Old Shanghai

Food is good. I love their mini wonton soup, their «xiao long bao» pork dumpling aka little dragon dumplings, and also a fan of their «nin gao» stir fried Shanghai rice cakes. A bit of authentic Shanghai spot. The shop owners could work on the ambience and upkeep of the place better.

Came here for lunch and I ordered the following:
–Tan Tan Noodle Soup w/​meat (just OK /​little over cooked)
–Sauteed Eel w/​Chives (disappointed because way too sweet)
*Friendly servers

Authentic Shanghainese food, staff are friendly, posters from the 1920s and 30s.
I usually order Pan fried pork buns, Drunken chicken in clay pot, Sea cucumber with green onion, Lion head meatballs. I think the dishes I ordered are as good as I had in Shanghai.
It’s a great Shanghainese place to go if you are in the Western part of the town.

I came here on Mom’s day. As a Shanghainese，my mom thinks the taste here is better than many Shanghai restaurant in Shanghai。I also love this place。The price is lower than last year！Try it！

We were in the mood for Chinese other than takeout obviously and came across this place since Chinatown restaurants were closed at 8pm (weird!). The wait staff were really nice. The food was absolutely delicious! We had Mongolian beef and beef fried rice, which was a phenomenal option. I also had a small serving of wonton soup, which was good but not the type of wonton I’m used to (I think they include seaweed in them) but still tasty. I would def go back to this place the next time I visit San Fran and in the mood for good sit down Chinese Food.

Still a fan after all these years. This location was the old Mike’s Cusine. 1^st Chinese restaurant in the Richmond District. The handsome young manager w/​the glasses all these years I thought his name was James & actually its David as I read some of the other reviews. Sorry! The food is still good authentic Shanghai at its best. XLB, dumplings, pot stickers. I personally like a strong brewed dark vinegar w/​my bite size dishes. Most restaurants dilute their vinegar w/​water to stretch out. Shanghai dumpling King on Balboa does that. Shanghai tourist come here to get their fix. One thing that stands out is the staff is very polite and well mannered. I’ve been to some 5 star Chinese restaurant & bad manners or impoliteness is a real mood killer. They take the time to listen as opposed to talking. Not a big restaurant, medium size. So noise level don’t echo like some of these big restaurants. Of course like any restaurant once the big tables get filled & people are laughing, enjoying their meals then the noise is inevitable. Happy sounds as opposed to clanging dishes or staff disputes … Thank You David & your wonderful staff. Still good so don’t move or do any big changes. I’m not ready to let you go yet … I also love all of the pictures of my Shanghai girlfriends on the wall … gives me something to look at when I’m bored or other than my wife. LOL! Is my wife behind me? Holding a knife or scissors?

This is a truly authentic and high quality restaurant for Shanghai cuisine. All the pastries, XLB, dumpling, and desserts are home made. They are not only fresh but of excellent quality! What is worth noting is the kindness and good service of the restaurant staff. The recommended dishes are so good! We are too much but enjoyed every morsel!

Very authentic THE PLACE. Good food！！

WOW. This is legit OLD SHANGHAI food. It’s what you would go look for in actual Shanghai if you wanted 本帮菜(benbangcai, aka shanghainese food before the Western culture erroded the authentic cuisine with their dirty Imperialism) My friend from Shanghai nearly cried because she said it tasted like her grandma’s cooking. So if you want AUTHENTIC SHANGHAI FOOD, this is a must!!!
We ordered the 荠菜冬笋（wild greens with winter bamboo sprouts), the 笋干红烧肉（soy sauce braised pork cubes with dried bamboo sprouts, OMG SO GOOD), and the 腌笃鲜 (winter bamboo sprout, tofu skin and ham stew, THE BEST DISH OF THE NIGHT, SUPER UMAMI!!!). When we paid, they gave us free 酒酿汤圆（sweet rice wine and sesame mochi) and they were so generous with the sweet rice wine!!!
Anyway, great dining experience, the owner came and asked us about how the food was himself :) If you like Chinese food and really great Shanghai food, this place is the best choice!!!

This place has legit traditional shanghainese food. Their price is fair, and the service is excellent. Looking forward to bringing friends back.

Very authentic. I’ve been to so many Shanghainese restaurants in the Bay Area, and this is THE PLACE. Good food, classic songs, and old fashion posters. Really feels like being brought back to Shanghai in the golden old days… Approved by all my Shanghainese friends and their parents.
Updates:
Just came here with my boyfriend tonight. Excellent service again of course. Taro pastry took us right to paradise. Highly recommend the rice balls and the special soup with salted pork! As for the taro pastry, it’s always one order for here and another one to go for tomorrow: D

The worst Shanghai food I ever had. Their Shanghai steamed dumpling (xiao long Bao) the skin is too thick, the meat is dry, no juice at all. The Drunken Chicken is the worst of the worst, no chicken favor, the wine is bitter, and the chicken meat is dry and frozen inside. last, The Braised pork Shank. How is that possible the Braised pork Shank brought to my table before the cold dish (drunken chicken)? I can’t use any word to describe how awful that Shank taste. Is frozen inside again. A Shanghai restaurant name them self Old Shanghai can’t even make that 3 signature Shanghai food right there is a problem. Maybe I went there in a wrong time.

This is the best Shanghainese food I’ve ever had here in the States. It is authentic. The flavors are spot on and true. The textures are divine. If you’re looking for spicy — go get Sichuan. If you’re looking for dim sum and hot mustard go get Cantonese. Old Shanghai, please don’t change how you spice or serve your dishes. You’re perfect. Well done.

Came here Saturday night for a quick takeout dinner. The inside was surprisingly quiet, with just a few diners — looked very much like a local crowd, probably older Shanghainese transplants nostalgic for the food they grew up with. I got XLB, Shanghai Rice Cakes (vegetarian version), and Mongolian Beef.
The standout was definitely the Mongolian Beef — very tender, thin slices with a nice heat to it. The XLB filling was a bit on the sweet side, which I found weird. And the Rice Cakes were standard but hit the spot (I got this without the pork). I’d like to come back and try their other dishes and see if the flavors are as I remember them as a kid.

Truly delicious Shanghainese food! I have never had to wait to get seated. We always order their XiaoLongBao (XLB), bamboo shoots with pork and leeks, and sweet and sour spare ribs. The XLB are some of the best in town. Skin isn’t too thick but still holds the juicy soup inside. The bamboo shoots are absolutely delicious and my favorite. It’s a little pricey here but definitely a treat!
Service is very courteous and attentive and the place is cleaner than your typical chinese restaurant.

authentic Shanghai food ！ yes, so delicious and authentic! This is one of the classic shanghainese food in SF. Have to say their dumplings are excellent and other small dishes are so yummy, clean and spacing tables makes a big difference from other small family own dumpling Shanghai cuisine places. Will be back soon to try more dishes.

Very authentic. I’ve been to so many Shanghainese restaurants in the Bay Area, and this is THE PLACE. Good food, classic songs, and old fashion posters. Really feels like being brought back to Shanghai in the golden old days… Approved by all my Shanghainese friends and their parents.

came w/​party of 3 @6.50pm on a tuesday night; pretty empty and spacious until 7:30pm hit!
we ordered 2 orders of the soup dumplings
one tray of 10 dumplings
1 veggie dish
everything was meaty and delicious, they could have a little bit better service.
friend came with a bike and yang, the manager even let him store it inside the restaurant!

One star for the nice environment inside compare to other chinese restaurant. I tried this place years ago, it was ok, nothing wow though. I went to this place again yesterday, it was awful. I am a Shanghainese, so I know what’s an authentic Shanghai dish should taste like. I had wonton soup, it was very dry and old. I think it’s been in the freezer for a long time. I can’t even chew the meat. God knows what they put inside. The savory soy milk was so salty. I am so disappointed at this place. No wonder this place is empty during lunch hour on a Sunday.

I know there are many guides that put this hole-​in-​the-​wall place as one of the top 10 must eats of the east bay. Well, I have news for you, it’s not. In fact, beneath the plebeian appearance of the restaurant lies very below average shanghainese food including noodles, wrapped rice (Zhongzi), and Shanghai-​style dumplings (XLB). Check out SF or South Bay for more legist shanghainese food, its clear that the owners here have given up. Additionally, and this goes without saying, the guides don’t know what their talking about.

We were looking for something new to eat and we decided on Chinese.
I love this place. The food was great and we beat the rush at 6pm Sunday night. We had the chow fun special, dumplings, and Mongolian beef. All were great! You even get tea with your meal. Service was fast and everyone was very attentive to our needs. The only thin I would worry about is that it can get really packed that it is boarder line a fire hazard. It was a little difficult to get out.

