Shanghai City Restaurant

*** Update: Shanghai City has closed.

*** Updated posts on Shanghai City can be found here and here.

When I mention to people that I enjoy eating at Shanghai City, I get some weird stares. I guess it's because most think of the American Chinese Food on the menu, or the $5.99 Lunch Buffet. Not necessarily great Chinese Food, though I do enjoy the Buffet once in a while.

There are some "hidden treasures" on the menu, but the days to go to Shanghai City are between 10am and 3pm on weekends, where there's a menu with Chinese "specials" available:

Today we decided to order the Wine Marinated Chicken ($3.75):

In the most basic form, this cold dish is prepared by rubbing a chicken with salt and letting stand and drain for 6 hours or so. The chicken is then steamed, and cooled, and cut into large pieces which  are marinated in a combination of chicken stock and Shao-sing wine overnight. This gives the meat a dense, brined texture, with a taste reminiscent of ham. Because of the wine, the first bite of this mild looking dish can really catch you off guard, but you'll soon be munching away at piece after piece of this dish.

The main reason we visit Shanghai City is the Niu Rou Mein ($4.25):

I'm positively addicted to Chinese Beef Noodle soup, there are several versions, but my favorite is the numbing-spicy Sichuan style soup. Unlike pho' this is a dark, beef broth, flavored with star anise, soy sauce, sugar, wine, chili pepper, garlic, among other things. The meat is usually a stewing cut like beef shank with some tendon and fat. When cooked well, the meat is tender and holds it's flavor. The soup is usually garnished with cilantro, green onions, and a green vegetable, in this case bok choy, though I use spinach in my homemade version. The broth here at Shanghai City can vary wildly, but the noodles are superb. The noodles have a great "handmade" texture, doughy with elasticity. A large portion of noodles is always included at Shanghai City. Today, the soup was good, not great, but mildly rich and beefy, really spicy, but the noodles were great as always. On a great day this dish is really delici-yoso!!!

We also usually order the Xiao Long Bao ($5.95), those ever popular "soup-dumplings".

Shanghai City is one of the few places where you can get XLB in San Diego. These dumplings are filled with a pork based filling, along with alot of "juice", thus the name soup dumplings. The way to eat them are to place some sauce in the spoon, then place the dumpling in the spoon (do not break the dumpling) and eat in one perfect bite. Today the wrappers on these were a bit on the "dry" side, though filled with delish slightly sweet, salty, "soup".

Shanghai City does a decent rendition of many dishes, like Smoked Fish (Su Shih Hsun Yuu - $4.75),  not really smoked, but actually a fried than marinated dish, that gives the fish a smoked look, The Tea Smoked Duck here has also been good on occaision ($7.95). Most dishes are are between $4.75 to $8.95, so the prices here are not too bad.

Shanghai City
3860 Convoy St
San Diego,CA 92111
619-278-5883

Closed Tuesdays

We've done a revisit post on Shanghai City on 12/17/06, it can be found here.

Comments

[clare eats]

That all looks great. Love soup dumplings!

[Kathy]

Niu Rou Mein and Xiao Long Baos - you had all my favorites! I'll never get over the novelty of soup inside the dumpling wrappers.

[Rachel]

mmm!! You outdid yourself for the pics on this blog and its descripts kirk ! my tummy is rumbling ! I love xiao long bau but mostly its for the red vinegar ginger sauce that makes the pork and soup inside the dumpling so sweet. I can't decide which I like better the hong kong "boon tong gau" (half soup dumpling) where the soup is kinda outside the dumpling or this better ! And you touched on a fave with me with the niu rou mein. Again, I am more familiar with "ngao lam mein" where there is lots of tendon and a strong five spice flavour but not so much the sweet chilli flavour. and I haven't had that wine marinated chicken in years !!! you've made me very hungry !! :P~

[MEalcemtric]

Wow, that wine marinated chicken sounds great. I gotta learn how to read chinese so I can order from the specials menu and not the gringo menu.

[Kirk]

Hi Clare - XLB is delici-yoso!!! :o)

Hi Kathy - I never had Niu Rou Mein until I moved to the mainland, now it's one of my favorite dishes, especially duting the winter!

Hi Rachel - Ngao Lam Mein? I've got to have the Missus find that for me! Maybe you can do post on those things.

Hi Mealcentric - Actually I've found some of those dishes on the English Menu - but it's hard to pick out when there are like 250 items. I also crack up at how some of the menu items are translated; they really don't sound appetizing sometimes. The chicken was better than expected, though that first bite was a bit of a surprise!

[Jo]

That chicken really sounds interesting. I'm gonna have to try that since it also sounds rather simple...

[Candice]

Love this place! My favorites are the Ti Pang(braised pork shoulder) and the Nian Gao(sauteed rice cake). A dish that we always specially request is Ma Lan Tou - it's a cold appetizer dish.

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - I've emailed you the recipe.

[Kirk]

Hi Candice - We do too, I don't know why, when I recommend this place, people look at me like I've lost my senses?

[Candice]

Maybe the buffet turns some people off? Or they are used to the Cantonese cuisine that is more common here? I was in Shanghai a few months ago and this is the only place that satisfies my craving for these dishes!

[elmomonster]

Yummy. Never had that chicken dish, but it sounds amazing. Is this similar to Drunken Chicken? I've had that once before and it was unbelievable!

[Green Turtle]

If XLBs are 5.95 now, then they've raised their prices because they used to be 4.95. East Pearl used to have them as well at 4.25 but they've since closed and their location turned into Golden City. Other favorite noon-time weekend dishes at SC to try:
Shanghai thick stir-fried noodles (pronounced "tsu tsao mien")
Deep fried pocket full of egg/rice noodle/vegetable ("jo tsai huh-dze")
Their Shanghai style shu-mai which is bigger than the dim-sum cantonese style, and it's full of sticky rice, mushrooms, and bits of sausage meat

[Kirk]

Hi Candice - It's combination of all of the above - I think even the basic Cantonese stuff tastes fine. But even those that "know" Chinese food often look at me like I'm crazy - until I tell them what I order, and they try it...

Hi Elmo - Don't know, never had "Drunken Chicken" or maybe I did but under a different name?

Hi Green Turtle - Sounds like everybody has their favorites here. Did you notice that the restaurant gets very little publicity?

[Kirk]

Green Turtle - Many restaurants I've been to recently have started raising their prices - maybe the cost of fuel? But yes, the XLB is now $5.95.

[Jo]

Hey Green Turtle, those rice dumplings sound awesome. With all these names and pronunciations, maybe I can make a list, print it out, and take it to a restaurant to help explain what I want...

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - Make sure you take them to a Shanghainese restaurant; most Cantonese Restaurants won't have them.

[clare eats]

I have the biggest hankering for Yum Cha now! ARGH!

[Kirk]

Hi Clare - Well you need to get some ASAP!

[Dylan]

kirk, that nuromian actually looks VERY GOOD. i'm going to be doing a review soon on discovering the best SGV nuromian. i cannot find anything good around here. i've been to nearly all the taiwanese/chinese places, and the taste is never consistent b/c of management changes. great review kirk.

[Green Turtle]

I've been wondering if there are any places that sell frozen XLBs. I know you can buy them in places in LA. I checked 99, Thai Long, and places like that but did not find any that compare in quality to the restaurants. Orchid in RB used to sell 20 frozen for $6 but they've since closed. I would love to just come home from work and steam up some XLBs.