chinese: i recommend SHANGHAI KITCHEN

SHANGHAI KITCHEN 上海鄉村

No. 17, Renai Rd, Sec. 1, B1 台北市仁愛路一段17號B1 

(02) 2396-5154 

MRT: Shandao Temple or CKS Memorial Hall

website: www.shanghaikitchen.com.tw 

hours: 11:30AM - 2PM and 5:30PM - 9PM 

$$ 

Kid friendliness: high chairs and kids dinnerware available 

Visit reviewed: 6/5/2012

Looking for another Chinese restaurant to add to the list to take the relatives or coworkers for good food at good prices? Then consider trying Shanghai Kitchen next. I had low expectations because of the random location, in the basement of a family activities center, and the generic setting of an open dining room, but I found myself pleasantly surprised.

There are two menus, both with English. One has photos for many of their trademark dishes and the other is a bit sprawling with lots of choices of seafood, vegetables and appetizers. There's also set menus for larger groups that makes ordering easy.

Of course we had to get the Dong Po Pork (NT$420), which was generous portion of thickly sliced, tender pork belly, glistening in sweet soy sauce. All this pork belly for US$13 was the steal of the day.

Use the steamed buns to soak up the fat. So good. I think I could have eaten three of these.

Another must order dish is the Lion's Head Stewed Meatballs, which were giant meatballs bathed in chinese cabbage (though it's expensive for the portion relative to the dongpo pork). The flavor and texture of the meatballs paired perfectly with a bowl of white rice.

Let's pretend to be healthy with some broccoli.

The stirfried shrimp and peas were fine, but I've had tastier versions at Shanghai Shanghai or Celestial Restaurant, with sweeter peas and bouncier shrimp.

I wouldn't order the Braised Crab Eggs with Tofu (NT$320) again as it was too watery for me and didn't have the sweet richness that I've tasted, like from Xiao Nan Men. 

There's a lot more to explore from Shanghai Kitchen's menu, so someday I'll be back. Especially if I'm craving some fatty pork belly.

OTHER LOCATION

No. 67, RenAi Rd, Sec. 2, B1
北市仁愛路 2段 67號 B1
MRT: Zhongxiao/Xinsheng
(02)2322–3333

CLOSED! chinese: i strongly recommend SHANGHAI FANS

a/o 4/2011 CLOSED!

SHANGHAI FANS
or SHANG FAN GUANG
No. 3, Xinyi Road, Sec. 3
(02) 2707-5027

MRT: DaAn or ZhongXiao/Xinsheng

hours: 11:30AM -2PM; 5PM-9PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

Visit reviewed: 6/5/2010



Shanghai Fans is a solid alternative to the nearby original location of the crazily popular Din Tai Fung, especially for those with large groups or families with three floors of seating and private rooms available upstairs. Like any good Chinese restaurant, it has a huge extensive menu barely covered by what was ordered in this dinner, but unfortunately, the menu is only in Chinese with few pictures, so you should bring a Chinese reader with you.

The restaurant has that old school feeling and the prices are very reasonable for the family style portions. My aunt usually does all the ordering, and many of these dishes are featured on their "Top 10" dishes menu. That's usually my problem in taking so long to blog about Chinese restaurants- they don't have an English menu, someone else is ordering and I'm too busy chowing down to figure out what is what since everything tastes good.

The Crab roe tofu pot has a creamy, sweet flavor along with the silky tofu. I love this over a bowl of rice.



Make yourself a little pork belly sandwich with the sesame buns and braised Dongpo Pork. You can see the fat glistening off the pork belly and also on your lips when you're done devouring it.



The pan fried spring onion pancakes here are fat and twisty, with the spring onions stuffed inside, which may turn off some who don't like the strong scallion texture and flavor.



At Shanghai Fans, the xiao long bao is more of a side dish than the main event, but still satisfies. Those more adventurous can also try the si gua xiao long bao or loofah and shrimp.



Huge pot of Corn and egg soup so everyone can have a bowl or two.



Other dishes I've had before that I recommend ordering are the Shanghainese Pork Ham and Pork soup which has a milky white broth that beats any ramen broth I've had before, the cabbage and peanut slaw, and red bean paste in sesame pastry dessert. Or you can have a bowl of the sweet green mung bean soup.



Chinese food is such ubiquitous thing in the US, but it's sort of stereotyped and simplified along the lines of dishes expected from a take-out menu- beef and broccoli, chow mein, egg rolls, kung pao chicken or even more Americanized, orange chicken (which I admit, I grew up on and like to eat sometimes). But in reality, Chinese food is so diverse and more than what's offered at Panda Express the same way that American food is more than what's sold at McD's. And there's so many great Chinese restaurants in Taipei that I've eaten at- it's been great having this blog to learn more about what is from where, and I'll try my best to keep figuring out the best way to capture and articulate and share my experiences here.

chinese: SHANGHAI TEA BISTRO

SHANGHAI TEA BISTRO
17, Lane 233, Dun Hua S Rd, Sec 1
(02) 2773-3183

hours: 11 am - 10 pm

$ (cash only)

Kid friendliness: high chairs available.

Visit reviewed: 3/28/2008

Shanghai Tea Bistro is a relatively new addition to the growing Lane 233 (one alley away from Dun Hua Eslite) of eateries that include Ginjer Bakery, Rose House, Casa Della Pasta and the also new-ish Dubu House.

