Shanghai Grill

This place has the best hot & sour soup in town. The XLB is as good as what I’ve had in Singapore & Hong Kong. Shanghai noddles and spicy shredded pork hit the spot always.

After a holiday season of home cooking, was looking forward to Chinese takeout for new years eve; sadly, we chose poorly.
Ordered spring rolls, coconut shrimp, Shanghai noodles, hot and sour soup, teriaki chicken vegetables, and ‘crispy’ ginger beef.
The spring rolls were crispy on the outside, but contained almost no vegetable filling.
The coconut shrimp were not breaded in coconut, but a coconut dip sauce was provided. They were ok.
Shanghai noodles were acceptable.
The soup was very vinegary, so much so that it completely covered any other taste.
The chicken and vegetables were a uniform grey colour, chicken was full of gristly bits, and the vegetables were overcooked and tasteless.
The worst dish was the ‘crispy’ ginger beef. Just a thick doughy coating over the saddest little strip of nondescript meat. Probably the worst ginger beef I’ve had, and the inspiration for this review.
That being said, the restaurant was clean and fairly full, so they must have some good dishes. Either that, or it was a restaurant full of suckers that fell for a 4 star Unilocal review like I did.

Came here for dinner on Saturday night with family.
Place clean, spacious and not too busy.
According to the family, they have the best xiao long baos in town!
It was good, thin lining with clear/​clean soup inside.
Better than Shanghai 456.
Had some seafood dishes — seafood is fresh!

So if you wanna try Shanghai juicy steam buns, this is the place to go! I don’t think they are anywhere worse than real shanghai buns. Very impressive! My boyfriend loved them when he tried.
I really like their deep fried shrimp as well. That is another must-​have. It’s a bit expense. But the dipping sauce plus the shrimps are just… amazing.
Their noodles are alright. Not too outstanding.
I like the atmosphere in shanghai Grill. Me and my boyfriend would always sit by the window close to the kitchen so you can see how those people prepare dessert. Very intimate and interesting.

As Calgary doesn’t have any actual Shanghai restaurants, I am always on the radar when traveling to see where I can get some soup dumplings. Last time I tried Shanghai 456 and I didn’t really like theirs. So I did some research and found Shanghai Grill and they had some decent reviews. We decided to do a lite lunch and only tried three things:
Marinated Jellyfish — $ 9.95
We love jellyfish. The texture is not for everyone (like, for my son. He make sure to tell me everytime that he will not eat any jellyfish) but it’s low in calories and pretty filling! So this was nicely marinated and flavorful, but it was quite spicy and I didn’t know it was going to be. Yes, I don’t like spicy foods. I actually can’t physically eat it anymore as it gives me cramps every time, even with the tiniest amount. So yes, I suffered for a few hours after this meal. Other than the spice, it was good.
Shanghai Soup Dumplings (xiao long bao) — $ 8.95
The soup dumplings here were actually pretty decent! The skin was thin and there was a nice amount of soup inside. The meat was soft and tender. My daughter loved it!
Starch Sheets (fen pi) with Shredded Chicken — $ 12.95
Starch sheets are also one of my favorite staples at a Shanghai restaurant and for this, they actually told us it is made spicy. We asked if they can make it less spicy since the kids will be eating it, and then they said well in that case we’ll leave the spicy sauce on the side. I wish they had told us that for the jellyfish too! The starch sheets were prepared nicely with an ample amount of shredded chicken and cucumber but was coated with way too much sesame sauce.
I’d love to come back here for dinner next time! Service was pretty good and friendly and food was pretty decent overall. Prices are slightly on the high side but I would definitely return again.

The food is authentic and completely exceeded my expectations. The service is excellent considering the number of staff and the type of restaurant it is. The chefs are highly competent and very skilled. The food can be a bit slow, but I know there’s a lot of time and effort involved. I highly recommend the juicy pork/​beef buns/​dumplings. Their delivery service via SkipTheDishes is also wonderful. The chef called my mobile phone to ensure I was satisfied with my order and to give me a few tips.

Had the urge for some Northern Chinese cuisine and surprisingly had a pretty bad experience at this local spot.
We arrived around the dinner rush time but it wasn’t completely packed. I think they only had one or two servers running tables so it was actually quite long for them to come and take our orders. Now I don’t know if for whatever reason we were profiled but we noticed pretty much all the tables around us got attention and service before us. Is it because we don’t speak Mandarin? Is it because we look a little bit young and without kids? I’m not even going to play the race card but I really hope that wasn’t the issue either. I essentially had to raise my hand for about half a minute and waited until another table’s patron pointed out I had my hand up.
Tina ordered the dan dan mein and I ordered shredded chicken chow mein. When the waitress rings in the order, she’ll slip the receipt on your table with a timestamp as well. The wait for the dan dan mein was a little longer than usual but it at least came out and Tina proceeded to eat. My meal, however, did not come out and actually didn’t even come our during dinner service.
A couple of things to note. It’s true that some people might actually try to flag down a waitress and inquire on the status of my food. My rationale was if the server actually came out to check on our table, she would have noticed that my bowl and chopsticks would still be in the same position as I sat down and that I astoundingly do not have any food in front of me. My thinking is it’s not my job as a customer to remind them that I still exist. My job is to pay for food and service and eat.
After an hour and an empty dan dan mein I decide to just bring the receipt to the front and pay for just the mein. I only pay for what I get. As soon as I stand, the waitress is coming bringing apparently my dish asking where I was going because my food is here. She also noted that I should just wait a few more minutes and I could have had my meal. I simply indicated I’ve waited an hour for my meal and nothing came out.
The manager was next to quickly come up and survey the situation. She briskly just waved her hand and said OK and she’d take care of it. As I’m waiting to pay, the manager indicates that I should have said something and that the dish takes a while to make. That doesn’t make sense since A) if I’m not aware of that, shouldn’t the waitress tell me that and B) wouldn’t you serve both dishes out together then?
I think as a customer it would be understandable to vent your frustrations and anger at management. But I didn’t because I feel like there’s no benefit to that. Berating someone wouldn’t have made my experience better and I have no intention of embarrassing the staff in front of their customers. I simply pay for what I get and I just told her «it’s OK» and left.
I noticed that if they were to take responsibility and want to improve they could just ask a simple question of «What can we do to improve for next time?». I understand that would mean admitting that they were wrong but at least it shows they value me. Since that dish is going to waste, they could just give it to me as well to show good will? I think it was possibly her pride in not wanting to admit that they failed as a service centered establishment and that giving me a discount on what I paid for (without telling me) would be sufficient. For me, I would return if I knew the establishment wants my business and at this point I’m unsure that they do if they’re trying to pin this on me.
RANT: As a customer we must lose the notion that we’re always right and that we have every right to yell and stomp our feet. These are normal human beings trying to make a living and sometimes the situation does get hairy and we need to remember that we should pay for what we get and not feel like we’re entitled to special treatment. As a business owner, you have to work for our gratuity. It’s not fair that your service is poor and expect an 18% extra income for doing nothing.
TL;DR: waited an hour for my food and did not get any. Management blamed me for not speaking up and not realize a chow mein dish takes 1 hour to make (wtf chow mein does not take that long to make). Paid for what we ate and left without a fuss.

I’ve had Xiao long bao at one of the best shanghainese restaurants in Vancouver (longs noodle house) and these are just as good! Quite an unusual dish, but the peach fish dish was also amazing –the perfect harmony of sweet, salty and sour. We also had the hot and sour soup which is pretty spicy but rather tasty. I should admit I do like my Cantonese broth soups better though. The oxtail is also pretty good but I feel like it could have been more tender. The crispy duck seemed kinda soft to me, I like duck with a bit more chew but that might just be my personal preference. All in all, it’s very probable you’ll have a wonderful meal here.

I have now frequented Shanghai Grill twice (once below for lunch, see my previous review and now for dinner). Dinner is a nice change from your/​my typical chinese family dinner outings, which usually mean a Chinese restaurant.
There were 8 of us so we decided to try out their family style dinner menu (10 course meal for $ 198):
— Noodle soup — not too sure what it was called but this was one of the best soup-​to-​start meals I’ve ever had! So good, we gobbled it all up.
— Big platter of cold cut meats — very good with a variety of meats. It was slightly odd that this wasn’t the first dish but came later on in our meal.
— Spicy and salty shrimp with garlic — this plate was delicious. Perfect amonut of heat, cooked perfectly and nice garlicky flavour.
— Half crispy duck
— Crispy fried pork with shrimp chips — your typical crispy pork dish but pork was nice and tender, which is normally not the case.
— Fried deep sea perch fish — normally I’m not a fan of deep fried fish but this one was lightly battered and super tender on the inside.
— XO flavoured beans — garlicky, oniony and just outrageously good beans. Definitely order this dish!
— Iron plate beef and onion vegetables — came out hot and sizzling. Reminded me of how when you order fajitas.
— Roasted pork leg with vegetables — this one was awesome! The pork leg was super tender, fall off the bone. Came as the last dish.
— Red bean buns — this was dessert and they almost forgot to give it to us. We had to ask for it after we paid. They came out piping hot. Nice and fluffy but was it worth waiting for? Debatable.
— Rice — unlimited refills, the usual.
Definitely worth a visit if you want something different and delicious. Come here for the XLB’s (I’ve had them before) and they are very good. Dinner here was great and I will be back for sure. Great spot if you are in the west end.
The only complaint we had is with the service, which is spotty and slow. Be prepared for a wait but it’s worth it, if you prefer good food to good service, I know I do.

Edmonton is beautiful city and this is my first time visit Edmonton from Los Angeles, when I arrived in Edmonton was Sunday evening around 8:00pm, it was kind of late and I found this restaurant from Unilocal Edmonton after reading the review & let’s give a try.
OMG! Highly recommended «xiao long bao», this is a best I ever had before. I ate a lot of xiao long bao over in Asia. This is the best ever xiao long bao, it will never go wrong and give a try!
Highly recommended Restaurant!

You can guarantee a good meal when you come here. It is a bit more for Chinese food but it is worth it as their quality is on the higher side. And it is a more unique menu.
XLB — best in the city. Had both (pork, pork & crab) and my preference is the pork & crab as I am a seafood fan. The crab just adds another flavour to an already tasty dish. Very soupy inside, so watch out it will squirt onto your clothing. I like to break mine first if I have clients to see after lunch.
Green Beans — excellent. Very fresh beans.
Fish Salt & Pepper — crispy, not greasy and very flavourful.
Sea Bass — good flavours but the cut of fish makes it a little too fishy.
Beef with Oyster sauce — very flavourful
Egg & Leek dumpling — fried and crispy, lots of filling.
I do a lot of business in the area so I frequent this restaurant at least once a week and they are consistently very good.

Great dumplings! Soft and chewy. But moist inside. Then crispy edges. They really are.
I had the pan fried dumplings and a wonton soup.
The soup was good. 4 wontons that were fresh and tasty. But my oh my. The reviews were right. Those pan fried dumplings are to die for. Crispy on the one side. Soft and chewy on the other. Sooo delictably moist on the inside with a wonderfully seasoned broth. I enjoyed 6 on my own and would gladly do it again. I think these are better than shanghai 456. And those dumplings were fantastic. They must make them fresh bc there is a wait and you can see in a window a chef stuffing fresh wonton wrappers with filling. There are no frozen ingredients here.
Restaurant is large and comfy. Service is good. I will be back for these little flavouful addictive dumplings.yummy.

Soooo, in one weekend my mom decided that we should eat here twice! … Being a Shanghai native it brought back nice childhood memories for her :)
**juicy juicy juicy, so beware of hot liquids inside bao’s!**
Xiao long bao… handmade wraps and also they grind their own pork
pan fried pork buns (kinda like a xiao long bao but more doughy and it’s pan fried from raw to cooked) — only avail on weekends, and takes awhile so order when they seat you! :)
pork chop noodle — handmade noodles
sticky rice roll — fried doughnut, with pork floss, and a sprinkle of sugar rolled in sticky rice.
neen goa — small portion, could do with more neen goa (kinda like a pasta or sorts). haha.
sorry, if I could translate into English I would but I forget what the some menu items were listed as.
Décor is pretty ‘not-​asian’ on the inside. Building is located in industrial area. inside has high exposed loft ceilings, wood pillars, and it even offers a patio!
Place is owned by Shanghai-​nese and the staff spoke to my mom in Shanghai-​nese so pretty authentic I would say. price wise i’d say it’s pretty pricey, but was delicious.

What’s up with these Chinese restaurants in the middle of industrial areas? Typical Edmonton.
I came here for a Chinese New Year meal with some friends. Upon stepping into the restaurant, I noticed the décor right away as it wasn’t like a Chinese restaurant. It was actually nice inside with exposed wooden beams throughout the restaurant, and a dimmer setting that’s usually reserved for other cuisines. I suspect it used to be another type of restaurant before. The service was good as the staff was fairly attentive. Again, another bonus at a Chinese restaurant. Then again, when we got there, it was actually pretty dead which surprised me as it was prime time on a Chinese New Year weekend.
The food here was decent, and one of the better Chinese places I’ve been to in Edmonton. They specialize in Shanghai food (hence the name), which is a bit different than regular Chinese. This means Shanghai noodles and lots of juicy pork buns (aka baos), along with other different items on the menu. This place is a bit more expensive than your average Chinese place.
On par with all the other 4 star reviews here.

