Shanghai You Garden

I came here for lunch during weekday, couldn’t believe that the restaurant was full of customers.
Ordered: Steamed Crab Meat & Pork Buns, Steamed Veg Dumplings, Chicken in Wine Sauce, Fried Bean Gluten, Rice Cake w/​Shredded Pork and Deep Fried Yellow Croaker w/​Dried Seaweed. We received FREE Steamed Pork Buns!!!
I personally love Bean Gluten and Croaker dishes. The bean gluten was not in oily, the favor was rich. Croakers were in fillet, no bone, good for elderly and kid. However, crab meat buns’ taste weren’t strong. I preferred many crab roe in a bun.
Overall, it is recommended to try this restaurant. The best is dishes are not in strong MSG.

Very authentic Shanghainese food! Pleasantly surprised. It’s very crowded on a Saturday morning, mainly all shanghaineses. my parents and I waited about 20 mins before we were seated. The place is clean. The dishes they have are typical shanghainese like salty soft tofu soup, pork soup dumpling, rice cake with fermented veggies. One thing in happy about is that they don’t rush you like some busy restaurants do. Oh yea, they are doing promotion, you get 6 pork soup dumplings for free if you purchase 10 dollars or more. Overall, it’s 6 – 8 per dish, so it is not one the cheaper restaurants in flushing but worth it for the good taste.

Clean airy and bright, no unwanted smell, their speciality a are the soup dumplings — I par with Joe Shanghai

Waiting line for a table was annoyingly long even on a regular Wednesday afternoon so I put in two orders of crab/​pork soup dumplings to-​go. Wait was at least fifteen minutes and although the staff were friendly enough, I had to keep my feet off the floor cause I, along with a senior couple and even one of the cooks behind the bar saw a big roach crawl by. That was pretty gross but the soup dumplings were on point.

Had a great experience here. Amazing food and great service.
In terms of the service, I want to add that my dining companion and I ordered some items that we didn’t quite know how to eat and the service staff was very helpful and gracious in instructing us.

Came here on a weekday around 2pm and the place was packed. The wait was only less than 5 minutes. The place is new and clean. I don’t know the name of the dishes we ordered as my parents did the ordering but I did provide pictures. Ill work on the names for them. Food was good and I would come back again. You get a complimentary order of soup dumplings when you order over $ 10.
There’s only one bathroom but you can use the bathroom across the street at Corner 28.

Best soup dumpling hands down! This place serves authentic Shanghai cuisine. Nice interior. Decent price. Will return!

They started clearing the table while I was still eating and asked which dishes they should pack for us to go. The food here is pretty good, but what stood out most had to be the rude service. I came with the family for lunch during the weekend and we waited about 20 mins. for a table. Not even 5 mins. after sitting down, we were already asked twice if we were ready to order yet. We ordered the soup dumplings, crab soup dumplings, pan fried buns, deep fried yellow croaker w/​seaweed, vegetable noodle soup, wine chicken and red bean puffs. The crab dumplings were just ok compared to other places I’ve tried, but the regular soup dumplings were pretty good. There was a good amount of soup in the dumplings, but the texture of the skin could’ve been better; it was a bit thick and chewy. I thought the wine chicken and the red bean puffs were really good and I would definitely recommend giving them a try.
The noodles and ingredients in the noodle soup were very fresh so if you have room for it, a good option. The fried yellow croaker and pan fried buns were just eh, pass. The décor is modern and nice, but you don’t have much time to appreciate it since they rush customers out. If they are concerned about customers having too long of a wait for seats, they should just tighten the seating and put in more tables. As a fellow Unilocaler mentioned, they only have one bathroom so there was a line of people waiting by the bins of used dishes and utensils, it’s just odd. Overall, this place is an option for a quick bite, but there are definitely some better options for Shanghainese food in the area! I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

Nice new soup dumpling place that is clean. Came here with 3 other friends and ordered 2 soup dumplings, one of them was free as there was a special going on. A chicken soup, chicken rice cake, and pan fried noodles with seafood. Word of advice, order only 1 noodle dish, it was a bit overbearing with the amount of carbs. but that may be a personal opinion. The soup dumplings were very good! I always enjoy that the skin is thin, and the soup was flavorful. Not my favorite soup dumpling place in Flushing but still very good. I didn’t like how this place didn’t have that many choices for cold sides. You will not find them here.

