to describe it any other way. Its just a lot of fried dough with more dough wrapped around. YUM! *sui mai
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Amanda Conrad
This is our first time and decide on them based on the good reviews on-line. We are from Houston so we have tried quite a few dim sum restaurants there. The restaurant is very nicely decorated. The service is very good and rolling carts with fresh Dim Sum come around all the time. You can start eating as soon as you sit down. We had our usual such as Turnip cake, Chive Bun, Sui Mai, Pan- Fried Taro Cake, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf and Ma La Gao (Steamed Sponge Cake). The only one that we don’t care for is the shrimp fried with shredded taro. It has no taste. I will visit my daughter in Austin often in the future and I would like to try other Dim Sum places in Austin next time but I do recommend this place. It is pretty good.
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Drew Sanders
We ended up stuck at Dell Childrens Hospital nearby, and found this place through Google Now. I was a bit leery when I pulled up at 7pm and there were no cars in the parking lot, but decided to at least check it out. There were a few people eating, and once I saw the interior, I remembered seeing the place on a local food critics segment, and that it was mainly a lunch place. In short, we ordered some food to-go, and WOW was it great. We had the Sesame Chicken, Beef Fried Rice, and the Twice Cooked Pork (my favorite dish), Everything was well prepared, the spice level on the Pork was not overpowering, and we were very pleased with the meal. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone.