Shanghai Alley (Clairemont) - Hidden in Plain Sight

I was driving along last week, minding my own business, when I noticed something. I wasn't quite sure what it was, but it looked like a folding restaurant sign, but not with the name of the place generally associated with the location.

Shanghai Alley? Well, that was a new one to me. I believed that I had a pretty good idea of all the restaurants in the area, but I guess I was mistaken? Upon returning home, I went and did that "Google thing". And yes indeed, there was a new restaurant named Shanghai Alley. The interesting thing is, this version of the restaurant does lunches, while the "original" place takes over in the evening. Can you guess where?

Well......

Yes, it's the location of King Bistro, which is in the location of what used to be our favorite restaurant in San Diego, Ba Ren. I'm not going to drone on about how we miss Ba Ren. And even though I had never visited King Bistro, Shanghai Alley had me interested. I noticed online that the place opens at 10am....and you know how I'm an "early lunch" kinda guy these days. So, I drove down and arrived the very next day right after 10am.

In the back of the sign is more info.

I walked in and immediately noticed a chalkboard menu leaning up against the counter.

The prices seemed very reasonable and the young lady working was very sweet and friendly. She told me that Shanghai Alley started business a month ago. She was going to hand me a paper menu, but I just went ahead and placed my order and had a seat.

Looking around I quickly noticed how worn the place looks.

The young woman quickly brought out black vinegar and chili oil for me.

And soon in enough, my Pork and Cabbage Jiaozi ($13.99) and Niu Rou Mian ($14.99) arrived.

The jiaozi was super hot!

   The wrappers were good when the dumplings were first delivered, fairly tender, but got brittle and chewier as the dumplings cooled off. The filling was tender, moist, nicely seasoned, and full of pork flavor. This was a pleasant surprise. The filling was more finely chopped than many versions I've had recently. I think this compares favorably with Ju Feng Yuan. And does have a definite "homestyle" edge to it.

I was not as fond of the Beef Noodle Soup.

  The pieces of beef were decently tender and nicely flavored, good anise tones, with a hint of sweetness. The soup was of the clear variety and had some five spice and white pepper seasoning going for it, but it lacked beefiness and decent richness. At least it wasn't overly salty. The noodles were overcooked for my taste and lacked the springiness I enjoy.

Overall, a pretty good meal. There was one item I wanted to try before doing a post. So, I returned a couple of days later; again at a bit past ten. This time a gentleman was working. I went ahead and ordered the Xiao Long Bao ($9.99). 

It did a take a while for the XLB to arrive, which was fine since I wasn't very hungry. I did notice on this visit that there were quite a few delivery orders being picked up during my meal.

Soon enough, the XLB arrived.

 There were 8 dumplings in all, enough for a light lunch. One of the XLB, the one on the bottom had, ahem, an incontinence leakage problem and all the soup had leaked out. The rest were fine. The wrappers, while on the thicker side were again decent, perhaps even better than the ones on the jiaozi. There was an abundance of tasty "soup", the filling was tender, moist, full of swiney goodness. And like the jiaozi, it does have a homemade feel to it.

I was pleasantly surprised with the XLB and the jiaozi here. The prices aren't bad. I'm hoping they'll expand their menu a bit. I'll definitely have the dumplings again and definitely try the intestine and pig feet noodle soups.

Just goes to show; you never know what's "hiding in plain sight".

Shanghai Alley (In King Bistro)
4957 Diane Ave.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Wed - Mon 10am - 3pm

Comments

[Loren]

What a random place to find but definitely will be on my hit list. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[kat]

nice find

[Som Tommy]

I just got a pizza at Tonys last week and didn’t notice this place

[Kirk]

It is quite random Loren. If you check them out, I hope you enjoy your meal.

It was quite nice Kat!

Yes, hidden in plain sight ST!

[Soo]

All you can eat bbq sounds good.

[Kirk]

From what my sources have told me; it's more of a drinking place Soo!

[SD Julie]

Nice! We miss Ba Ren, too. Hope this new place makes it. San Diego is desperately in need of some good quality, reasonably-priced Chinese fare. (Recently ate lunch at Noble Chef for the first time since the pandemic; spent $80 on 3 mediocre dishes for 2 people. What happened to them?!?)

[Kirk]

Hi Julie - We've had some mediocre lunch visits at Noble Chef:

https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2018/04/lunch-at-noble-chef.html

When I learned a tidbit about the difference at lunch and dinner:

https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2019/10/dinner-at-noble-chef.html

At least back then, the owner only cooked during dinner service.

That said, our last two dinner visits were definitely of the YMMV variety:

https://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2024/01/revisits-to-noble-chef.html

Folks may disagree, but it seems that the state of Chinese cuisine in san Diego leaves much to be desired.