Shanghai Dumpling Shop, Millbrae

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Shanghai Dumpling Shop 455 Broadway (Near Taylor) Millbrae, CA 94030 650-687-0682

Shanghai Dumpling Shop is a popular Shanghainese Chinese restaurant in Millbrae’s Broadway shopping district. While they have all the ‘standard’ Chinese restaurant dishes, they are specifically known for dishes from Shanghai, including dumplings even though the staff can be heard belting out Cantonese Chinese. Our last visit was in the Spring 2017.

Be sure to read: Best Shanghai Steamed Soup Dumpling in San Francisco

Curious about the REAL deal? Check out the review of Jia Jia and  Jade Garden in China to see what real Shanghainese places serve. Another must visit restaurant in Shanghai, China is Fu1039.

Decor, Vibe – Shanghai Dumpling Shop is a slight step up from average family Chinese restaurant decor. On our last visit in the summer of 2011, we noticed that they slightly upgraded the interior. It was fairly busy during dinner with mostly Asians dining, including some couples, families, and locals.

Shanghai Dumpling Shop Menu Pictures (Click to Zoom into any picture)

Shanghai Dumpling Shop has a wide variety of items in from funds in dumplings to seafood dishes to Shanghai style braised items. The standard Americanized mainstays are here too, but stick to the Shanghai dishes for best quality. On our last visit they added a picture placemat with all their specialty dishes.

Full Shanghai Dumpling Shop menu and image set

Food Picks:

Shanghai Steamed Dumplings or Xiao Long Bao ($9.95) ten pieces of fairly large pork filled freshly steamed dumplings. These are so big that they seem to be super sized for America with lots of meat! The ones in China or at Din Tai Fung (Best around here) in Santa Clara are not this big.

A decent amount of warm flavorful soup inside plus a tender wrapper. The wrapper is very fragile, easy to break and spill its contents. Still, some of the best in the SF Bay Area, although ones from Shanghai are in another world. Other times we got better ones that were more soupy and close to perfect.  Eat them fast before they get soggy. Definitely better than nearby Little Shanghai in San Mateo or Shanghai Dumpling King in San Francisco. Be sure to try Yank Sing in San Francisco.

Bamboo shoot and pork Casserole ($15.95) was a huge vat of hot soup along with lots of veggies and some pork. Good flavor to the soup and a nice mixture of veggies and pork.

Shanghai Bok Choy with Black mushrooms ($11.95) was a variation on the old veggie standby. The greens were fine but the mushrooms lacked flavor.

Fried Buns ($3) were six delicious deep friend buns with sweetened condensed milk for dipping. Have not had one that did not taste yummy.

Green Onion Pancake ($5.50) was done well to a golden brown.  Crispy on the sides, powdery top, no sogginess at all.  Only a slight hit of green onion flavor.

Sesame rice dumplings with Rice wine soup ($4.95) had minimal wine flavor in the soup and four huge dumplings filled with very sweet black bean filling.

Sesame Rice Dumplings ($3.95) were four gooey dumplings filled with very sweet black bean paste.  Sticky, sweet, and simple. Soup was on the more neutral side, as there is no need for more sweetness.

Braised string beans ($8.95) was a nice big plate of fresh beans.  Not particularly special but still fulfilling.

Stir Fried Rice Cakes ($7.50) were sticky and chewy, just like they should be. Good amounts of rice cakes and some decent veggies interspersed.

Stir Fried Noodles Shanghai style ($7.50) are a classic Shanghainese dish and were done well here. Nicely cooked noodles even though they told us they are bought from a supplier.

Savory soy bean milk ($1.95) is a salty version of classic soybean milk. They do a good job of this authentic soup like dish.

Eight Treasure Rice is a good version but not stellar

OK: (order only if you love this dish)

Salty Pork with Vegetable Rice Clay Pot ($10.95) came in a cast iron pot, but proved to be just fair. Lots of ham on the surface along with chopped up ham & vegetables underneath. The edges of the pot helped create some nice burnt crispy rice. Flavors did not pervade the rice.

Steamed Threaded Bread ($3) was some steamed bread with sweetened condensed milk for dipping. Not as good as the deep fried stuff. Anything deep fried is better, eh?

Soy Braised Pork Rump ($14.95) looked huge but the meat was overcooked and the greens underneath were not cooked enough. Sauce was not sweet enough.

Sweet and Sour Spareribs ($8.50) was a decent dish. A little on the sweet side and not too sour. Meat has been cooked long enough so it just rolls off the bone.

Sauteed Eels ($12.95) were very greasy and fishy. This is an acquired taste and a tad bit high on quantity.

Green Onion Lamb ($11.95) had lower quality meat, making it quite gamey.

Deep Fried Duck (Half) was a special on their wall.  The duck was all chopped up and full of bones.  Lightly fried but lacking much flavor. An average dish.

Pan fried pumpkin cake with red beans ($4.95) was a soft, greasy cake with not a lot of red bean inside.

Steamed sweet rice ($5.50) was large but also lacking in flavor. Little shanghai outdoes this version.

Pans: (Avoid)

Sauteed Prawns ($15.95) are a Shanghai specialty. Not as good as Little Shanghai. Tiny and lacking much flavor on our last visit in 2015.

Pan Fried Pork Buns ($6.25) had eight buns that were not fried too much. Skin was way too thick, no soup! The version at nearby Sunnyvale’s Shanghai Flavor Shop is the best in the SF Area.  On another visit, the quality improved, so send them back if they are not cooked right. Re-frying them at home improved them.

To the South: Little Shanghai has better Shanghai food, but has a lesser quality environment but cannot do Steamed dumplings as well..

Check out our Shanghai restaurant reviews for the real deal, Shanghai, China food that we have in the San Francisco Bay Area is not very close in quality.

Shanghai Dumpling Shop had fair service but nothing worth writing home about. You had to track down servers to get things. The food was decent, with the highlights the steamed dumplings. This is the go to place for Shanghai dumplings for those that live nearby. This restaurant has lunch specials during the week.

Also located at:

331 Grand Ave.
South San Francisco, CA
650-589-8188

Restaurant Map: