I am on a quest -- I had the most amazing xiao long bao in New York and want to find something that's at least in the ballpark in Chicago. This was the 2nd place I tried in Chicago and actually kind of stumbled on this place by accident when I was looking for a place for lunch. The inside is on the clean and fairly modern side when it comes to Chinatown establishments, which was a pleasant surprise. Since Shanghai was in the name, I assumed correctly that xiao long bao would be on the menu. I opted for the Shanghai xiao long bao and also order the Shanghai style thick noodle (it was a Shanghai kind of day).
The Shanghai xiao long bao took awhile to come out, but they looked fabulous. They tasted pretty good, but in my opinion were a bit light on the soupiness. The noodles were pretty tasty as well. Based on the reviews, I'll probably give this place another shot, maybe give the crabmeat xiao long bao a try. But the quest continues!
We were looking for a place to eat on a Friday night in Chinatown and we were driving by looking for parking to go to another restaurant. I heard mix things about this place from my friends and it was empty inside, which is normally not a good sign on a Friday night. We didn't want to deal with the lines at where we originally planned on going, so we stopped here to give it a try. Service was good and price was more than fair. I will definitely come back in the future.
Ordered the dinner for 3 and added Mongolian Beef and Xiao Long Baos to go along with that.
Black Pepper Beef Short Ribs - This was really really good and the ribs were tender and there was hardly any fat. This was my favorite thing here.
Mongolian Beef - We shouldn't have added this entree to our meal because we already ordered beef short ribs, but this was okay for the most part. The beef was kinda chewy and I didn't really like it that much. Other than that, the sauce was really good.
Salt and Pepper Fish Fillet - This was good and the breading wasn't too thick like some places.
Baby Bok Choy in Broth - Was going to substitute this dish for Baby Pea Tips, but substitution would have been $5, so we decided to stick with this. It was just okay for the most part, but I wouldn't get this again.
Shanghai Xiao Long Bao - I like this more than the crab one and it was pretty good for the most part. Definitely like it more then the Lao's one, but I had better elsewhere.
Crabmeat Xiao Long Bao - I didn't really like this one that much. It wasn't bad, but maybe it just wasn't for me. Definitely get the Shanghai one instead.
I've been here quite a few times since my other half discovered it. Â Her mother is from Shanghai, so she's always on the lookout for good Shanghainese food. Â
So far, we've tried a bunch of different dishes on their menu -- none have been disappointing. Â It a nice alternative to Lao Shanghai or the entire Chinatown Square experience, for that matter, because it's on a quieter side street just off of Wentworth.
The best things we've had here to date were: Â
Scallion pancakes
Salted specialty shrimp (My personal favorite): Â Fried shrimp in a super garlicky salted egg yolk sauce. Â Lao Shanghai has a version of this dish too which I love, but I must say, Bistro's is better.
Hong sue tofu: Â I guess every restaurant makes this differently and I have never had it the way they serve it. Â They're like tofu steaks in gravy. Â Â If you like tofu, I would order this.
Xiao long bao (soup dumplings) aren't as soupy as other places, but they taste fantastic. Â
Dan Dan noodle: Â Pork and peanut butter noodles. Â It sounds like a crazy combo, but it works.
Shanghai fried rice cakes: Â Flat rice cakes stir fried with a tiny bit of pork and cabbage.
The restaurant itself is really clean. Â The staff have always been attentive and super friendly and prices are reasonable.
I came to Shanghai Bistro the week it opened. The prices are very reasonable and would consider it more on the $ sign. Some dishes I would recommend is the ja jiang mein (it was good, but not what we expected), the fish fillet in boiled water, and the seafood xiao long bao. I visited this place a couple times after the first and service became a little slower every time, bummer.
Though tonight I was there with my bf and his Chinese parents and over all they felt everything was just "ok" from the food to the ambiance and I could agree. I recall my bf's parents asking the waiter for some specific shanghai dishes, which they didn't have. Their food is good, but I think the name of the place can throw some customers off or maybe it's just how our party felt. None the less though, it's a comfortable place to dine, nothing stuck up about it. Will come here again for the following dishes mentioned above, but that's about it.
Went to Chinatown for dim sum at Shui Wah and...closed/retired a day or two earlier :( We decided to hit a couple of places, including here since we'd never been. Since it was our last stop of the day, we only had two items: (1) Xiao Long Bao -- skin 4X too thick, not enough juice & meat too coarse -- skip this place and get over to Hing Kee for XLB; and (2) Scallion Pancakes -- too doughy & over-fried...probably the worst example I've ever had (they'd be so-so if you've never had them before). The decor in this place is nice, but there's usually an inverse relationship between decor and food quality in Chinatown.
Review Source:This is one place I can put my Elite badge behind! As one other reviewer mentioned, this place had some food tasting consistency and operations issues when they first opened, but what restaurant runs smoothly during the first two weeks? I give this place tons of credit for correcting those issues so quickly!
Upon visiting again after 3 weeks, the food has dramatically improved. In fact, they have some of the best tasting dishes in Chinatown. I challenge anyone to find a place that serves better Xiao Lung Bao (little dragon dumplings). The skin is thin and does a great job holding all the soup and juicy flavor meat inside.
The Dan Dan Noodles is another famous Shanghai style dish done very well. I can see why some reviewers may say it's not as strong flavor as they would like, but that's actually how authentic Dan Dan Noodles should taste like in Shanghai. I would suggest asking the kitchen to make it more flavorful if that's your preference.
Decor-wise, it is definitely very clean and comfortable, unlike other places in Chinatown that are old and dirty. The wait staff is friendly and the price tag is actually just $$, not three $. Lastly, they also have a juice bar that serves real fruit juice (not the powder stuff you get from other places), this is a place I would visit many times.
If you tried it already, you should go back now to try even more dishes. If you have not tried it yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out. There isn't that many Shanghai style restaurants in Chinatown.
This is a new place in Chinatown that I thought was spot on. Â I heard that they had major problems with consistency when they first opened, but all of that seemed to have resolved itself when we went there for dinner on 7/4/12. Â The dumpling was so soupy that that it actually actually dripped all over my shirt when I bite into it. Â Flavor was pretty good and we ended up ordering a second helping. Â The salt and pepper shrimp was cooked perfectly, and the pork belly was very tasty. Â Not sure why this place was listed at three dollar sign ($$$) when the price was very affordable, should really be a ($$). Â Definitely would come back to this place.
Review Source:I came here with my friends on a whim and it was the best decision i made all day.
I ordered the soup dumplings. The soup was delicious and the dumplings were juicy and had great taste.
I was pretty full and didn't want to order more but since it was so good I decided to get a Mongolian beef. I finished it even though I was full because it was that good. The beef was really juicy and had lots of flavor and it wasn't like normal beef that are hard to chew and swallow. I had no trouble chewing it like I do with other places.
The prices are very reasonable and cheap.
The service is good too.
I go back to this place very often and definitely recommend this place to anyone.
we came on a weekend and ordered
soup dumplings - not soupy at all, just normal dumplings that i can buy at the supermarket
onion cake - deep fried? super oily?
shrimp with walnut - breaded and fried shrimp that are not crispy...
jia jiang noodles - ok, noodles were too soggy and the sauce had not flavor
you can do better than this in chinatown!!!
soup dumplings- second best to mandarin kitchen.
dan dan noodles- meh.
stewed beef noodle soup- very bland soup base, ick.
five spices beef noodle soup- another very bland soup base, super ick.
japanese style tofu with king mushroom- mushrooms are cut thicker than usually but still good nonetheless.
i'll come back only to eat soup dumplings.
From the perspective of a local, the food we ordered (xiao long bao, two spicey noodle dishes, & a common beef lunch box on a separate occasion) were above average. Â Not the greatest in Chinatown, but the specialty food was undoubtedly above the majority. Â The rating I gave is correct. Â My second time, I ordered online to receive their discount. Â Upon arriving whomever was in front told me they received no such order and their site must have a problem. Â No probem, right? I just told them my order again and said I'll wait. Â Upon paying, they told me since this replica wasn't via the website they will not extend the discount. Â I hope this penny pinching discourteous way of treating new patrons is surely not rooted in to all aspects of their new restaurant.
Review Source:In Chinatown, there are not many restaurants that actually use real fruits to make their drinks. I would recommend the frozen lemonade and Thai iced tea. I've seen the workers make the frozen lemonade with fresh fruits. The manager told me that their iced tea for the Thai is freshly brewed in the morning. Plus their drinks are under $4 for a large cup restaurants usually use for smoothies. Where can you get that price for smoothies freshly made with fruits?
 The dan dan noodles and peking style pork chop are also good. Definitely would go back whenever I have time.
ordered about five dishes. xiao lon bao was average. the beef noodle soup was too watery and lacked flavor. jar jar mien was not meant to be that way. thinking they were trying to do something different with it. Â The place was busy and very clean.
If you're in the "know", then you'll know there are many better places in chinatown to get the same dishes.
grand opening so i decided to give this place a try... it used to be boba bar cafe until shanghai bistro brought it and remodeled the place.. the interior of shanghai bistro is pretty simple and modern.. looks great.. good service and the food comes out pretty quick..
i ordered the xiao long bao (sp) and mongolian beef.. both was really good and full of flavor! the mongolian beef was probably one of the best i ever had.. Â they didn't cheap out on the amount of beef like most places too..
the price isn't bad.. and they have a pretty big menu selection... they also have smoothies using fresh fruits too which i haven't tried yet... i cant wait to come back here and try other food! if you haven't gave this place a try yet then your missing out!
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