Reviews A&w Restaurant

Customer Service: 5/5 All the staff were really nice and polite. They also were really quick with getting us water, and serving our food. Ambience: 4.5/5 The lighting was slightly off but it was a busy yet still not overcrowded restaurant. Food: 3.5/5 It's like a hit or miss. We ordered two dishes and one turned out fantastic with a burst of flavor. However, the other one didn't have enough taste, and was cooked alright. Overall: 4/5 The customer service was fantastic, and the food was alright.

Authentic Dim Sum here in Nanaimo? In the past us Islanders would need to either go to Victoria's Chinatown or cross by ferry over to the lower mainland for an authentic Dim Sum experience. At Shanghai City they offer a full menu Dim Sum only on the weekends 11 AM to 2 PM. We arrived around 1 pm and the restaurant was half full on a hot summer day. There are 52 items offered but a dozen weren't available. The current price as of July 2022 was a flat price of $7.95 a dish. The menu has your traditional Dim Sum and also some items you don't expect on a Dim Sum menu. I was curious how authentic the Dim Sum would be. We ordered the Seafood fried rice off the regular menu. The rest of the food we ordered on the Dim Sum menu (see photos). The Seafood fried rice was quite good, but needed a little bit more salt for my tastebuds but some will be satisfied. The chow fun fried noodles from the Dim Sum menu was okay but for a small portion for $8 they could add sliced beef (beef ho fun) and make it much better. The Dim Sum I won't rate it all but my favorite would be the sticky rice. It was better than most other Dim Sum joints. It has a great texture and flavor to it. My least favorite was the sui mai (pork & shrimp dumpling). It was as good as the ones at the buffets in town. It came without fish row and the meat was way too mushy. It's an item I hope they try to improve next time I go back. The overall taste and quality of the Dim Sum is good, but little adjustment would help go along way to getting it to great. My final thought is that Dim Sum is just authentic enough to pass when compared to the big city but good enough for Nanaimo. Hopefully they won't stay pat on the Dim Sum and look at ways to improve the quality moving forward. Service was quick and friendly. My biggest issue and why it lost a star rating is the flat prices of $7.95 as some dishes like the 4 rolls with condensed milk are not worth $8 and some dish like the shrimp haw gow are worth the $8. I would like to see them have a $5.95, $6.95 and $7.95 category of Dim Sum. This I feel would be a fair pricing system then just charging everything at the high prices item. I would return more often if this was the case. Overall it's nice to have an option for Dim Sum without leaving the city ⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of the best Chinese restaurants my family and I have gone to. Average prices for good Chinese food. Great service and awesome food-both dim sum and the buffet. 100% would recommend eating here. Comparable to the Chinese restaurants on the lower mainland.

Love this place, the best wonton soup I've had, and believe me I've had a lot! Most places don't have shrimp at the luncheon smorgasbord, but they do here, and the chicken is crunchy and delicious.

Food was hot and fresh, pretty standard items for a Chinese buffet. Staff was very friendly and attentive. Will go back when I’m in the area.

Went for the lunch buffet. Food was fresh, and tasted good. Nothing special but not bad either