Excellent xlb (soup dumplings) as well as Peking duck. I'm from Washington DC region where we have Peking Gourmet Inn and this place rivals the quality there, even the plum sauce and pancakes. They must cook the duck for hours even though the server stated it was cooked quickly as the fat was rendered off well w super crispy skin. The star of the show is the XLB--not as good as Din Tai Fung in Tainan (arguably best location for xlb) as the skin was not supper thin, bower the price point is near half and just slightly thicker and more importantly the flavor was buttery good as DTF. The watercress was in season so had that too. We had to wait a bit but so worth it. Packed at 8pm on a Mon night! Service was good too. After such a lg meal we walked back to the Westin at the Wall. Very safe even at night, as we asked a policeman too. Nice town. read more

Shanghai River - XLB-med thick skin but still wonderfully tasty served piping hot w thinly sliced ginger and black vinegar. Yum! - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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Came to this place when it was first opened, it was one of the nicer Shanghainese restaurants back then and the food was okay. I have repeated and taken some friends and family here over the years. Over the years, I can see that its good quality are slowly deteriorating away. Haven't came back here for a couple of years now so finally visited this place again not so long ago. Here were the food we ordered this time around; 1. 3 kinds of cold dishes; seaweed, pork jelly, drunken chicken with wine. The pork in the pork jelly were abit powdery and dry. And the chicken weren't so good. 2. Shanghainese wonton soup. The wontons were okay and the soup was hot, however, the soup overall was pretty bland and simple. 3. Xiao long bao (Shanghai dumplings). They were hot and juicy but my favourite place for them is still Crystal mall, the origin of the big juicy xiao long baos in BC. 3. Braised Tien Tsin cabbage with smoked ham. First time trying this dish here. Simply a little disappointing. 4. Deep fried live tilapia with house sauce. Don't ask, absolutely speechless with this one, should've had it steamed with ginger and onion. But our waitress suggested this way. 5. Rice with salted pork and vegetable. The only good thing about this was the rice was cooked in a clay pot, besides that nothing special. Overall, the restaurant is located on Westminster hwy, across the street from the back parking lot of Richmond center, and it has customer parking in the parkade. It was one of the nicer looking Shanghainese restaurants around when it was first opened but it became pretty basic nowadays as more and more restaurants are upping their game. Sadly the most recent visit was disappointing and not so stellar. Maybe it's time to give the other Shanghainese restaurant a few blocks away a repeat and see. read more

Shanghai River - Xiao long bao (Shanghai dumplings) - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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Pros: They have a huge space and were able to get our party of 3 seated right away on a Friday around lunch time. No reservations needed. Cons: The quality of food ranged from very good to very bad. Considering their very large menu, I feel like it's best to come here with someone who has already tried this place to make sure you're ordering the right items and getting the most out of your meal. -Deep fried crispy tofu: very good. Tofu was very light and crispy and met my expectations. I would recommend this dish and order it again. -Wonton in hot sauce: good flavor but not spicy. It was one of the better items that we ordered. However, I don't know if it was good enough that I would get it again. -Homemade seasame cake stuffed with beef: Just okay. Flavor was lacking compared to others I've tried in my lifetime. Would not get again. -Fried Shanghai Style Rice Cake: this is one of my favorite dishes (when it's done right). However, this was the worst dish out of the bunch. The rice cakes were too softy/soggy and bland. Would not recommend. read more

The place was packed when we visited. For some odd reasons, we waited for a long time for a three items: the noodle, the duck with taro and the famous dumpling. I watched and saw many people got their food even though they came way latter than us. We did not want to say anything because it was our first time here. The dumpling was good The other two dishes were like water, very neutral and had no memorable taste. Staff were nice. We finished the dinner and went some where else to eat... read more

Shanghai River - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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Food is okay. Xiaolongbao is good. Lots of soup. Sweet and sour ribs are very dry. Service is not good. There are long waiting time between two dishes. They didn't come to check us until they wanted 15% tip. read more

First time trying out Shanghai River, a Shanghainese spot that also offers dim sum. We dropped in on a Thursday evening (with 7:00pm reservations). The inside is huge with several large, family style round tables. Service was fairly attentive. The menu is like a children's book with over 25 pages of dishes. Prices aren't cheap; be aware when ordering any market price seafood items. - Steamed pork dumplings ($12.95 for 8) - these were very good; tasty broth, filling and skin had a great bite. - Szechuan style smoked duck half ($27.80) - another winner. There's a couple of buns but the star, of course, is the smoked duck. Smoky flavour is enthralling and there's a good ratio of meat to fat/skin. A must try for any duck lovers. - Yan chow deluxe fried rice ($19.80) - not sure what makes this "deluxe". All it came with was bok choy. Not worth the price point. - Pan fried live crab with rice cake ($88.00) - not sure what happened with the rice cakes, we never received any. That being said, the crab was fantastic. The garlic butter sauce was delightfully delicate. If you're going to splurge, get a crab. - Bamboo fish ($123.75) - we wanted to order the braised ling cod tail ($54.80) but they'd sold out. The waitress recommended this fish instead. It looked small but was 2.25 pounds (which works out to $55.00/lb). Insane. The texture was mushy; no firmness or spring back. Nothing unique about the sauce. Would come back to SR but only for a special occasion or with a much larger group. 3.5 stars. read more

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Highly recommend this place. We were touring in Vancouver and came to this place on a Wed evening and there was a line and we had to wait for more than half an hour. So recommend making reservation. But wait is well worth it. The food is of excellent / fine quality. We ordered both simple/basic dishes and more expensive ones, and they were all done really well. I also want to praise the quality of service at this restaurant. All servers were professional and provide authentic service and take time to provide suggestions and answer questions. Our table was checked on regularly and makes it a very pleasant dining experience. It's one of the few Chinese restaurants where I find both great food and service. If I had a few more days I would certainly have returned to try other menu items. read more

Very good overall in a nice ambience and long window wall to see dumplings being made. Reservations recommended. Parking garage. Note: they close for 2 hrs from 3pm to 5pm big window into part of the kitchen making dumplings Sticky Rice w/ Ribs savory $17.95. 5* Fried Gai Lan w/ Ginger Sauce stir fried Chinese veg that looks like broccolini $14.95. 5* Mini Oyster & Pickled Veg Rice in Soup nice oyster tasting soup served in a pot heating over a chafing gel fuel $14.80. 5* Sweet Soya Bean cold appetizer; not braised kind $3.50. 3* Homemade Sesame Cake & Chinese Donut unfold a section of sesame cake (pita like bread) and place Chinese donut in it. Eat it like a hotdog in a bun. Prefer them in their own. $11.95. 5* Bean Curd Skin Roll w/ Veg $9.95. 4* Deep Fried Bean Curd Skins with Mushroom $12.95. 4* Deep Fried Duck Meal for Two fried taro paste covered duck $23.80. 4* Want to try next time Peking duck, crab xlb, pork xlb, mapo tofu, dan Dan noodles in soup, green onion pancake, won ton soup, hand-shaven noodles Parking has a parking garage Located -on north side of Westminster Hwy between Minoru Blvd & No. 3rd Rd -across from Richmond Centre Mall read more

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Come with a reservation because this place gets super busy! I stopped by for dinner with a party of 8 for a late 8:30 p.m. dinner on a Sunday night and unfortunately because dinner was so late, some of the food items ran out, including the pan fried dumplings. For that reason alone, try to come earlier so you can try everything without limitations. My favorite dishes that we had ordered were the peking duck pancakes, the salted meat, vegetable & rice dish, and the lettuce wraps. The XLBs and potstickers were not bad either -- both were quite juicy and the wrapper wasn't too thick. Across the board, the food was really solid. I wouldn't say you're getting the best rendition of every dish here, but for this price point, it's definitely food you can thoroughly enjoy. If you feel like your table is not getting the service you're looking for -- tea refills, placing your order, etc., don't be shy about flagging somebody over. Overall, I would definitely recommend Shanghai River if you're looking for tasty Shanghainese food. read more

The Dim Sum was amaaaazing!! We ordered a TON of takeout with our friends. It was my first time visiting Vancouver, so of course we had to try some Chinese food in Richmond! This place was recommended by our friends we were staying with and it did NOT disappoint. The black vinegar pork was my favorite!! I've never had a dish like that before and it was incredible. Also the dumplings were amazing and the noodles. Will definitely be back if I ever visit Vancouver/Richmond again! read more

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I come here for their xiao long bao because they are so juicy on the inside. They definitely have traditional authentic Shanghai food here. The braised fish is really tasty as well. Everything is on the sweeter side in terms of marinade so keep that in mind when you're trying the food here! read more

This place has the best Shanghai food. The dumplings are made infront of you. We tried many item this time, they were all fresh, flavourful and delicious. The xiao Longbao is amazing. Duck was delicious. We will be back. Often. We were eating too fast to take photos. read more

One of our Go-to place when we're in Richmond. It's been a while since Covid & they've changed their menu. Our fave was the xlb & noodles. Service was just ok as usual. read more

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Very nice dim sum restaurant. Staff was extremely helpful. Food was exquisite with so many things to choose from. We are glad we made a reservation for Monday night dinner since it was completely packed. read more

This is a busy restaurant but well staffed. We came here the 1st night Sunday but fully booked so I made reservation for Monday night. Customers here are middle-high income. Price $$-$$$ but portion is relatively good if not big. Foods are not indicative of Shanghainese but rather a blend of southeastern Chinese style, excellent (our favorite). The simplest dish honey vinegar short ribs was my teen's favorite beside the really fresh steam pork dumplings (Caio lung bao)...crab meat dumplings also done great! Last but not least, crab done to perfection! I can only visualize the steps it took to serve this dish. Thumbs up! We're not going to forget tasty ma-po tofu. A typical minced pork tofu with added seasonings (lots of it). Very inexpensive dish but cook to perfection. My teens love to top it over a bowl a rice. read more

Shanghai River - Crab short ribs ma po tofu - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

I hear so many good things about this restaurant that I feel the urge to give this a good review but I must stay true to my values and speak my truth. Food was ok and it's only made worse by the high prices. The table cloth has a suspicious dark stain and the chairs appear to have come from the medieval times. They are tattered beyond recognition and the edges are not smooth. As I stood up the chair caught onto my brand new hoodie and tore some threads up. If I had been sitting without a shirt that would've drawn blood. read more

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I see that their poor practices have finally caught up to them... My family had been going to Shanghai River for a long time because their food is authentic. What's also authentic is the service...which is horrible. For being considered a "high-end" Chinese restaurant with the price point to match, the service has always been very bad. From hostesses to wait staff to the kitchen, everyone is just rude to customers. We stopped going the past few years because we just didn't feel comfortable giving business to an establishment that didn't respect their diners. read more

Went to Shanghai River for Dim Sum on a Sunday. We showed up around 10:30 am (opens at 10 am) and didn't have a wait for 2 people. We had deep fried shrimp, Shanghai pork dumplings, hot and sour soup, pork and chive pan fried dumplings and sticky rice. The Shanghai pork dumplings did not disappoint and was my favorite thing on there! Overall, would go back again and for what it's worth, my husband and I haven't experienced food poisoning yet. read more

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I have to admit that it has been YEARS since the last time I came to Shanghai River. It used to be our go-to for Shanghainese food in Richmond. Not sure if it's because of Covid or just regular time passing but I do feel like it has changed a little bit. The classic orders like the xialongbao are still good. Not the best but the flavour is nice and the skin is thin enough. They are filled with a good amount of soup too so that's nice! Most of the regular items like stir-fried rice cakes and shanghai noodles are good. If you are looking for a more authentic taste though, you might be slightly dissapointed. I feel the flavours have become more mild the last time we went. We always order the tantan noodles and I remember them being in a thick rich creamy peanut sauce with quite a bit of heat, but when we ordered it this time, the broth was thin and there was no spice. For a spicy lover like myself I was quite dissapointed. We also ordered the hot and sour soup which we don't normally and I was very pleasantly surprised! Not only was it loaded with flavour, there was a very good balance of heat and sourness! Very tasty and had me going back for seconds. Lots of toppings as well. Not just loaded with bamboo shoots and not enough meat like a lot of restaurants do to cut costs! TL;DR...food is good. The quality is there, just don't expect it to be out of this world. There is covered parking but spaces are limited. read more

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I've always heard Vancouver has some of the best dimsum to offer but I definitely believe it after this meal! Tried the famous soupy juicy pork dumplings and they were literally BURSTING with flavour y'all I was in love We also got the deep fried shrimp dumplings, pan fried pork wontons and spicy schezuan chicken balls and literally every dish was a winner The chicken balls were more like popcorn chicken in my opinion lol but who cares about the shape when they taste so crispy and delicious ?! Both the shrimp dumplings and pan fried pork wontons were super crispy yet juicy and flavourful and we throughly enjoyed them Thank you to the friendly staff for their recommendations and prompt service! They are clearly a popular spot as the restaurant was hustling and bustling with people :) Will definitely be back the next time I visit Vancouver for sure! If you're in the area, drop in and check them out y'all! read more

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Every dish we ordered was disappointing. Ham was too salty and the chicken was overcooked. For the pork belly dish there was only a couple of slices of pork belly everything else was cabbage. The fish with vinegar was horrible. There was too much gravy and no vinegar taste at all. Save yourself some money and go somewhere else. We shall never come back to this place again! read more

Bring money. Lots of it. Apparently, they serve "Shanghainese" food. They offer lots of dumplings, noodles and rice dishes. As creatures of habit, we always order the same 3-4 "affordable" items: Deep-fried Mantou buns with condensed milk, Xiao Long Baos, Hot & Sour Soup and Fried Onion Pancakes (around $10 each). But, each time, we'll also try 1-2 "expensive" items ($25+). The cheaper items on the menu are usually carb-rich items that fill you up, but do very little to tickle the taste buds. But, if you whip out that Platinum card, you can order some more exotic fare: Peking Duck ($60), Rack of Lamb ($25), Sweet & Sour Rock Cod ($45), Braised Fish Head ($50) and King Crab (seasonally priced ~ $45 per pound). When we're slumming it, we'll get by on about $20 per person. But, if we're living life large and in charge, it's easy to spend $60+ per person. Regardless of your class or perceived social status, though, the servers here are attentive and usually prompt. Our teas were regularly refilled, and dishes brought out promptly. On our latest visit, one dish was missing, but when the staff was notified, it came out quickly. Warning #1: underground parking is to be avoided, especially if you own a nice car. Stalls are narrow, and approach and departure angles are sharp; in other words, your car will be dinged and scratched by those notorious "Richmond drivers". Hint: park at Richmond Centre across the street. Warning #2: Much of the food is oily and salty, so if you have a heart condition, you're better off going elsewhere. You can wine and dine like Kings and Queens, or you can dine on pork and beans. read more

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I got pickup from here recently. In terms of food, I tried their Chicken with Wine Sauce, Steamed Pork Dumpling with Crab Meat, Salted Pork, Ham, and Bamboo Shoots in Pot, and Braised Tien-Tsin Cabbage with Ham. The chicken had a nice flavour on its own and with some wine but some pieces were too alcoholic as they were soaked in the wine at the bottom of the container. The dumplings are definitely worth trying as it had good bits of crab, thin dumping skin, and nice flavourful soup. The pork/ham/bamboo pot is worth trying if you like comfort food. It had a lot of vegetables, nice pieces of ham, fresh bamboo shoots, and soy/bean products. The ham and cabbage was pretty good as well. read more

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This review is just for the soup dumplings. I'm obsessed with it. My sister and I visited Vancouver for a food tour and embedded up eating 5 orders if soup dumplings here that we couldn't eat anything else. Highly recommend. read more

