Shanghai House Restaurant 上海人家

This year I was invited by Rae Kung from Chinese Restaurant Awards to be a judge on the Social Media Choice Awards panel and to join Jesse Tsao, Cathy Zhou and Sherman Chan. The five dishes we are seeking to find the best of in Vancouver consist of Sichuan Water Boiled Fish, Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice, Hong Kong Style Roast Duck, Shanghai Style Drunken Chicken and Mango Sago with Grapefruit/Pomelo. So for our first meet up, the choice of restaurant was Shanghai House. 

Shanghai House attempts to offer a nicer atmosphere compared to many Chinese restaurants where the staff wears black and white, the seating arrangements are not entirely too crowded and there are chair covers.

WINE CHICKEN ($?)

Rating: 2.5/5.
The chicken is well marinated where there is a mild to medium strong wine flavour and the meat tastes fresh, not like it has been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days. Underneath the smooth and silky skin, there is a nice gelatin layer and the meat tastes tender.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP ($14.98).

Rating: 2.5/5.
The hot and sour soup has a mild spiciness and a nice consistency where it is neither watery nor too thick. There is also a good amount of ingredients consisting of tender pork, bamboo shoot, carrot and wood ear. The soup could have been tangier though however and is one of the milder versions of a hot and sour soup.

SLICED PORK WITH GARLIC SAUCE ($7.58).

Rating: 2/5.

Despite that the slices of pork look extremely dry, the meat honestly tastes better than it looks as it tastes somewhat tender and not too chewy. The lack of sauce has a nice tang and plenty of garlic too.

SINGING RICE ($?)

Rating: 2.5/5.

This is my first time having Singing Rice and it is better than I expected (I was expecting a heavy flavoured sauce). The light flavoured sauce includes baby scallop, shrimp, mushroom and pea tips, and does not taste salty one bit. Supposedly when poured on top of the crunchy rice, crackling occurs but did not in our case.

STIR FRIED PORK KIDNEY ($12.98).
Rating: 2/5.

The Stir Fried Pork Kidney is definitely something that I would never order so it was nice to be able to try it for the first time at a Shanghainese restaurant. Stir fried in a black bean sauce, the meat itself tastes chewy, dry, gamey and not very flavourful.

TOFU WITH CRAB MEAT ($17.98).

Rating: 2.5/5.

The Tofu with Crab Meat is a very healthy and light dish, but could have been better. There is not much of a stock flavour and despite the fair amount of crab meat, there is no taste. You can feel the texture when eating but the flavour is not there.

STEAMED SHANGHAI DUMPLING, XIAO LONG BAO ($5.98).

Rating: 2.5/5.

The xiao long baos have a thin layer of skin and a fair amount of soup, but taste bland. There is not enough shaoxing or fatty pork in the mixture and the meat tastes like steamed meat with no flavour.

STEAMED SPONGE CAKE ($4.98).

Rating: 1/5.

Wrapping up the dinner, we were presented with a steamer of undercooked sponge cakes. The spongecakes are crumbly and undercooked in the centre resulting in almost everyone at the table spitting it out. If I ignored the fact that the cakes are undercooked and sticky in the centre, there is not much flavour too and could have used a touch of sweetness.

Shanghai House overall is an option for the non-picky, those who are in the area, or perhaps even those who know what to order. When considering how many Shanghainese restaurants there are in Richmond however (or just in general...), Shanghai House is not on my list to revisit.

POSITIVES

- Complimentary dessert

- No attitude from the staff

- There are worse Shanghainese restaurants

NEGATIVES

- Similar to my first visit, food is nothing special

Food: 2.5/5

Service: 2.5/5

SHANGHAI HOUSE

6340 No 3 Road Richmond, BC V6Y 2B3

Telephone (604) 278-0709