Shanghai Club Restaurant & Lounge Restaurant Review, Burlingame

Shanghai Club is a new restaurant in Burlingame that opened in the spot that once had Archipeligo and Granville. We visited about a week after the restaurant opened. Their website indicates that the owners run several restaurants around the Bay Area.

Decor, Vibe – Shanghai Club hasn’t changed much of the Asian oriented decor that Archipelago had, which was pretty modern and cutting edge. The place had a handful of tables occupied during lunch with other curious locals.

Menu

They serve dim sum on their lunch menu and include both Shanghai style dishes and more common Cantonese dim sum items. Lots of items were crossed off on the menu.

Signature Dishes – Shanghai dumplings

Website Menu

Full image set

Picks:

Shanghai dumplings ($7.95 for six) were housed in individual foil wrappers. This dish was surprisingly solid with a good amount of soup and tender filling in each dumpling.

Baked pork bun ($4.25) were on the small side but were filled with very good char siu filling.

Taro Puff ($4.25) were huge, and had a nice crispy surface and meat filling.

Mango pudding ($4.50) had more Mango flavor than most, but looked pretty unappetizing.

OK:
Har Gow ($5.75) were lukewarm but was surprisingly fairly tasty. Clearly they don’t do enough volume here.

Spinach dumpling ($4.25) is about average in quality and size.

Pans:
Fried Silver Roll ($3.50) looked interesting but was soaking in grease.

Shanghai Noodles ($9) could have been better if they gave the noodles more flavor and a better sauce.

Onion pancake ($3.50) was thin yet flaky, but came to us lukewarm and lacking much flavor.

Sesame balls ($4.50) were on the average side and came to us cold.

Service – Shanghai Club had a bunch of inexperienced servers and waiters with just one guy really knowing what was going on. The guy comp’d us a couple dishes.

Value – Prices are slightly higher than traditional Chinese dim sum places. They need to kick things up a notch to justify the premium. 20% discount for mention Yelp, when we visited.

Alternatives – Nearby dim sum lunch restaurants include Asian Pearl or Zen Peninsula. Shanghai cuisine restaurants include Shanghai dumpling.

Verdict – Shanghai Club had some decent dishes but terrible service. Clearly there is a need for a swanky Shanghai restaurant in the Bay Area, unfortunately we will continue to look for one. Their website is pretty slick though. Shanghai 1930 in San Francisco closed last year, showing that this type of cuisine is a difficult.

Book Shanghai Club Reservation

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Shanghai Club Overall Rating: (Average 1.5)

Come Back?

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

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

Alcohol:	Beer, Wine
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	Daily 11am - 2pm, 5-10pm
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$3.50 - $15 (Lunch)