Shanghai River - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

Food is very authentic, amazed that all many years the restaurant still maintains the quality and standard. Service is good too. Highly recommend. read more

If you're not Chinese, don't bother going. We were turned away because we didn't have a reservation even when we told the male host that we weren't aware of the reservation requirement and explained that we are out of town visitors. We were willing to wait too. The man rudely shoo'd us away and said no more tables. There were customers after us (Chinese) walking in without mentioning they had reservations. This Filipino family has never felt embarrassed. I don't recommend this place. read more

This wasn't the spot for me but I think it still deserves 4.5 stars. The flavour of the siu long bao, wo tiep, and sheng jian bao are all very good. My issue is that all of the items were enormous. That makes for a good value normally but I personally like these items in a smaller size (particularly *siu* long bao). The siu long bao dough is also a little thick. This is the best sheng jian bao I've had in the area so far. read more

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Maybe it's that Richmond allure, but I was skeptical about how great Asian food in Richmond could be. Turns out, all the hype is real! Things to know: - No parking lot, just a parking garage nearby. - Delicious soup dumplings where you can watch them making each one carefully by hand - Black vinegar spare ribs are the jam. Sweet, crispy, and tender. - Vegetarian options are somewhat limited and they charge the same amount with and without meat - They run out of pan fried buns, so get there early! Pricing is a bit on the higher side, as this is a "banquet" style dinner. Ambiance is nice and the waiters are surprisingly attentive. That being said, the pork XLB and the spare ribs are definite must-tries. Everything else looked delicious, but we didn't have enough stomach space for it all! read more

Shanghai River - pork xlb. super thin skin, super juicy. must try - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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OK Shanghainese food. Not great, but at least average. My wife and I were visiting on a vacation and heard rave reviews about the Chinese food in Vancouver, but came away from Shanghai River feeling we have had better. First, the restaurant is quite classy-looking for a Chinese restaurant. We're used to dingy-looking, drab restaurants in NYC, but Shanghai River was pretty nice and clean-looking. Size-wise, there were plenty of tables and it was packed on a Wednesday evening. Food-wise, unfortunately, we didn't really get the full experience here as we were just 2 people, so we didn't go all out like some other tables there on the evening we came in. We didn't order any huge entrees or have a banquet style meal, so you might want to dismiss my review if you're looking for opinions on that type of food. My review is strictly on the small stuff, specifically the soup dumplings (aka xiao long bao) and appetizers that are typically found in Shanghainese restaurants. For our modest dinner, we ordered a tray of soup dumplings, pan fried buns and a 3 dish appetizer plate of drunken chicken, vegetarian duck and jellyfish. The soup dumplings were solid and good, but honestly, it was like any other place we had been to in the states. The drunken chicken's wine flavor was a bit stronger than my wife preferred, but I thought it wasn't bad. The jellyfish was good. The vegetarian duck was the disappointment to us as the skin was fried and crispy and didn't go well with the mushroom stuffing. It was not what we expected of the typical vegetarian duck. Yes, it was different and it was noble of them to try to put a spin on it, but some things are better left as is and it just didn't work. From our one experience here, it's hard to tell whether Shanghai River offers better food, but from what we saw on other people's tables, specifically the larger tables, there are definitely some items worth getting. Albeit pricey, but worth getting. For the typical Shanghainese food though, it was just average (but decent) and nothing that we wouldn't find anywhere else at home. read more

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We have been there before and went back again because the food and service. They are not disappointed us at all. We were seated immediately even we do not have reservations! read more

Great food and service was exceptional. Would go again. Tried a few other places and this was one of the best dim sum in town.

What an amazing place to have XLB!!! Everything is so yummy. We love every menu item at this place. I highly recommend that you make reservations because this place is super popular and is always packed. Enjoy! read more

Shanghai River - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

Been coming to Shanghai River for years - every time we visit Vancouver and it never disappoints. It's a very popular spot so be sure to get there early or be prepared to wait. If you have never been before I would recommend the minced pork soup dumplings (must have) and minced pork noodles. The black vinegar spare ribs is also a must have dish. It's crispy and comes with a delicious tangy taste (if you have leftovers - ask for a side of rice to go and you won't disappointed when you get hungry later that evening). If you're in Vancouver and looking for a spot to lunch - Shanghai River is an excellent spot. read more

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My new favorite spot in Vancouver! The Shanghai noodles and sweet and sour fish are the must have dishes for me.

