Shanghai Chinese & Dim Sum

This is the first time for dim sum in Austin and I was quite happy with the experience. I walked in around noon and there was a small wait. I was told the wait was around 15 minutes but I was seated in 5. The restaurant is clean, bright, and well thought for dim sum. There was one small area of congestion but other than that, the servers were able to navigate the carts with ease. The first cart arrived within seconds of me sitting down. The only dish I didn't really care for was the sea bass as one side of the bass was extra crispy and I had a burnt aftertaste in my mouth for a while after I ate it. Beyond that, everything was lovely - sticky rice, Chinese broccoli, etc. I especially loved the mango shrimp. Right after I sat down, I saw the dessert cart. I didn't pick anything from it because I wasn't ready for desert. I wish I had because I never saw that cart again. I wish the carts had more variety - it seemed that many of them had the same things on there. It could be that I got there on the tail end of lunch and they were out. I paid $48 - food and tip as I ordered water. A bit pricey; however, I should have enough leftovers for two more lunches. Pros: Good food, fast Cons: needed a bit more variety on the carts and somewhat pricey more

this place is always packed on sunday for dim sum with a huge variety of people. those who know dimsum very well and people who have never had it. Its clean, freshly made, service is great but they will not seat you until your party is all there and the wait is usually 15-45 minutes. BUT ITS WORTH IS... not expensive either Pros: GREAT SERVICE FOOD IS GREAT Cons: WAITING TIME IS LONG more

I love this place. They have the tastiest, most fresh dim sum in Austin, I've tried just about every other place that serves dim sum in town. While some of the other places offer more variety, and some other unique dishes, Shanghai is the most consistent, fresh, fast and affordable.\r \r I do wish they had some kind of garlic battered shrimp \r (the one thing I miss from T&S) Pros: Awsome Dim Sum, Dim Sum every day! more

Friends recommended this restaurant. They said it served the best chinse food in Austin. My husband and I decided to try it and we loved it. We have gone back three time (in a two week period) and received very good service and food each time. We took some friends with us yesterday and they loved the food as well. I am looking forward to trying the Dim Sum. Pros: food and service more

I''ve been a regular customer since about June 2008, and the food has been consistently delicious. I've gone to Shanghai for mid-week lunch, dinner, and Sunday dim sum and I've never been disappointed. My wife is Chinese-American and points out that the restaurant seems to have a growing number of Asian customers, who she says are the best judges of Asian restaurants. I also like the open, uncrowded layout with lots of windows. Every visit is a pleasant, tasty experience. Pros: Bright, airy layout with lots of windows; excellent food; plenty of parking. Cons: Slightly inconvenient location, but worth the trip. more

This facility looks to be run by a wonderful and nice family. Had a huge selection of food and fresh seafood. Service was wonderful and I think there was only four couples in the entire resturant was it was a great place to go and talk. However, the food was less than wonderful. The food was bad and left me sick all the way into the next day. Be ware service is great food is not. Pros: Wonderful Customer Service Cons: BAD FOOD more

Just came back from Shanghai Chinese and had a great experience. Unfortunately we got there too late for the dim sum, but we ordered off the menu and really enjoyed the food. I had the assorted pan fried noodles, my husband had the sesame chicken, and we shared the combination seafood/beef/chicken in hot sauce. We ordered the hot sauce combination mild because we weren't sure about the heat level, but I think it would've been okay hot. The food was very authentic and the service was great. We'll definitely go back even though it was a bit of a hike from Cedar Park. Pros: Authentic food, good service Cons: Missed the dim sum, extensive menu was somewhat confusing more

after going to all the usual spots and even trying out that new kim son place, i'd have to say that nobody beats shanghai dimsum!! after living in hongkong for two months, marco polo was definitely not cutting it. the service is great (linda is the best!!) and the food is delicious! A++++ :) Pros: service, lots of parking space more

I wrote a review last year about this restaurant's excellent dim sum, but food aside, the service is TERRIBLE. I take my previous review back, and I will now NOT recommend that any customer go there. They won't seat incomplete parties, which I completely understand. But not seating incomplete parties when the restaurant is less than 25% full? There were about 20 people in the whole place on a Monday morning. And the bad attitude and dirty looks from the other waitstaff? That just makes for an unpleasant experience all around. This restaurant location has changed hands so many times, I just hope Shanghai gets the boot and someone else comes in and turns that place around. I wish I could have given it a rating of no stars. more

being the best dim sum in austin doesn't require too much. if you can bring food to the table when it's still hot with no cold spots in it you're pretty much set. \r \r that said, shanghai chinese and dim sum is pretty good. it was pretty busy (sunday late lunch) and they ran out of a couple items but the servers were very good about taking our requests and making fresh items. one of the most refreshing things about shanghai chinese was the fact that you couldn't readily tell the food was straight out of the freezer. marco polo in recent years has gone down the drain by serving microwaved dim sum. \r \r the ambience is nice and simple. restaurant is clean. one weird thing is the BUCK and DOE denoting MEN's and WOMEN's bathrooms. oh did i mention the food tasted pretty good? \r \r to the fellow reviewer above who made this statement, ""I live in Houston but have not found a good dim sum place. Would not mind driving to Austin to eat here "" you need to stay in houston and eat some more. pretty much any restaurant that serves dim sum in houston is better than shanghai chinese. \r \r all in all i'd go back here. service is really good for a chinese restaurant. it's clean. easily the best dim sum in austin. Pros: parking, service, taste Cons: selection (missing a food items from the menu), speed of food coming out to the floor more

I have eaten dim sum in a lot of cities in the country and I would recommend the dim sum here. It has good siomai and hakkaw. The vegetable wrapped in steamed tofu was good. The sesame ball covered red bean and egg custard dessert were tasty although the crust was a bit overcooked (not flaky). I live in Houston but have not found a good dim sum place. Would not mind driving to Austin to eat here :-)\r BTW in most dim sum places, good service is not the norm unless the guest is a wealthy and reknown oriental .. Pros: good dim sum Cons: honey walnut prawn had a funky tasting prawn in a batch of 9 pieces more

I have been to Shanghai two different times. The first time there were three in our party, everyone was very nice and friendly. The younger chef came out to our table and talked to us for some time. We had four different chinese dishes and they were all great. The next time we went was Sat. at noon and we had Dim Sum. There were seven in our party, the place was pretty busy. We were greeted with a smile again. There was several selections on each of the rolling carts. We did go with some chinese friends, so they could talk the talk. I did ask several questions and the girls were very friendly. We all ate very well and the bill was no bad at all about $15.00 a person with tax and tip. I would go more often if it was not so far from where we live. Pros: Friendly, good food, good service Cons: to far from home more

It is sad to have to rate this restaurant with such a poor rating because there are not many Dim Sum choices in Austin. I had Sunday Dim Sum Brunch this past Sunday with my family and experienced the horrible service. The dim sum carts had very few selections and when presented to the table, the staff was shoving the dishes onto the table and marking the tab before you even said you wanted to order it. They were not at all accomodating to personalizing orders, rather, what they have is all you can get. What is worst is that I later come to find out that the poor service I was receiving was from the restaurant owners themselves. The Lady Boss is Rude and her daughters were also. It is understandable if it was the hired help, but the owner themselves...that is unacceptable!\r \r Overall, the food is average and very overpriced. There are not too many selections and be careful of being charged for what you didn't order. If the service was better, I would go back for the average, overpriced craving of Dim Sum, but the service is so bad, it is not even worth going back for anything. Sorry, but its an overall thumbs-down! Pros: Dim Sum Cons: Service and Price more