I heard a lot of good things about their pan-fried bun 生煎包, however yesterday my friends went there, the meat inside the bun has spoiled smell, very disappointing :( Hope their pan-fried bun could go back to the good old time when they first open the restaurant. The shrimp pot-sticker really amazed me! And their service was great; I want soup, no carbs, they made me wanton soup w/o wanton, how amazing they are! The rice dumpling was very tasty too. read more

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Shanghai Bistro is popular for some reason. small menu, 2 pages, basically noodles, cold dishhes, pastries ala shengjian bao and potstickers,.. spicy appetitzers listed on black board.. waiter gave me a 2 knuckle rap on the table after getting my order. a gesture of thanks? never saw him again. eats: braised beef with noodles(7.99) -skinny tasty noodles with beef broth, tender beef (boiled for hours no doubt) -no veggies of any kind, not a lot of noodles. shengjian bao(6/$7) -thick crusted "baos" fried on the bottom. -tasty meat inside, not a lot of juice, never was a fan of sjb, the thickness here loses me. foodnotes: -avoided ma la noodles, no telling how hot the sauce was, -hot sauce on table not ma la, tasted stale -don't expect any service..... read more

I love pretty much all the food here, especially the fried buns. While I can understand one needs to hold down the cost, it is quite disappointing to have to "eat in" with plastic utensils, paper bowls, spoons ...That's no problem for take outs or even an "in and out" quick fix. But when I bragged about the food here and invited my friends over, we got the feeling like we are eating in a cheap hawker stand. Quite embarrassing for me as a host. The food is enjoyable but definitely not the dining experience. I really hope they can give some considerations to the diner's overall enjoyment so as to do justice to their chef and good tasty food. read more

Really good taste, both the soup and bun. All ingredients taste quite fresh with yummy flavor. read more

Shanghai Bistro - Shanghainese Near Me - Newark, California

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Sen jian bao is 5 stars!! Juicy and soupy, very yummy! Wonton was just ok, thick and doughy. The noodles were not fragrance enough and I wish it was more out of Dante. Wonton noodle at 3 stars and you're the one is the best we are going to eat then, five stars for sen jian bao!! read more

PLEASE BE AWARE -- DOUBLE CHECK your final posted credit card charge of this business. The food was just ok. Below average maybe but not extremely bad. I wasn't planning to post any reviews, But for some reason the amount that was posted on my credit card is not matching the amount I signed on the CC slip -- they charged few dollars more for no reason. So please keep your receipt or take a photo of the merchant copy you signed in case you need it in the future. I know it's just few bucks and not a big deal, but this is a matter of principle and integrity. I wouldn't go back again and wouldn't trust this business to process any charges on my card. read more

Can't wait to come here again! Came with a group of 6 on the weekend so we had to wait for about 30 minutes, but it was worth the wait. Some smaller groups were sharing tables with other parties. My favorites were the Sheng jian bao (pan fried buns), Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) and the Shang hai chao nian gao (Shanghai stir fry rice cakes... if you haven't had it before, it's kind of like a savory mochi dish). It was pretty inexpensive for the amount we ate; I just came back from Shanghai this month and I missed Shanghai food. Obviously, eating here is more expensive than in China but I found the food to be really good and I'll be back. read more

Shanghai Bistro - xiao long bao (soup dumpling) - Shanghainese Near Me - Newark, California

We came here for dinner. We ordered the dimpling soup, pan fried pork bun, and a beef noodle soup. The food is great. The egg is a little on the salty side. It's a great place for Shaghainese food!!!! read more

Probably the best Sheng Jiang Bao place in the South Bay. Good meat to bun ratio with lots of juice. Other dishes are not worth mentioning.