There are various menus (but all in Chinese) offering traditional and low priced Shanghainese eats and drinks-from rice and noodle dishes to sandwiches to



After sampling three different things, the Sorrowful Rice (NT$100) with slices of char siu bbq pork, an over easy egg and a few bites of bok choy over a heaping bowl of rice was the easy favorite. From the looks of it, a popular order for a lot of the other tables nearby as well. The pork is slightly sweet and very tender and you wish there was more of it. It's even better than the char siu from Lao Yo Ji.

If you want to order it, order #1 from the pink House Specialties menu. It comes with a soup of the day- today it was a scary looking herbal lotus soup, but actually tasted quite pleasant and like a vegetable broth.

The pan fried noodles were decent, though it came with too much sauce and mystery meats on top. After a few bites of the meats which were brown, chewy, and okay, nasty- who knew what the heck they were, I just stuck to the crispy noodles and greens.



My friend also ordered a pork sandwich. After my bite, I still wanted to eat more char siu and rice.



The drinks were also just okay. A lemon and honey drink was too sweet while the lemon ice tea tasted just like the tea they served for free. If you want to lounge over tea and snacks, then you're better off with the teas and milk teas at Chun Shui Tang which has quite a few locations now.



While I strongly recommend the Sorrowful Rice (AKA the char siu egg rice bowl), everything else that day seemed to be a miss. While eating, my friend told me that the inspiration for this dish is actually from the the Stephen Chow film GOD OF COOKERY, which I haven't seen yet, but after hearing his story and trying the dish, I want to check it out.

chinese: i strongly recommend KAO CHI

KAO CHI
5 Yongkang Street
(02) 2341-9984

website: kao-chi.com

11 AM- 10 PM, Mon- Fri
8:30AM- 10:30PM, Sat and Sun

$-$$

Kid friendliness: didn't spot high chairs, but can't imagine that this restaurant isn't bustling with families and kids during their weekends and nights.

Visit reviewed:10/18/2007



Take your out of town friends to Din Tai Fung. But impress your local friends or relatives by taking them to the nearby Kao Chi or when there's too much of a wait at DTF. With xiao long bao that's just as good (and cheaper!) and a much more extensive menu of Shanghai and Chinese deliciousness including shanghai fried stuffed buns, beef noodle soup, dim sum, stir fried rice cakes, veggies, seafood and desserts like cool almond tofu, I was surprised I hadn't heard of or been taken to this almost 60 year old establishment earlier.



Complete review and more pics to come...

Other location (new):

152, FuXing S Rd, Sec 1
(02) 2751-9393
Hours:8 am-11:30 pm

chinese: i recommend SHANGHAI SHANGHAI

SHANGHAI SHANGHAI
in Sogo (Dun Nan store) B2
No. 246, Dun Hua South Rd, Sec 1
(02) 8771-5511

shanghaishanghai.com.tw

$$-$$$

date visited: 11/14/2006

At first sight, I expected Shanghai Shanghai to be frou frou Chinese food at frou frou prices, but actually, it was one of the better chinese food experiences I've had here in Taipei. The food is very flavorful and fresh, unlike some other places which look fancy, but don't taste as good as it looks. We chose the set lunch menu where you could select 3 dishes for 2 people from a page of choices, and included soup, fruit and dessert for NT$450 each person- which is a good deal considering that you would probably pay that amount just for 1 dish. While the menu is in English and Chinese (no pictures), the set menu page was only in Chinese. They had very traditional dishes with soups, appetizers, beef, chicken, seafood, and noodles. I also spotted some other dishes that my relatives would like, but I wouldn't eat, like frog legs.

Even though we had two fussy toddlers, the service was friendly and helpful towards us- with high chairs and toddler plates/cups/spoons. Everyone else in the restaurant were older Chinese patrons or businessmen, and we were thoughtfully seated further away so the kids could be their noisy selves.

I told what my friend what I generally liked and didn't like and she ordered some braised tofu and mushrooms, greens with shrimp, and beef and bamboo. All the dishes arrived about the same time, with sizeable dishes, especially for just us two. Dishes come with large bowls of rice and a soup.

I liked all the dishes- they were perfectly seasoned and I would have finished the dishes if I weren't so full.



It would have been enough food to share with 3 or 4 people. I would pop the baby shrimps quickly into my mouth and the lighter flavors of the vegetables were a good match with the hearty flavors of the tofu and mushroom.


The paper thin slices of bamboo and beef were also a good combination of textures of crunchy and tenderness.



The lunch ended with a sweet green bean dessert soup and fruit plate. I would definitely take my family or friends here again. My friend said their soup dumplings or xiao long bao are also very good here. If you ask your Chinese speaking friends about it- it's Chinese name is actually "Red Bean." It's a chain restaurant with 5 Taipei locations, so if you see it the next time you are out and about, you should definitely consider giving it a try.

other locations in Taipei

SOGO, 11FL
No. 45, Chung Hsiao E Rd, Sec. 4
(02) 2778-1088

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A9
No.9, Song-Shou Rd.
(02) 8789-2929

Far Eastern Shopping Mall, B2
No. 203, Dun Hua S Rd., Sec. 2
(02) 8732-1536

No. 129. Ming Sheng E Road, Sec 3
B1
(02) 8770-6969