That was a good Soup dumpling, The review was right better than Nan Xiang, and the cooking of the rice cake was absolutely the best, no one could beat it, so i’ll be back .
6÷24÷16 soup dumpling too salty, pork chop with noodles no good The Porkchop was no good at all, I think they change chef already, not going back any more !

Yet another relatively new soup dumpling/​shanghai restaurant popping up in Flushing, which gives moreee options! I decided to come here before their promotion is over, which is spend atleast $ 10 and you automatically get a free pork soup dumpling. I loveee xiao long baos (soup dumplings) and though I love Nan Xiang, I’ve been hearing the service and food has been lacking lately so I was compelled to give this place a shot… Plus rumors on the street was, the head chef of Nan Xiang went over here anyways… Have not yet got to find out how accurate that is though.
SERVICE & AMBIANCE: the place is a smaller than Nan Xiang’s and perhaps even a little smaller than Joe’s… But the décor is very modern-​Asian, with an open preparation window in the front where you see the ladies preparing the xiao long baos and cold appetizers in the display. The tables are big and nice, and some are separated in a semi-​booth with an open feel. The service is much more attentive and quicker than Nan Xiang I must admit.
FOOD: so yes, Kung Fu’s and You Garden’s menu is pretty identical to Nan Xiang’s.
Scallion pancake with beef — flaky, crispy, lightly battered and fried. Satisfying! The only thing I would nit-​pick to its competitor Nan Xiang, is that the pancake itself was thicker and didn’t wrap around the beef as properly as Nan’s which = messier.
Xlb Soup Dumplings — we ordered a crab one, and recieved a freebie of pork. I was impressed by the soup dumplings. It was super soupy and plump, the broth was good, skin was thin and soft, and the crab one had a good amount of crabmeat (still, none of them are as crabby as Joe’s)
Wine Chicken — I say pass on this. I’ve had much better wine chicken at other Shanghai establishments. The chicken was just hard, dry even for dark meat and super cold. We actually wanted to order the «shanghai special chicken» instead but they claimed no more dark meat… But it looked so good from the guy next to us who ordered it.
Cucumbers w/​garlic — this is something I really love ordering everytime at Nan’s. It’s still very enjoyable and almost on par with Nan’s from here
Over all, I’m already planning my next visit here to try the other food I normally love ordering but held back on such as the spicy beef with tendons and tripe, and other goodies on the menu! Everything smelled soo amazing and looked so good all around me from everyone. I have not tried Kung Fu for overall comparison to Nan’s recently since I’ve heard from multiple people they’re really falling off. But when I do and then try the rest of the menu, I sha’ll post an updated review !