Really happy to see authentic Shanghai style ShengJianBao here in the Bay; these are worth a visit alone (we got two orders). Friendly staff and good food at a reasonable price. read more

Excellent shengjianbao (pan fried bun), both regular and shrimp filling ones. The xiaolongbao are also pretty good as well, although the one with the scallop filling is lightly spicy, which I personally wasn't fond of. I also enjoyed the vegetable buns, which have a lightly sweet fragrance to them (which is high praise from a meatavore like myself).They have a nice selection of noodle soups too, can recommend the lamb noodle, while the beef one is pretty good but the soup is a little lighter in flavor. Good place to go if you are in the area, feel like Shanghainese, and don't want to wait in line for iShanghai. read more

This is one of my favorites restaurant. Love pork buns here!!! You take a tiny tiny bite the soup into your mouth immediately!!! read more

Shanghai Bistro - This is one of my favorites restaurant. Love pork buns here!!! You take a tiny tiny bite the soup into your mouth immediately!!! - Shanghainese Near Me - Newark, California

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Easy phone ordering (and for those who are like me who don't speak Mandarin, English was completely quick and easy). The food was ready in 15-20 min and was piping hot, with care put into the packaging (like a little square of foil in the bottom of the containers to keep from leakage and holes in the boxes to keep dumplings crispy). Excellent quality of fried dumplings and noodles with reasonable pricing. A new local favorite! read more

Other than their egg rolls and pan fried buns I find this place mediocre. Their scallion oil noodles looked super good but they were not as good as it looked. I will say the meat in the noodles was super soft. The appetizer spare ribs are super delicious! You definitely need to try this! I love their pan fried buns though and their egg rolls are truly authentic. read more

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My favorite place for pan fried bao, ( it's so juicy full soupy in the bao). Must eat it hot and fresh ！

As a Shanghainese, this is my favorite place for Sheng Jian Bao and all other authentic Shanghainese cuisines in the Bay Area! Thanks for bringing us the hometown taste! read more

I would say this is the best restaurant of its kind I have tried in the bay area. Love their pan fried bao, wonton soup, and noodle soup. The noodle texture is very tender, and I love it even though I'm not typically a big noodle person. Service is non-existent (borderline rude) and they seem to be discouraging indoor dining. I'm rating them 5 stars for the excellent food. read more

Day 2, Round 2. Owner clearly trying hard to service customers. However the overall crew experience is still very lacking. The pork buns not as good as last night. Quality inconsistent when serving larger customer. 3.5/5 read more

Update: Parents came back and said the Sheng Jian Bao were no longer as good as before. So it's possible there's no reason to ever come here. The only reason to come here is for the namesake Sheng Jian Bao (Pan Fried Bun). Skip everything else. Surprisingly full at lunch time on Monday. We snagged the only open table, which they were still clearing out. We tried: Kao Fu - Meh. The kao fu was a bit too much on the sweet side and the wheat gluten was a bit hard. Drunken Chicken - This was so bad. The chicken was dry and the wine flavor was too strong / heady. The skin was rubbery. Literally nothing good about this dish. Curry Beef Soup - I didn't really like the curry flavor in the soup, perhaps if you're more into curry you'd like this. Beef slices in the soup weren't bad. Sheng Jian Bao - These were stellar and every table there had a plate. 6 to an order, they're chock full of savory soup and the bottoms are nice and crispy. If I had one gripe, it's that the bottom bun part is pretty thick, but that's just me nitpicking. Most other options were noodles, although they had some other specials on their board in Chinese, including classics like Shanghainese vegetable rice. read more

Came here with my family, got the pan fried pork buns, classic crispy pork pastry, wonton soup, pork belly noodle soup, and braised beef noodle soup. Split among 4 people, it was actually the perfect amount of food (we finished everything, and we're pretty full). The food is very authentic and clean; unlike many restaurants, the noodles and wonton did not become soggy, and the flavor of all the food is very reminiscent of the food in Shanghai!! read more

Shanghai Bistro - Bottom left: noodles, upper left: wonton soup, upper right: pan fried pork buns - Shanghainese Near Me - Newark, California

pork bun - good xia long bao - pretty good pot sticker - good sweet rice shumai - good chicken wings - pretty good fried fish - good wheat bran - good cucumber - decent basic noodle soup - pretty good cold noodle - pretty good sour plum juice - good service - pretty good we got there when they opened on a saturday so no wait. read more

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Not as great as i expected. The pan fried dumplings were alright. The scallion noodles you can definitely skip. Oily and dun hv much taste. Will not return read more

