Summary

Astoria is not really a place known for having typical Shanghainese food. I always think of it as having more latin and mediterranean influences to those respective demographics in the area.

This restaurant though was surprisingly pretty decent for this area.

The drunken chicken I normally don’t find in many restsaurants. Here, it’s not as good as my cousin’s or my mother’s version as it’s WAY too salty, chicken pieces don’t appear cut right, and it doesn’t seem like it was marinated well. Some parts were very soaked, and other parts had next to nothing.

The onion pancake was actually very good here. I’d totally get this again. It was fluffy and not as compressed as other onion pancakes.

We got 2 orders of soup dumplings (xiao long bao): pork and crab. Both the pork and crab were pretty good. They also give you black vinegar with ginger on the side. The skin was good, but not necessarily worth traveling for if you live far.

The Shanghainese rice cakes were also pretty good. Some of it tasted very soft as if it was too wet, and others tasted chewy. Flavor wise, I definitely like this more than M Shanghai in Greenpoint. I wished they gave a little more pork and nappa cabbage.

Service was very fast, and they also speak Mandarin Chinese. On weekends there are lines, but if you go in early enough you can easily get in before the rush and the people that eat slower than breathing.

Final Verdict

Decent Shanghainese restaurant in Astoria of all places.

Yelp Jabs

Ambiance of the restaurant was ok. Looks like your typical xiao long bao restaurant.

I’m not sure what this Elitist was looking for? A palace?

Been there twice, service was really bad. Food take too long , first time went when it’s first open very Disorganized, wrong take out order

These are certainly realistic expectations for a small mom and pop shop restaurant to have clean service.