My fav #XLB #小籠包 in Greater Vancouver. Xiao Long Bao (XLB) 小籠包 Xiao Long Bao is often called "soup dumplings". I would say Shanghai River has the perfect XLB. Their XLB is juicy, thin-skinned, yet not-prone to breakage, and full of broth inside. Boiled Soup with Chicken and Pork Wontons 砂鍋雲吞雞 The soup served in a clay pot. It was terrific with chicken breast, lots of baby bok choy and wontons. It was very flavourful. Shanghai River Restaurant 滬江海派料理 is a well-known Chinese restaurant which is located in central Richmond at 7831 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC. Food: 5/5 Must Try! Service: ‍‍‍‍4/5 Kids: Yay! (Who kid doesn't love soft and juicy dumplings?) Price: $50-$100 for two Presentation: 2/5 Parking: 5/5 Tips: * has a 3-hour free parking behind the restaurant. * recommends making a reservation. * can see the kitchen through a huge glass window in the dining room. Would I Return: Yes ‍ read more

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Found this place on a whim as I was frantically searching for a family-style, last-minute lunch option. Pretty much all the dishes we had were fire but the standouts for me were: the crispy tofu (SO CRISP) and the chicken ball dish (reminds me of super yummy chicken nuggets you can order at boba shops). So good we ordered another of each! Cons: dishes don't automatically come with rice so you have to pay for each bowl of rice you order. I also feel like the waitress was kind of judgy about how much rice we wanted to order -- so much so that when I said I wanted 3 additional bowls of rice she made an almost disgusted face at me so I changed it to 2 bowls and then she nodded her head in approval. My bad, sis, there are 6 of us and hella dishes so what's it to you how many bowls of rice we order... Anyways, if we're in Vancouver again, I definitely wouldn't mind coming back here to eat, even if service is a little lacking, the food makes up for it lol :) read more

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A friend treated here for dinner and everything was amazing. We ordered dumplings, fried noddle, roast duck, a fried fish with sweet and sour sauce and a red bean buns. The fish dish was my favorite. They are super busy when we came. I would suggest to make a reservation on the weekend for large party. Parking in the back structure. read more

Shanghai River - Chinese Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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Some amazingly good food at Shanghai River. Seattlites always talk about how great Chinese food in Richmond is, and this restaurant did not disappoint. Service was okay, and food definitely made up for it. My friends and I decided to fancy it up this night and get some elegant Chinese dishes. We had roast duck three ways, which included a duck skin wrap, a duck bone and meat soup, and a duck meat lettuce wrap. We also had a spicy fried crab that was amazing. Our other dishes was a veggie platter and xiao long bao. Price tag was pretty high but totally worth it. A lot of the tables around us were pretty jealous of what we ordered since most of them were getting regular items like noodles (which looked really good btw). read more

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I actually came here in late march/early february, probably back in 2019 This is a really popular restaurant (from what I observed), and they seemed to have a lot of great dishes (again, from what I observe). I think the next time I'm in richmond/vancouver, ill definitely have to come and try more items. The problem that I encountered was that I came here by myself, and this is really not a restaurant for single diners. The only thing I could order was the shanghainese fried noodles, since it was the only dish that I could realistically eat myself, while at the same time trying something I would enjoyed. Anyway I thought it was great, and I came away with a positive impression. read more

I don't think I have ever had as authentic Chinese food outside of China than eating at Shanghai river. Being one of only two non-Asian persons in the restaurant, I didn't even have to close my eyes to imagine I was overseas. The food was amazing. Dumplings, and Kung Pao tofu were through the roof. I wish it was close enough that it would be a regular place for me. Don't pass it up read more