Expect a wait.
Shanghai You Garden is very, very popular, but with very good reason. We were quoted about half an hour, but it ended up being around 20 minutes. Luckily, they have ample seating in their waiting area, with chairs lined up against the wall. The restaurant itself is long, but the front half is half kitchen and half waiting area.
First thing’s first — check in on Unilocal or Foursquare and you’ll get a free order of soup dumplings. Actually, they don’t really care because they have a poster on the wall saying the same thing. They’ll just comp you an order no matter what.
Our dumplings took a bit to come out, so we actually got some premade appetizers first. The first was the jellyfish with turnip and the second was the fried bean gluten. The fried bean gluten was tasty (and a Celiac sufferer’s worst nightmare). Had some sweetness to it and a chewy texture. Wasn’t a big fan of the jellyfish though.
Also got the scallion pancakes, with needed more salt, but were otherwise thick and pretty hefty.
Then the soup dumplings came. We ordered a free one of the pork and added on a crab. The pork was the better of the two, but both were great. A little flimsy, but filled to the brim. On par with the Joe’s Shanghai in Flushing, if not a tiny bit better.
For our mains, we shared a bunch of stuff — the noodle with beef and chili pepper (good and spicy), the pan fried udon noodles (simple, but great), the braised fish (really flavorful, but watch out for the bones), and some sort of pork shoulder (tender and in this great brown sauce).
The booths here are actually really big, and we fit 5 people into one.
The only thing that sucks is that there’s only one bathroom, and there was a perpetual line.
I would say if the wait is under half an hour, it’s worth trying out. But any more than that, and it’s just excessive. It’s not like Flushing has a deficit of good restaurants!

I’ve pledged loyalty to Nan Xiang, but after eating here, I’m sure it will give Nan Xiang a run for its money! It’s clean (had to see it with my own eyes after reading Anna H.‘s review), bright and the soup dumplings were delish! You also get a free order of pork dumplings and a dessert with your meal. My only gripe was that our order of jellyfish was lacking — a few pieces of jellyfish among the massive plate of daikon — I really had to search for it. We also received the wrong order of pork dumplings when we ordered the crab/​pork dumplings, but they quickly realized and corrected the situation. I will have to come back to try some other dishes.

I am between a 2-​star and 3-​star rating. Since 2 star literally means «Meh. I’ve experienced better» that’s what I’m going with. Maybe people are being generous because of the free basket of Xiao Long Bao (soup dumpling)?
I am not sure if I understand why people give Shanghai You Gardens such high ratings. We went today and we were not bowled over by the food. We ordered the pan fried pork buns which were beyond oily. It was so oily that it left a pool of oil on the table! That is just disgusting! I found the food difficult to eat because of the grease it was sitting on. We have had the pan fried pork bun dumplings in many other Shanghai restaurants in NYC and Philadelphia so we have others to compare it to. Never again at Shanghai You Gardens!
The Scallion pancakes were crazy bland! There was no scallion taste at all. It was terrible. We were not given any sauce to flavor it. Was there even scallions in it!!!
The Pan fried noodles with shredded pork was blah, no taste. Was that canned straw mushrooms? This dish was mad bland. I’ve had better pan fried noodles at Cantonese places. Ugh. It was difficult to eat.
Vegetable dumplings were good but why is there a layer of oil again outside of the dumpling? I guess oil is their condiment of choice?
My gosh at least the Xiao Long Bao’s were decent. That was the saving grace of the meal we had. I was very disappointed by the meal in general. The service was spotty. Some of the waiters tried harder than others. Some ignored us, the one lady who finally helped us was pretty patient. She worked really hard to try to help us with our meal. I felt that was nice of her.
Why is there one bathroom for a semi large restaurant? There were lines for the bathroom. Why is the bathroom entrance where they store the plates, cups and utensils!!! Weird placement. The line was in the way of the waiters, terrible layout.

