Reviewer: Foodnut.com Shanghai Flavor Shop 888 Old San Francisco Road (Near Wolfe Rd) Sunnyvale, CA 94086 408-738-3003 |
Shanghai Flavor Shop is an inexpensive restaurant in a second rate strip mall. This diamond in the rough is located in sleepy Sunnyvale, and specializes in Shanghainese Chinese cuisine. To the right of this restaurant is the popular Indian Buffet: Sankranti
This hole in the wall is best known for Pan fried pork buns. Celebrity Chef Ming Tsai always eats here when in town. Flavor Shop has a fairly short menu of Chinese dishes. Our last visit was in 2019.
Shanghai Flavor Shop Decor, Vibe – Shanghai Flavor Shop is a typical low budget Chinese restaurant with basic decor. Local Asians were mostly dining when we visited. Not much English was spoken but you can point to items on the menu.
Shanghai Flavor Shop Menu
Their menu is compact, lacking many classic Shanghai dishes like Xiao Long Bao, Casserole soups, etc. Great to see all the usual Americanized dishes are missing.
Hidden fact unless you ready Chinese: They sell frozen Soup Dumpling aka Xiao Long Bao to go! (Sorry, no Pan Fried Pork Buns)
Shanghai Flavor Shop Food Picks:
Pan Fried Pork Buns aka Sheng Jian Bao ($8 for 6) were excellent. Crunchy bottom that is a thick. Robust, flavorful and lots of juicy soup inside. Served steaming hot out of the kitchen. Make a small bite and let the steam out first, or else you will burn your tongue. Best version in the SF Bay Area. We had to order an extra order!
Runner up #2 is Chef Zhao’s Kitchen in Palo Alto.
You can order Special Combo A for a little more, ($10.50) and get a fairly bland bowl of noodle soup that normally cost $3.
- Yang’s Fry Dumpling makes the best Sheng Jian Bao we’ve had in Shanghai, China. Yang’s are freshly made and have a ton of soup inside their, unlike any place in the US.
- Old school: Da Chun in Shanghai has been around since the 1950’s, and serves up the authentic real Sheng Jian Bao.
- Shanghai Flavor makes them upside down compared to Da Chun.
Shanghai egg Roll ($4.50 for 3) was super crispy and juicy on the inside with some cabbage. Very well done, but it is really a spring roll not an egg roll.
Shredded Pork & Noodle with Green onion sauce ($8) had fresh thin wheat noodles with a nice sauce and some flavorful black color marinated pork on top. A nice combination of flavors when you mix them all up.
Baby Chinese Greens in Oyster Sauce ($5.25) was low on quantity, but was cooked well.
Sweet & Sour Spareribs ($8.25) was better than expected. Not too sweet, this cutup ribs are very bony but tender.
Eight Treasure Rice Cake ($5.25) is a more compact version of the classic dessert. This one is an individual portion filled with walnuts, red bean paste, and more. Not too sweet and thoroughly cooked. This dessert actually came before all our food, so much for pacing.
OK:
Baked Radish Cake ($3.75 for 2) is spelled wrong. This is a good dish, but not special.
Pans:
None
Shanghai Flavor Shop had decent food. The Pan fried pork buns were not as good as the ones we had in Shanghai, of course, but far better than anything else around here. Food is decent and prices are reasonable. If you are looking for Shanghainese Chinese food when in the South Bay, give Shanghai Flavor Shop a try.
Restaurant Map:
3 Comments
Sunny Shanghai Restaurant, San Bruno | Foodnut.com
August 16, 2010 at 12:00 pm[…] 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 […]
Yang's Fry Dumpling, Shanghai | Foodnut.com
August 20, 2010 at 9:20 am[…] we have had. We eat here every time we are in Shanghai. Someone needs to replicate them in the USA. Shanghai Flavor Shop in Sunnyvale and Sunny Shanghai are the best we have, but not very close to Yang’s Fry […]
Dumpling Home, San Francisco Dumpling Home, San Francisco
February 14, 2024 at 5:45 pm[…] reminisce about Yangs Fry Dumpling in Shanghai, these come closest. Even better than Shanghai Flavor Shop in Sunnyvale. Special Noodle in Newark and Cupertino also has a good version. […]