Having tried pan fried buns across both coasts, have to say that theirs is quite delicious! They're small enough to leave you wanting more each time - each platter comes with 6. They're crispy yet able to maintain just the right amount of soupy goodness inside with each bite. There's also a cute sign that warns to bite carefully due to the hot soup inside. Other than that, we also ordered the fried cutlet - which was crispy and not bad, but not overly stellar - and the spicy soup noodles. Those were a tad too spicy for me, but I'm also not quite good at handling spice! Interior was quite new and comfortable, and waitress rather nice (speaking of course in Chinese). Verdict: Will be back for their pan fried buns! read more

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I think their bun is by far the best in the bay area. It tastes even better than some restaurants that I tried in Beijing during my two years stay. Cons: their floor is a bit dirty. It seems that they haven't clean the floor for like two days. But I guess it is still within the limit of a chinese restaurant Arrived at 5pm when they open on a sundae evening. Now the entire place is 85% full at 1727. read more

Shanghai Bistro - Shanghainese Near Me - Newark, California

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The best sheng jian baos that I can find in East/South Bay. However, I was surprised at how amazing their potstickers were. Crispy on the outside, and juicy soup on the inside! My go to stop for sheng jian baos & potstickers. read more

Ok ...so I'm mad at the world ! ... how did I not know about Shanghai baos, when they are soOOOooOo delicious ?!!! If you like dumplings especially the ones with the juicy savory broth that gushes out with each heavenly bite, this is your place for that supreme type of bao but with a twist ! It's juicy inside and crunchy at the bottom !! Is your mind blow yet ? If not let me finish the job, not only are the baos juicy they are pan fried so half of the bao/dumpling is crunchy while the top half is still soft and tender but still resilient enough to hold all the juices inside without loosing its structural goodness texture it's a triple combo of textures from crunchy to juicy to slightly chewy. The skin ratio to filling is Bao PHD worthy, it's so thin 10% filling of pork is 40 percent of amazing and the juice is 35 percent of liquid heaven ...the remainder percentage is negative air space. The baos come in orders of 6, they lasted a Togo ride once of 35 minutes and still wowed. This is a mom and pop establishment that also makes other wonderful dishes! Everything I've had has been delicious but these baos though ..... amazing !!! Go wow your self to a flavorful and great texture combo a true partying your mouth or your know it all bao enthusiast/ connoisseur they say they knows all about them baos... but what do they know about these baos eh read more

This is the classic story of death spiral pushed by greedy. This restaurant managed to go from top of my list to zero star in one year. I used to frequent this place every week, plus togo at least once a week. The pan fried bun was done totally right and the also priced right. I used to buy 4 orders to go which was around $28. They began to raise price like crazy starting last year. It now costs more than $40 for 4 orders. Worse yet, they lost the original chef a few month ago. The pan fried bun now is too soft and too puffy, with very little juice in the meat. I guess I am not the only one noticing this downward trend. I went there at 5:30pm on a Thursday evening (suppose to be busier then other weekdays), ordered at the counter and was on the phone in my car until 6:15pm. Noticed there was no other customer than me during this period. read more

Both the pan-fried dumplings and the shanghai dumplings are really juicy and soupy here! I love the flavors of both of them as well. The skin on the shanghai dumplings isn't too thick, and the pan-friend dumpling has almost a baked texture to it. Both are made quite consistently juicy, which is a pretty impressive feat. They are also able to offer their dishes at rather affordable prices, relatively speaking. In an area where the soup dumpling game is quite competitive, Shanghai Bistro has a clear competitive advantage in the pan-fried dumpling arena. Bravo!! read more

I initially thought they were worth 5 stars, until I lost all respect for them... My family and I came to eat here for lunch on a Saturday. We were excited to see a line/party of people waiting outside, making us think this was one of the hottest places in the area at the moment. Before our party of 4 was called, we were slightly disappointed when a couple (who wrote their names after us) who demanded to be seated were placed at a 4-person table. We had 2 orders of the Signature Pan Fried Pork Buns and 3 different noodle soups (one pork belly and the rest, I forgot). The food was honestly prepared with quality and taste. I do have to warn customers who order the pork buns to be CAREFUL when taking a bite because they are filled with soup/sauce that will burn you or get onto your clothes. The noodle soups were also really great, but I found them to be a bit too oily. Unfortunately, here's where all the positivity ends. On our receipt we put down $61.34 as our total amount. However, when we got the credit card billing statement, they charged us $64.34 instead, seeing how they easily could have made the "1" into a "4" with 2 pen strokes (we always save the receipts of all credit card transactions until we get the billing statement). Even with something as minor as this, I don't know if I can trust them anymore because who knows what they could do the next time I'm there? This just shows their lack of integrity. Whoever edited the receipt should feel ashamed. If you're coming to eat here next time, as petty and annoying as it sounds, you should save the receipt and check your billing statement to see if you were charged for the amount you put down. read more

I went on a weeknight and this place was dead. Looking around while we were waiting for our food I noticed that the wallpaper shows evidence of some rogue soup dumplings that were extra squirty. Gross. But hey, it's part of the ambiance? Do yourself a favor, order Sheng Jian Bao to go. I ordered a bunch of things but this was really the star of the whole meal. Also, these fried soup dumplings are SO HOT for a LONG time so if you live nearby, your ride home would be the perfect amount off cooling period so that you can dive into these bad boys and redecorate your own walls with some soup dumpling innards :) read more

I'm shanghai people,the smell is same from shanghai,the fried bun has the full soup in it and the fresh big meat ,yummy yummy ,the noodles is good ,a little bit spicy meat and taste a little bit sweet,I like it so much read more

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Came in for dinner on Friday night around 7:30pm and we were seated right away. Menu has no images I had Sheng Jian Bao, Xiaolongbao, and braised beef noodle soup. Sheng Jian Bao: compared to what I had in Shanghai, the flavor is not quite there. Maybe because the cast iron pan they use is not as seasoned as the one on Shanghai? Xiaolongbao: the skin is thicker than what I would like. Flavor is clean. Braised beef noodle soup: noodle is skinny (I was hoping for a flat noodle), Beef is tender and soup flavor is typical Shanghainese taste. Overall it was okay. I ended up going to Tea sensation cleanse my palate. read more

Love this place. Sheng jian bao is perfect in every way: skin, crunchiness, filling flavor, soup. I love the shrimp combo one, my hubby likes the all meat one better, so I guess it's a toss up. The flaky meat bun and xiao long bao are also great. Potsticker is good. Pork ribs with sweet sour sauce tastes really good, but I'm stranged out that it's a cold dish... But i'd still order it again,lol. The fish noodle soup is ok. They were nice enough to replace with plainer soup when we found out it was spicy (kids can't handle spice). When kid dropped his cup of ice, they were on it with a replacement. I would usually have pix of food, but both times we started inhaling the food before I got a chance to take pix. They're all in the photo album already anyways. read more

A solid 3.5, but not quite close enough to round up to 4 stars. We came here for a late lunch (2PM) in Saturday and was surprised at how busy they were, but then it seemed like most of the surrounding restaurants were busy with waits as well. Even though we were probably 6th from the list, we were seated within 5 minutes. We ordered the pan fried buns, xiao long bao, crispy pork buns, and their noodles with shredded pork and scallion oil. The noodles came out extremely quick. While it was decent, I don't think it'll garner a repeated order. My favorite part was the fried scallions part of it. Crispy pork buns cane out next and we honestly had no idea what to expect. My bf is Shanghainese and he said he's never heard/seen then before. The flakely dough covering around the bun reminds me of the flakey type of moon cake, except more dense and doughy, with a bit of sweetness. I really liked the pork mixture inside as it had really good seasoning and flavor. We pushed the second bun aside to treat it as "dessert" since the sweetness of the dough was a tad overwhelming. The xlb and pan fried buns came out quite a bit later as I assume they are the best seller and can't get them out quite as quickly. First and foremost, they do an excellent job on the thinness of the skin. Both the steamed and pan fried had the perfect thinness/thickness where it holds the soup and held a good ratio balance of bao to meat. My only complaint is that the soup for both is too sweet, but it was quickly remedied by pouring a copious amount of vinegar directly into the bao. They didn't give the shredded finger so we'd had to ask for it, and when we did, the waitress gave us a decent amount, which we made sure to not waste. The pan fried buns are probably the best I've had thus far, but it is only the fourth place I've had it. It retained the hotness of the soup so well, that I was able to squirt out soup twice on two back to back occasions my face from the same bun *face palm*. Seriously though, pan fried bun is a must order here! read more