The restaurant was packed this Sunday because it is thee hot XLB place in Flushing. That is why I’m here!
We waited until 2:30 PM, the tail end of lunch, to go in and eat.
We still had to wait 20 mins after getting a number. They have a nice set of bench seating area which is very nice. By the time we got seated I was starving and will eat anything.
First round is «Little fried buns» and «Scallion Pancakes» —
The fried buns came out nice and hot but there was a lot of liquid inside and was very greasy; on the outside and the inside. They used too much oil. Rate ³⁄₅
The Scallion pancakes was bland; lacked taste and short on scallions. We asked for soy sauce or oyster sauce for the pancakes but they did not have any?! Rate ³⁄₅.
Next came the pork XLB, six in an order, was good. The favor is good and the soup was not too greasy; enjoyable. Rate ⁴⁄₅
We ordered a second dish of XLB.
Vegetable XLB– not a lot of flavor in the filling but enjoyable. Rate ³⁄₅
Our last dish is the shredded pork on pan fried noodles. I immediately noticed the burned noodles on the edge of the dish. The pork was small in quantity and over whelmed with chopped Napa cabbage. There were mushrooms but it lack any mushroom flavor. Rate ³⁄₅
Décor– very clean and creative. Rate ⁵⁄₅
Service– language became a big problem because the waiters lack Cantonese or English skills. ³⁄₅
Restroom– a problem because there is only one so there was always a line waiting to go in; I know because was seated at the last table near it and saw all the action! The single restroom is also located right next the the plating area for the waiters so there was a constant conflict between the waiters and folks waiting to pee. Also when we were there they ran out of toilet paper!
Overall my experience was not what I expected.

Great place for dinner! Joe’s Shanghai and Nan Xiang better watch out because You Garden is in town and they are here to make a statement.
I came here last night with a party of 4 and we were highly surprised at how good the meal was! We definitely over ordered, but I would definitely recommend: steam pork buns, steamed crab meat pork buns, pan-​fried dumplings, fried bean gluten, cucumber & garlic, deep fried yellow croaker with diced seaweed (don’t knock this one until you try it), spicy beef & tripe, and noodle with beef & chili pepper.
The restaurant was quite busy when we arrived so one annoying thing was we had to keep waving our hand to get one of the waiters over, found that quite annoying especially seeing the waiters help other tables and then zip out of the floor before we could get their attention. But the free steam pork buns we got for checking in on Unilocal totally made up for it, I mean that’s basically what made us want to try this place in the first place, but we were way more surprised with how delicious the food tasted. Cool thing we even got to meet the owner!
They also have free wifi, which has their username and password up on the wall but with delicious food in front of you, you ain’t got time to be using wifi.
Coming back soon!

3 stars for food, 2 stars for service. I first thought the waiter was mute taking my orders. He was sarcastic and emotionless. Other waiters just dropped plates on table.
Food was not bad but the service killed it.
Would I come back? Nope. Plenty of good xlb places in NYC, no need to pay and get shitty service.

I’ll admit, I was hesitant to believe the 4 star review that Shanghai You Garden has received so far. Nan Xiang on Prince Street has always been my go to spot to satisfy my soup dumpling cravings. However after reading fellow Unilocaler Cynthia’s review and seeing that Shanghai You Garden offers a free carton of 6 pork soup dumplings (free with a minimum order of $ 10 if you mention it as others have mentioned), I knew I had to try it before the offer disappeared.
Between 3 people, we shared:
— Scallion pancake with beef ($ 4.95)
— Crab and pork soup dumplings ($ 6.75)
— Pork soup dumplings (free)
— Braised bean curd ($ 4.95)
— Jellyfish with turnip ($ 5.95)
— Beef and chili pepper noodle soup ($ 7.95)
Thinking the portions would be comparable to Nan Xiang, we over ordered, making this a little too much food for 3 people. The highlights of the meal were the scallion pancake with beef, the crab and pork soup dumplings, and the braised bean curd. The scallion pancake came with 4 large pieces that were perfectly fried and crispy. Surprisingly, it’s not as oily as you would think compared to other places. The braised bean curd is a dish I wish I knew had to make. Seasoned so well, you have to order this dish! If you love the outer layer of fried tofu, you’ll especially appreciate this. I complained how this cold appetizer was a bit pricy, but my mom justified the price with the amount of work that goes into preparing this side dish. Finally, the crab and pork soup dumplings were the juiciest and most flavorful soup dumplings I’ve had outside of Din Din in Tapei. Fight the urge and beware of biting into the dumpling seconds, even a minute after arriving — I assumed that they would be warm and went right into the dumpling and burned my tongue (a sign that these delicacies are prepared fresh); it was so worth it though. You can actually taste the crab flavor in these dumplings compared to Nan Xiang and Joe’s Shanghai. The free pork dumplings were good as well, but the crab added another layer of flavor toppling over the pork dumplings. I recommend eating the soup dumplings first, while they’re still hot as they’re more enjoyable that way. I had 2 soup dumplings towards the end after they sat for awhile, so they cooled down completely at that point. It was still good and bursting with flavor, but it wasn’t as good as it was hot.
Skip the the beef and chili pepper noodle soup. Its massive size is the only impressive part. It’s definitely a portion for 2 – 3 people. However, the noodles were bland and not spicy as advertised. My mom and I both compared the noodles to the packaged noodles you can just buy from the supermarket. Also skip the jellyfish with turnip — it’s literally a 90%:10% ratio of turnip to jellyfish. So essentially, you’re paying $ 6 for turnips — no thanks.
You also get free rice wine mochi dessert at the end. I wasn’t a fan of this dish at all as it was heavily doused in rice wine. The mochi was soft and chewy though.
The only real compliant I have about Shanghai You Garden is their service. Not saying that Flushing has outstanding service, if that even exists, but I feel like Shanghai You Garden goes out of their way to really make you feel rushed. From asking numerous times if we’re ready to order to watching your dishes almost empty, so they can come and scoop any remaining bits onto anyone’s plate, so they can clear the table, to dropping off the check before you even ask to then picking up the check when you didn’t even pay yet — all this made the dining experience a bit uncomfortable… I’d like to serve myself in peace. But hey, if you’re busy and have a packed house at off hours like 5 – 6 pm, I can see why you’d like to turn tables over as quickly as possible.

