Sunny Shanghai Restaurant Review, San Bruno

Sunny Shanghai is a small family restaurant located in southern San Bruno along busy El Camino Real. People have said that this owner started this restaurant because he was unhappy with family members at Shanghai East in San Mateo. Our last visit was in August 2010 when we upgraded their food rating.

Decor, Vibe – Sunny Shanghai has typical Chinese restaurant decor, nothing fancy here. Regulars of all ages were eating their favorite Shanghainese dishes making it full at dinner time.

Menu Pictures

Sunny Shanghai’s menu covers many areas from touristy Broccoli Beef to authentic Shanghai Cuisine including Dim Sum. They have additional items on weekends. The house special board on the wall in Chinese has many top dishes listed. The owner lady speaks English.

Picks:

Style Fried Rice Cake ($6.25) was a good implementation of this classic Dish. Why do they call it Style? Good quantity and flavorful pork.

Turnip Short Cake ($3.50 for 3) was very crispy and had good flavor inside. On another occasion in August the turnip inside was out of season and pretty marginal.  Try to order this in the winter.

Green Onion Pancake ($2.25) was very good. Not greasy, yet pretty crispy and flavorful.

Fried Pork Buns ($4.95 for 6) were better than most we have tried locally. Not fried as much as others, but juicy and tender skinned. Better than Shanghai Flavor in Sunnyvale. About as good as it gets in the US.  Yang’s Fry Dumpling is the best we’ve had in Shanghai. Yang’s are freshly made and have a ton of soup inside their, unlike any place in the US.  We asked Sunny Shanghai about this and they said their buns are made in the morning and set aside, so all the juicy is gone at pan frying time.

Pork Steamed Buns or Xia Long Bao ($4.95 for were above average versions, with lots of juicy soup inside that tasted a little pungent. Nice tender wrapper. As good as nearby Shanghai Dumpling Shop.

Lion’s Head ($7.95) is done in the classic gravy style.  4 tasty HUGE meat balls made with egg, deep fried, then served with gravy and bok choy.

Steam Rice with salted pork and vegetables ($4.95) was like fried rice without eggs and frying.  Lots of veggies and good flavor.  Some cripsy bits of rice too.

Jizai vegetables with pork wonton soup ($4.95) had ten big meaty won tons that were a bit stiff.  Good value at this price.

Eight Treasure Sweet Rice Pudding ($4.50) was almost a home cooked version of this dessert. Not too sweet, nice glutinous rice and sweet bean paste.

OK:
Rice Roll ($2.25) is a sushi like roll of rice wrapped in plastic with some shredded meat inside.  Flavors were ok but it seemed microwaved. They used to have a sweet version.

Pans:
Crispy Duck ($12.95) was not tea smoked and lacked flavor. Duck seemed brined to a tender level, and was salty.

Sunny Shanghai is like a family home cooked meal as the place was pretty empty and the food prepared hot and fresh after we ordered it. Service was very good as no one else was around for much of the meal. On another occasion with a full restaurant, the one server struggled.

If you are looking for authentic Shanghainese cuisine, check out Sunny Shanghai. We recently returned from Shanghai, helping extend our understanding of Shanghai cuisine and found this place a sleeper hit. Do not come here for generic items like the General’s Chicken. The food at Sunny Shanghai is decent and priced well.

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Sunny Shanghai Overall Rating: (Good 2)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Very Good)
Service Rating:	(Average)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Average)
Value Rating:	(Very Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Beer, Wine
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	11am - 9pm
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$6.95 - $25