I came to Shanghai Grill with 3 others for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. We arrived before 12, but the restaurant was nearly empty, save for one or two tables. This was my first time here, but our friends noted that the prices had gone up since the last time they visited. We ordered the Xiao Long Baos, Pan-​fried Pork Buns, Shanghai fried noodles, and Hot and Sour soup.
The food was quite good, although I probably could have done without the pan-​fried pork buns. We were sort of up-​sold on them by the waitress, who recommended them. They were just like the XLBs but with a dough-​y bun exterior (just like a bbq pork bun); overall I probably prefer the thinner wrappers of the xiao long baos. The hot and sour soup was great, not overwhelmingly spicy, although after awhile you definitely felt the heat. The noodles were also tasty and not overly greasy. The prices were rather high, at $ 9.50 for 6 XLBs, and they do charge for tea, but we all left feeling full. The restaurant’s location is kind of weird, sort of in an industrial area, which would also explain the restaurant being so empty on a Saturday afternoon. I wouldn’t mind coming back again, although I may be more inclined to go to Shanghai 456 for their closer location and better prices. I’d give Shanghai Grill 3.5 stars.

A few years ago I had a dinner with friends at Shanghai Grill. I remember it as being a good meal, great company, and lots of food to take home. Other than that, nothing makes me recall Shanghai Grill as the best place in Edmonton for xiao long bao, traditional soup dumplings. Maybe because I never had any for dinner and wasn’t paying closely attention to my food as I do now.
My second trip to Shanghai Grill was only because Shanghai 456 was closed as the owners were on vacation. At the time, I had a xiao long bao craving that needed to be fixed ASAP. I was rushed for time and in my desperation, I had ordered the xiao long bao to go. For those of you who haven’t tried xiao long bao (you poor soul), I’ll remind you that it is soup inside a dumpling. As the xiao long bao cooled in the styrofoam container on my way home, the dumpling started to lose it’s shape. It was good, but I still preferred Shanghai 456s. More soupy, I said. What was I thinking…
This last Saturday, I had a chance to go back to Shanghai Grill and order the xiao long bao (XLB). This time fresh. Hot off the steamer. I was excited.
I was surprised the menu was so extensive when I finally got a chance to look at it. Multiple items, including dim sum, were available for our lunch. Every table around us seemed to have a few of these dishes as well as a combination of dim sum items — all tables had a basket of XLB. Enough said, our group ordered. Not to fret for those who are shy of Chinese cuisine, the menu is user-​friendly, with brightly colored photos of popular menu items.
The first to come was the dried scallop tan tan noodle. From past experiences, the tan tan noodle dish is suppose to be spicy. Traditionally, tan tan or dandan, contains preserved vegetables, chili oil, Sichuan peppers, minced pork and scallions over Chinese noodles. In Taiwanese-​Chinese cooking, sesame paste is used to replace the spicy sauce, and in American-​Chinese cooking, peanut butter is the substitute. Not so much traditional here. It lacked any sort of heat, although Nhan sipped the soup itself and declared it did have a kick. Upon arrival, the smell of peanuts was in the air and by the end of the dish, our Caucasian (yet very Asian) friend, Josh, stated it was basically peanut butter soup over noodles. It was good, nevertheless, although it was missing some greenery that was promised in the menu photo.
The prized soup dumplings came out next. We ordered two kinds: the crab and pork bun and the traditional pork xiao long bao. Both were absolutely delicious! The quality of meat and filling was a lot better than Shanghai 456, the dumpling wrapper slightly more durable. Lots of soup poured out when I bit into mine and both kinds were packed with flavor. For six dumplings, they are at a higher price point than Shanghai 456, but you can most definitely tell the difference between the quality.
Other items we ordered: a pan fried beef dumpling (yum!), steamed rice wrapped around a Chinese donut and dried pork, and the weekend’s special, pan-​fried pork buns (the equivalent to Shanghai 456s san jeen bao). The pan fried beef dumpling was my favorite next to the XLB’s, the flavor profile a bit stronger than other dumplings. Although not a soup dumpling, juices still spilled out in every bite so be careful when you’re eating any dumplings from this place! The steam rice wrapped donut was on the dry side, although it’s expected since they’re all dry ingredients. I much prefer the rice flour wrapped Chinese donut with the soy sauce from other Chinese restaurants. The dried pork was sprinkled with a bit of sugar as well, making the dish a tad confusing — half savory, half sweet. The pan-​fried pork buns filled us up at the end of our meal, miniature steam buns, pan-​fried on the bottom to make a crispy bite. At this point, I was convinced that any pork-​filled bun was from the same recipe and delicious all-​around.
By the end of our meal, half of us were starting to get sleepy from being full. Our waitress was kind, refilling our waters frequently and checking up on our orders. She knew the menu well, even giving us tips on how to eat the XLB in case it was our first time. The tips would have been greatly appreciated by the first timer at our table if she had told us that before our meal started, and not at the end. It was humorous though and we had a good laugh.
Continued on my blog, Unilocal won’t let me write anymore!