Long wait for soup dumplings… o.m.g With that being said Soup dumplings were plump and delicious. If you check in on Unilocal or just mention about it, you get free Pork soup dumplings on the house.
Dishes to order:
Beef tendons
crab meat soup dumplings
Salted soy bean curd
Skip out on the Beef & chilli pepper noodles. Noodles were too soggy and very little beef.
We asked for a bowl of rice three times from 3 different waiters and never received it. We said it in english and chinese. I’m not sure whats so hard to comprehend.

A new competitor has entered the soup dumpling ring in Flushing! Soup dumpling lovers like us get more unique choices! Win! Located just across the street from the Westbound exit of the LIRR — Main Street Flushing spot. Décor is very impressive with a Chinese calligraphy poem spreading the ceiling with red vase cut-​outs wall on one side and paintings on the other. Whether your seat preference is are the booths or benches, it’s available! My companion and I came here on a Monday evening for dinner. We were able to snatch the last available table before the 7:00 pm dinner crowd floods in. With a $ 10.00 or more purchase at table service, your party will receive a free basket of six steamed soup dumplings! Stop reading! Pause! Go there now!
My companion and I shared a great variety of their popular dishes such as the Cold Appetizers — Seaweed with Garlic and Cucumber with Garlic. Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns, Steamed Vegetable Dumplings, Little Hot Pepper Beef Dried Noodles, Soy Milk, and of course the Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings.
Cold Appetizers can come half and half of two choices instead of just one entire dish of the same one. This is a great opportunity to try all what they have to offer. I did like what I picked out!
Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns were so beautifully plated! It was nicely fried and topped with black sesame seeds and scallions. Be warned that it is still scorching hot upon arrival and you should take a small bite first — not the whole thing! I loved how crispy the bottom was and how soft on the inside it was. And yes, meat portion is generous!
Steamed Vegetable Dumpling. Yes, I am serious and not only it is healthy tasting but it is tasty! It is minced with various leafy greens like chives — yes, very distinctive flavor of it. Also great with soy sauce and hot chili oil, if you don’t believe in being healthy!
Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings. This was a freebie basket with six soup dumplings! I was very impressed with the soup and the light gingery minced meat. There was a spoonful of soup and it is packed with flavor! The skin was on the thick side but I love dumpling skin, so it did not bother me too much.
Little Hot Pepper Beef Dried-​style Noodles. Overall flavor was spicy, tasty, and even the shredded beef was tender. This was good but I would get the noodle soup version next time.
Complimentary sweet rice wine mochi for dessert. How generous!
I must admit that their menu is almost identical to Nan Xiang; for rumor has it that the head chef now works here. Although, Nan Xiang still reigns as the top soup dumpling spot on my list but I would not hesitate to ditch them for this spot once in a while! Not to mention, there is something called good service exists here that Nan Xiang lacks!
Side Note: Corner 28 take-​out plastic bags cracks me up! Obviously, they are under the same ownership! Haha!

Decided to take a risk and try out a different Shanghainese restaurant in Flushing yesterday evening, since we’ve only been to the 2 establishments (Nan Xiang and Kung Fu) that we know of. Not to mention, I pulled this place up on Unilocal and saw, besides the rave reviews, that they were offering a free steamer of pork soup dumplings upon checking in. Free food? Why not?
We were seated right away despite the room being seemingly packed. Apparently, everyone in the front were either waiting for take-​out or larger tables to seat bigger parties, so couples — don’t be afraid, there is room for you! The tables were also big enough to hold plenty of dishes, perfect for fatties like myself. May I add, their soup dumpling spoon is huge! So do some lip stretches before you come here because you will need to expand those babies up.
We ordered the pork and crabmeat soup dumplings, along with a spicy beef brisket cold dish, chicken soup, and pork with salted cabbage noodle soup. Even though the skin on the dumplings were a tad thicker than usual, they were quite flavorful. I love how the big spoon prevents spillage for the non-​soup-​dumpling-​eating-​experts. The beef brisket was also tasty — perfect amount of heat and less greasy than ones I’ve had. The chicken soup and noodle soup were okay, but forgettable. They also served us complimentary dessert, a «tong sui» that resembles «tong yuen» with goji berries. It was nice of them but neither of us were fans. It tasted strange. Couldn’t place a finger on it.
Service was decent, but the wait staff needs to practice their Engrish. Besides that and the dessert, we were rather pleased and would come again!

This place is really convenient since it’s only a short walk from the Main St subway stop. I honestly have enjoyed all the Shanghai style Chinese restaurants I’ve been to so far in either Chinatown or Flushing so it’s tough to really compare them. One spot has a superior soup dumpling but subpar rice cakes or an awesome layout with friendly staff and another didn’t. That all being said, the food is what matters most and this place has really good food. It’s convenient and delicious.
There was a 15 minute wait to be seated on Saturday at lunch which to me is always a good sign.
Items I’d order again: Sliced Beef Scallion Pancake ($ 5 – 6), Pork & Vegetable Wontons in spicy oil ($ 4.95), and of course if you’re into soup dumplings ($ 5.75). This was one of the soup dumplings that ripped more easily than others so be careful when you pick em up!

As you walked into a very clean establishment with beautiful décor and ceiling hunged with Chinese calligraphy. The booths were taken but the server seated us at a half booth and chairs table. My mom ordered up a storm as she’s an ultimate foodie without writing reviews. She ordered Fried Bean Gluten, Chicken with Wine Sauce, Pork Xiao Long Bao, Pork & Crab Xiao Long Bao (my favorite), and Pork Chop Noodle Soup. I love the tiniest of the soup dumpling wrapper… bite a little hole then suck up the delicious soup *hubba hubba* I lost count of how many I ate but it was so yummy as I was under the weather. The Pork Chop was kept separate from the noodle soup which always good. The broth was very tasty and warmhearted for my cold. The Pork Chop was so crispy and noodles were really thin along with Bok Choy.
My ordered the Braised Fish and Braised Deep Fried Round Hoof to go. Apparently its under the same ownership as Corner 28.
I am dreaming of coming back for some more delicious food!