Vegetable chow mein — a great dish. Coocked perfectly. A delight.
Sweet and sour shrimp — delicious. The sauce was perfect.
Cashew shrimp — completely different from walnut shrimp. It was just small shrimp in say sauce with some green peppers. Nothing special.
Service — slow. Tea was luke warm.

Xlb is bland.
The mystert meat inside tasted and looked like scraps… think gizzard heart etc.
It foamed pink out of the top of the dumpling.
Icky…
Not quality. not tasty
Better Xlb in sunset district

March 22, 2015 around 1:30 pm, my family went to Old Shanghai for lunch, but it wasn’t until couple days later that we wanted to throw up.
The food and service were average, we order four courses (duck, fish, veggie, xiao long bao), which totaled in $ 85.25. My whole family has been working in different Chinese restaurants, so we know that it is higher than average, but we didn’t argue with them. We paid $ 90 on our credit card (including $ 4.75 tips) and additional $ 5 cash for tips. Yes, so what we were not a big tipper.
Next day, we checked our bank statement and found out that Old Shanghai charged us $ 100! We were all disgusted about it. Even though we were cheap in tipping, this is still unacceptable.
I don’t care if this is a mistake, ($ 90 and $ 100 are such two similar numbers), it is the restaurant’s responsibility to make correct billing. Secondly, I strongly do not suggest people to dine here because you can get better Chinese food for a cheaper price else where. If you have to eat here, KEEP YOUR RECEIPT!

Enjoyed dinner here tonight. Fast and friendly service.
Xlb: Delicious. Skin could’ve been a bit thinner but still good. Good flavor and just enough juiciness.
Spicy wonton: Good wonton but this wasn’t spicy. Not enough chili oil and served with peanut sauce, which isn’t what I am used to with this dish.
Winter melon soup: tasty
Braised pork shank: super tender and delicious. Yum.
We will be back!

Restaurant was very accommodating on Saturday for late lunch at 2pm. my group of 18 people arrived when they were closing the kitchen for lunch at 2:30pm. We decided to come here last minute after we went on a hike that went a little longer than planned. I cannot remember what 8 dishes we ordered for my table, but the ones I recalled are:
Shredded Turnip Pastry was quite excellent and stood out to all of us. It was crispy, hot, good texture with meat, turnip and was quite tasty. I would order this again.
Xiaolongbao or Shanghai Steamed Dumplings w/​Pork was okay to me. It didn’t have enough liquid with the dumpling that I would have liked, but that is my personal preference. I wanted more flavor from it and skin was a little thicker than I am used to as well. Served hot, got to wait till it cooled down first. It is always a first love when I lay my eyes on a lovely Shanghai dumpling. Such a pretty presentation all self contained and wrapped in a ball of goodness… sorry getting off topic.
Braised Pork Shank was impressive looking if you look at the photo a previous Unilocaler posted. The waiter help get a spoon to break apart the meat off the bone so it would be easier for us to eat. It was good and well cooked with a nice dark brown soy sauce over it.
The Mongolian beef, I believe this dish was spicy, but meat was tender. So if you want some heat to your food, you will enjoy this dish. I had to grab water!
Dried Mushrooms with shanghai green vegetables was what I order and I enjoyed it, cooked to perfection and great combo ingredients. Yummy in my tummy!
I don’t recall the exact name, but we also had a boneless chicken with ginger oil. It was a small dish where everyone got a bite. It was ok and dish didn’t really stand out with flavor. Just normal.
We had a spare rib dish, which I was not used to seeing in this presentation called Wu Xi Sparerib with red fermented soy bean sauce. I was not used to seeing the ribs in red sauce. But it is soy bean sauce on it which had good flavor. Interesting dish.
I think I pretty much covered most of the dishes our table had that I could recall. The other half of my group ordered a cool looking deep fried fish dish. Presentation was really cool as you can see from the other Unilocaler’s photos.
Thank you for reading if you got this far. Feel free to click it if you feel this was useful, cool or funny for you. I realize now that Taking photos will save me so much time from writing!

