Shanghai Stories 1938

3.3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  5     

This was one of the worst restaurant experiences I have ever had.

It was a Tuesday night. The restaurant had about 12 customers there, plus the 6 of us. For appetisers we ordered Chicken san choi bao for 6. And that’s when the first problem became evident. The san choi bao arrived with the lettuce leaves and a separate tiny plate of the chicken mixture, no more than one tablespoon per person. There was no attempt made to serve these, it appeared to be a do-it-yourself san choi bao.

I summoned the waiter and asked him if this was really a full serving for 6 as we had ordered. He counted the leaves, found there were only five, apologized and was about to take them away when I pointed to the chicken mixture and asked whether that was enough for 6. He wasn’t sure, picked up that plate as well and went off to the kitchen, soon returning with the extra lettuce leaf, and a tiny bit more chicken mixture.

Again there was no attempt made to serve us, and I had to summon the waiter back to assemble the food. The end result was a mouthful of san choi bao per person.

In the meantime I went through the menu to select the 6 main courses, which I then wrote on a piece of paper, each prefaced by the Dish # as printed on the menu to make sure there was no misunderstanding. The list was organized in three groups of 2, and I made it clear to the waiter that I wanted them served in that sequence and in groups of 2 dishes as shown, with a pause between the groups. The waiter did go through the list and the menu to make sure he understood everything.

Well, nothing was delivered as planned. They came in the wrong sequence and not in pairs, and one of the dishes was not even the one ordered. The accompanying rice was served in 6 individual bowls, and not in an insulated bucket, like all other Chinese restaurants do, so we had to periodically send our half empty bowls back to be re-heated. Also there was no central ‘Lazy Susan’ in the middle of the large round table, so it was not easy to pass the food around.

The food itself could only be described as barely adequate and the prices as reasonable. The ambience was only fair. No fruit, fortune cookies or chocolates were offered at the end. So the overall dining experience left much to be desired.

By the way, we are all Caucasians, but 4 of us were born and raised in Shanghai before migrating to Australia, so we had some reasonable knowledge of Chinese food and customs. And, as aficionados of Chinese food, we were very much looking forward to visiting this new restaurant in Chatswood’s Concourse. Sadly, we will not be returning.

May 16, 2012 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  8     

My husband and I were at the restaurant for dinner on a Friday night. We thoroughly enjoyed the dishes we ordered: xiaolongbao, pork and chive dumplings with chili oil, the braised pork belly and spicy and pungent beef. It's definitely a good place for a casual dinner, and I'd have to say the pork belly and the dumplings are a real standout.

I have to admit we were a bit hesitant in coming after reading the poorer reviews but our experience was certainly faultless. We'd definitely dine here again, and would recommend others to give it a go. In total, we spent $75 for 4 dishes, 1 large beer and wine corkage fees. Definitely an affordable place.

May 07, 2012 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Shanghai Stories has become my new favourite xiaolongbao and dumplings restaurant, it's very well priced, gorgeously decorated and has decent service the few times I've been there. I love their juicy xiaolongbao and their panfried pork buns as well as their cute panda buns.

Read more on my blog

Apr 20, 2012 

7 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

Came here with my partner for a quick dinner on a Thursday night. Place was quite busy but service was fast. While their menu looked absolutely stunning, their menu range was lacking, and food also tasted quite average. My partner and I ordered a total of 7 dishes (which includes 2 mains) and were charged roughly 25 per head. We were very filled and even had leftovers.

Ok restaurant all in all. Wouldn't mind coming here for a quick lunch in the future.

Apr 09, 2012 

3.8 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  1      Value  1     

Food was ok, not the greatest quality, but the quantities were fine. The service was dreadful, orders forgotten, wine not delivered until asked for 3 separate times and switching lights off to get us to leave at 9:30 at night? Woeful at best.

Mar 15, 2012 

3.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  4     

Quite disappointing! The service was appalling, food turned up cold and the bill was large. On the plus side some of the dishes, when they eventually turned up warm, were tasty but the fish they had shown us swimming around to be our final dish turned up to the table like it had just come out of the deep freeze, mushy and tasteless. There's no way this was a fresh fish! For a town which is predominantly chinese this was a real let down.

Mar 07, 2012 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  2     

Went for yumcha lunch after booking online for a table for 3 by the window. Very disappointed to discover that the reception has no record of my booking (which had been confirmed both by email and by SMS previously). And there was no table by the window available. The inefficiency was a stark contrast to the impression of a funky upstart given by their website and online booking facility.

The food was average but a standard yum cha dish that we ordered was not available. The dishes arrived almost all at the same time, resulting in some going cold while sitting there. This is not the traditional style of yum cha - where one dish can be ordered and placed on the table as and when the customer wishes. I won't be going there again.

Feb 09, 2012 

4.5 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  4     

I have been here many times but I wonder why I keep going back when I have been disappointed most of the times? The xiao long bao is delicious. Another favourite are the turnip pastries.

But the a la carte menu is really disappointing. The scallops with XO sauce was so over cooked. They were tasteless and rubbery. They were served on reheated frozen corn (cooked in butter) and the XO sauce? Non-existent. We paid $15 (per head) for 3 scallops…Ridiculous.

The shredded chicken in Tea tree mushroom was interesting. The sauce was spicy but there was not enough chicken. And the celery does not go well with this dish.

I was served tea that must have been the last 5 grams in the container. It was all broken and I was pretty much eating the tea leaves. I don’t think I will be back soon for a la carte menu but I might come back for the xiao long bao and turnip pastries.

Feb 02, 2012 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Ate here on a coolish night and chose poorly by sitting outside. Should have tried inside so my ambience rating is, perhaps, not indicative. The service was friendly, the young waiter voluntarily removed our corkage charge after breaking the cork even though it didn't bother me.

The food, a mix of dumplings and traditional dishes was both tasty and plentiful. Only gripe was the speed which was very slow. Two hours for a serve of dumplings and a couple of mains was too slow. The old story of seeing people who arrive after you tucking into mains whilst you're still waiting on the entree.

Jan 31, 2012 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  5      Service  2      Value  2     

This is probably the Worst chinese restaurant in Chatswood that I have been too. I have been to Many Chinese restaurants in Chastswood, and seeing that this is a Brand new restaurant, you would expect it to be good.

Went with my family (10 people) at 7pm on Saturday night. We ordered around 7:25 and got our entrees rather quickly. They were ok for dumplings.

Our mains did not come out for at least another hour (Peking duck, only Skin, no meat and dry). We then got our dishes come out at once about 30 minutes later. Beef in XO sauce was almost cold when it came out as well and it was nothing flash. None of the mains were worth the money we paid for them.

The 2nd course of the Peking Duck came out Last (San Chow Bao) and it was the worst San Chow Bao I had ever eaten. It was dry, and tasteless. At least the interior was nice and new to say the least.

I don't even want to start with the service! They were unorganized and clueless. When we asked to speak with the senior staff and just tell her that it took too long for food and that the food was under average, she didn't even come to the table but attempt to give us 2 x $5 vouchers for the restaurant through another waiter.

I will never go back again, and if I were you - eat at another Chinese restaurant in Chatswood.

Jan 30, 2012