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The food of this place is ok, but the servers are probably the worst I have experienced in a while. Basically, the servers only care about large tables, if you have a small group of one or two, they care less. For instance, I have been to this place several times trying to wait for a table. One time, there is a large group behind us, and instead of giving us (of 2) a table, they would serve the bigger group first. So ok, I thought it is flexible serving, but then the next time, I went again (2 people) and there are larger group ahead of us, but only small tables are available, guess what, they would then combine the small tables to server the big group. So basically, if you have a smaller group, it might take hours to wait and they simply don't care. To them, small group of patron means nothing!! And my experience was not isolated, I have seen people (one or group of two) stopped waiting or left cursing without getting tables, and again, all of the servers there simply don't care. And, when you signal them to ask for help, they would just pretend to not seeing you. I guess they are making profit now and so they don't really care about service, coz no matter how bad the serving experience is, people still come. But in the long run, it is gonna hurt the business for sure if the quality of the service remains so much below standard. read more

The shengjian tasted very close to the ones I used to have in Shanghai. Because we can not eat in the restaurant, most time they are not hot anymore when I picked up. When they are cooling down, it tasted a little salty. Can not wait the restaurant fully opens. read more

Got some steamed dumplings last Sunday . It's good although not like the ones in Shanghai. It does has good amount of soup inside. I will try again! read more

It was funny to see that upon entering the restaurant every single table had a plate of the pan fried Sheng Jian Bao dumplings. My Lyft driver had recommended this place saying that they serve the most authentic Shanghainese dumplings, that the food here reminded her of her home town. She steered me right as the food here was delicious!! The pan fried dumpling had nice contrasts of chewy bun with crunchy fried bottom and juicy pork filling. Their xiao long Bao were also great with a delicate thin wrapper and delicious savory soup and filling. I will need to go back to try their shrimp Sheng Jian Bao and noodle dishes! read more

Their food is good hence the 2 stars. But their service is terrible. The manager is very rude, and their staff followed the tone set. Due to Covid-19, they had restricted no more than 4 can be seated per table. We have 5 people, so we wanted to split the group into 2 tables. But they did not want to do for us because they do not want 5 people occupying 2 tables. That does not make sense because they do seat 2 people at table that can accommodate 4. I asked them to find us solution. But the manage said he does not have time to deal with us. What kind of manager is that? I am Chinese, I know what is the usual Chinese restaurant service standards, they are not super, but at least reasonable. But this place is just plain rude, unaccommodating. I hope the owner sees this and can improve on. read more

My usual go to place for Shanghainese style sheng jian bao (生煎包) is in Sunnyvale (Shanghai Flavor shop). We were in the east bay, and my dad swore Shanghai Bistro would be better. We got there around noon on Sunday, and luckily, we got the last table for 2. There was already a line outside, and when we left, the line was even longer. Usually, I only order two things 1. Sheng jian bao (生煎包): LEGIT. The skin was pretty thin on most of them (not all consistent). There's a lot of flavorful soup, and the underside had a nice crust on it. Eat it with a spoon, and beware of hot pork juice/steam when you bite into it. The buns were made fresh, and it's worth the wait 2. Scallion oil pork noodles (蔥油拌麵): sweet, not overly oily, thinner noodles. The pork was pretty lean. It wasn't bad, but it's probably not my favorite version of this. It's hard to find good versions of this Other bonuses: - They give you big cups of ice water - Pretty good service - They have the special lighter vinegar that they use in Shanghai - Credit cards accepted read more