Generally average food. Most of the items we ordered were underwhelming as other reviewers mentioned. Restaurant is pretty nice inside though.
What we got:
Kao Fu — This was the standout dish. It was really good, the wheat gluten was soft and perfectly marinated in the classic sweet-​ish sauce. It was complemented perfectly by an assortment of mushrooms, peanuts and lily flowers. I haven’t enjoyed such a good version in a while.
Yang Zhou Boiled Bean Curd — Really underwhelming. There was too much liquid and the flavor of the seafood/​meat didn’t seep at all into the bean curd. Also seemed under salted. All in all, came out kind of bland tasting.
Winter Bamboo Shoots & pork & vegetable — it was supposedly a special/​seasonal dish, but I was not that impressed. Also kind of bland tasting, and the winter bamboo taste didn’t shine through.
Smoked Ham, Salted Pork with Bamboo Shoots and Soy Bean Sheet Knots — Ugh, this was very disappointing. The soup was not super savory and actually had this very weird sour-​ish aftertaste. The bean sheet knots were kind of tough as well.
So all in all, nothing impressed us except the Kao Fu. Which was really really good.

There is no one to text while I am on the bus at 7 30 am in the morning so I thought I would write an mediocre review for a mediocre place.
Grading scale:. Period means meh
! Exclamation mean omg delish.
? Is this food ?
Was here for a family dinner and ordered about 7 items.
Dumplings: .
Braised pork: !
Pork shank: . $$$
Fried fish: ???$$$$$
Bamboo soup: . $$$$
Pumpkin cake: .
Half duck: …$$$$$. (they actually gave a quarter)
Overall place was expensive and serving was small. Nothing too special.

Best shanghai dumbling in sf.
Ppl are nice. Food very consistent and always good.
Will come again for more.

Having come here for dinner a few weeks back with Jean Y, my thoughts on Old Shanghai pretty much mirror hers exactly. Being a Shanghainese restaurant, we went with some more traditional dishes, including their:
* Shredded Turnip Cake — Not bad at all, although I’m accustomed to eating turnip cake that’s a bit more finely shredded. And, strangely enough, their turnip cake actually has meat inside (not a bad thing, just, unexpected).
* Noodles with Fried Green Onion Oil — Probably the best part of the meal, these were simple, greasy, and quite tasty.
* Xiao Long Bao — I’m starting to see a trend with most of the XLB I’ve had in SF: they’re all a little too sweet, and Old Shanghai’s was no exception. Their dumpling skin is also a bit on the too-​thick side, but, hey, at least they’re nice and soupy.
* Sauteed Pea Sprouts — Not bad, but much more expensive and tougher than pea sprouts should be.
***Accessibility Info***
Venue — A spacious enough restaurant that accessibility shouldn’t be an issue.
Bathroom — Didn’t check them out.

My friend and I ordered a few Shanghainese dishes to share since the place is called Old Shanghai. Nothing we had really stood out. Service was good though.
* Shredded turnip cake — $ 5.50
These tasted good but could have been better if the turnip was more finely shredded. Vegetarians beware. There was meat in these turnip cakes.
* Noodles with fried green onion oil — $ 7
Simple and good. No complaints here.
* Xiao long bao — $ 7.50
The pork filling and soup were too sweet and the wrappers too thick for my liking.
* Sauteed pea sprouts — $ 11.95
The greens were tough.

Food:
–Xiao long bao, surprisingly good, the soup dumpling skin was perfectly thick/​thin, and there was actually a decent amount of soup in the dumplings
–Salted duck, zero flavor, pass
–Kao fu (chinese wheat gluten) and woodear, sponges full of grease with like 2 small pieces of woodear, pass
–Sigua and you mian jing (luffa and chinese gluten puffs), came in a pot and burned my tongue, but other than that it was poorly executed, some luffa pieces were not peeled right, pass
–Eight treasure glutinous rice cake, poorly done, more like eight junk with the cheap-​looking and cheap-​tasting ingredients stingily scattered over the top layer of bland glutinous rice dome, and especially for $ 9, pass pass pass
Service:
–Good for a chinese restaurant, which meant no one seemed mean and no one checked on me during my meal either; old chinese guy who served me did seem nicer than most, and also ran after me when I apparently dropped a credit card
Misc:
–While I’m all for instant gratification, all the dishes came out surprisingly/​suspiciously quickly.
–Overheard a woman on staff comment on some greasy dish
–Bathroom was horrifyingly disgusting and really close to the kitchen with its door open. I wanted to take a shower (and cry) after I came out of the bathroom.
Overall, quality of the food didn’t justify the slightly premium price point compared to similar restaurants around the area. However, would go back for the xiao long bao.
Still surprised at how they managed to excel on the xiao long bao out of all things, like an asian kid who fails at basic algebra but beasts differential equations.