Shanghai Grill is a great food spot, definitely has some of the best dumplings in the city (the cool part is, you get to watch as they are made). Service has always been friendly and responsive while the food itself comes out quick. Shanghai noodles are one of my favourite dishes and lots of places don’t get it right, but Shanghai Grill does. Some dishes can be a bit greasy but I have never found that to detract from my dining experience. I will definitely continue going here!

My friend and I came here for lunch at the recommendation of my spouse, who had visited this restaurant on a business lunch and walked away raving.
We had Xiao long bao (steamed pork and crab dumplings), fried green beans with xo sauce, salt and pepper fish, a beef dish recommended by the host that I can’t remember the name of and pumpkin cakes for dessert. The dumplings were wonderful. The green beans absolutely addictive. The fish was crispy and perfectly seasoned, delicious. The beef dish was good, although I wouldn’t order it again — unlike the rest of the dishes, it was nothing special. The pumpkin cakes were quite good, a very interesting sweet!
This is my new favorite Chinese restaurant!

Having been to Shanghai Grill on a few occasions, I finally remembered to write a review. Located in an unexpected location, I like to think of this as a hidden gem.
It’s so hard to find a good authentic Shanghai restaurant in Edmonton and this one is definately pleasing.
First, we ordered the Fried Bun. My «white» boyfriend has never been a fan of bread whether pancakes or not, so wasn’t too excited. However, The golden color enticed him and he bit into the soft light goodness. Paired with the little bit of sweet condensed milk, it was a great start to our meal and like he said, I was «1 for 1» so far.
We decided on the Shanghai noodles, salt and pepper porkchops and XO green beans.
Each dish is a plethora of flavors, and the shanghai noodles are definately unlike any you have tasted.
The porkchops were nothing too exceptional other than what you expect.
The XO green beans were amazing. They sprinkled a little bit of dried scallops which really completed the whole dish.
We finished off with the chinese donut wrapped in pork floss and sticky rice. A little dry, but that is what pork floss is.
The service wasn’t exceptional, no small talk, all business. Great if you want to be alone, and honestly, the food more than makes up for the lack of service.
At about $ 40 for the bill, definately a repeat in place.

Our first foray to shanghai grill was led by recommendations from friends. We ordered the traditional Shanghai dishes to see if Edmonton has finally found it’s very own truly authentic Shanghai eats. Nope. While I must admit the drunken chicken was a tasty appetizer, the rest of the meal was quite oily and pedestrian. You may expect the same quality from any «pick 3 combo» Chinese take away from a mall.
The xiao long bao WERE quite nice the first time we went, but subsequent visits when we went with other friends were met with poorer and poorer quality of food.
During our last visit, the «XLB», as they liked to coin it in the Edmonton Journal (I would regard this as a marketing «branding» scheme on behalf of the owner’s Journal advertisement), were not freshly steamed, cold, and quite possibly microwaved? The wrapper lacked it’s much desired chewy/​stretchiness and the signature «jus» from a xiao long bao was missing.
For dessert, we ordered the «tong yuan», which is akin to a Japanese mochi. Tong yuan, if you wiki it, are glutinous rice dumplings, inour case, filled with black sesame paste in a sweet soup. They should be delectably chewy and a burst of intense flavour when the filling erupts from your bite. Our tong yuan however…
Well first, there were bits of carrot, mushrooms, and napa cabbage in our tong yuan’s sweet soup (we had earlier ordered a savoury soup as part of our meal which had these peculiarly same ingredients). When inquired about this, our server merely said, and I paraphrase but do not exaggerate, «well we reheat the sweet soup in our woks, so maybe some of other bits of food found its way in», as if everything was perfectly normal and that we were silly in thinking otherwise. Next, the soup was speckled with bits of black sesame paste that broke out of our tong yuan. Then the tong yuan itself. They were overboiled, sludgy, not chewy at all. Some because of premature eruptions, were empty of their black sesame innards. As one who buys and eats tong yuan from the frozen section of T&T, it is easy to see and taste that Shanghai Grill’s tong yuan were not homemade (as they sheepishly try to deny) but bought out. In addition, they couldn’t even reheat and prepare them properly in accord to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Well, keep waiting Edmonton, hopefully we will be blessed with a true Shanghai restaurant in our near future.