Review Shanghai River - Richmond

I am very impressed at how skilled their chefs are and how authenticate the food is. The starter chicken in wine sauce is amazing. The skills of the chicken is tender and chewy, almost like a stiff jelly which bounces in the mouth. The wine flavor is aromatic. The shrimp is so savory! The skin is crispy and thin, and the sauce is divine. I absolutely love it. All the other dishes are outstanding too and the service makes you feel like home. Strongly recommend!!

Sure there are places that offer better pricing, but this place has one of the best XLBs in terms of quality of ingredients and the thinness of the skin. This is one of those places where you can tell they put time and quality into their food. Even in their hot and sour soup, everything is neat and thinly sliced to precision. Taste wise, I do enjoy their food, which some have mentioned, has a bit of a hybrid taste to it. It’s definitely one of the go to Shanghai places in Richmond though, so get a reservation or go early. They have their own parking lot, which is nice, but the spots are narrow. Be careful. This is definitely more of an upscale style Chinese restaurant so you will be paying a premium for the service and the environment. But this place has been around for a long time, they’re definitely doing something right and it all starts with the quality and taste of their food.

Food was not bad, the flavours were mostly pretty good except the pork belly over mustard (wasn’t stewed long enough) and the fried rice was a bit plain. Overall experience was pretty standard for a Chinese restaurant. Expect higher than average prices cause this place is a bit “fancy”. They serve fancy seafood items for $$$.

Shanghai River is a place we visit regularly for special occasion dinners. It's located on No3 road across the street, North of Richmond Centre mall. The food here is done very well and spot on. We never had any complaints from the numerous visits. Prices are quite reasonable here. They have a semi open kitchen for you to see the kitchen staff making dumplings too. The staff here are friendly and efficient. There is ample free parking too.

Didn't disappoint. We went a bit late since we were told that they could only take reservations after 8pm (Saturday night) and they close at 9pm. As such, our dining experience was a bit rushed. Other than that, the food and service were pretty good.

I got pickup from here recently. In terms of food, I tried their Chicken with Wine Sauce, Steamed Pork Dumpling with Crab Meat, Salted Pork, Ham, and Bamboo Shoots in Pot, and Braised Tien-Tsin Cabbage with Ham. The chicken had a nice flavour on its own and with some wine but some pieces were too alcoholic as they were soaked in the wine at the bottom of the container. The dumplings are definitely worth trying as it had good bits of crab, thin dumping skin, and nice flavourful soup. The pork/ham/bamboo pot is worth trying if you like comfort food. It had a lot of vegetables, nice pieces of ham, fresh bamboo shoots, and soy/bean products. The ham and cabbage was pretty good as well.

Amazing xiaolongbao/dim sum in the Richmond area of greater Vancouver. The Shanghai noodles are especially amazing. We had some really good pork buns, soup dumplings, and pork ribs as well. Probably one of the best brunches I've ever had.

Pricey but good! The XLB so juicy and the skin thin. Love the pork wrap and pan fried buns. The vinegar spareribs were a bit tough but the flavour is there. My mom makes it better tho. There was some small confusion with the pan seared buns we ordered but glad that we were able to sort it out. The thing with Chinese restaurants even if they screw up they want you to just accept it. After being firm that we did not order what they were trying to serve us, they then went and remade the correct item for us.

My fav #XLB #小籠包 in Greater Vancouver.<br/><br/>Xiao Long Bao (XLB) 小籠包<br/><br/>Xiao Long Bao is often called "soup dumplings".<br/><br/>I would say Shanghai River has the perfect XLB. Their XLB is juicy, thin-skinned, yet not-prone to breakage, and full of broth inside. <br/><br/>Boiled Soup with Chicken and Pork Wontons 砂鍋雲吞雞<br/><br/>The soup served in a clay pot. It was terrific with chicken breast, lots of baby bok choy and wontons. It was very flavourful.<br/><br/>Shanghai River Restaurant 滬江海派料理 is a well-known Chinese restaurant which is located in central Richmond at 7831 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>📝📝<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Food: 🥟🥟🥟🥟🥟Must Try!<br/>Service: 👩‍🍳👩‍🍳👩‍🍳👩‍🍳<br/>Kids: 👶👶👶👶Yay! (Who kid doesn’t love soft and juicy dumplings?)<br/>Price: 💲💲💲 $50-$100 for two<br/>Presentation: 📷📷<br/>Parking: 🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗<br/>Tips:<br/>📝has 3-hour free parking behind the restaurant. <br/>📝 recommends to make a reservation. <br/>📝can see the kitchen though a huge glass window in the dining room. <br/>Would I Return: Yes 🙋‍♀️

Since we have been here multiple times since my first post, I thought I would write a revisit on it.<br/><br/>This place is a bit upscale but we usually just order the XLB and some noodles, so it&rsquo;s not that expensive. The set menus and larger dishes are the expensive ones.<br/><br/>Parking has usually been pretty easy. There is an underground parking lot with many reserved spots for the restaurant.&nbsp;<br/><br/>Pan fried pork soft buns: The pork buns are delightfully crispy on the outside. The pork inside was flavourful and juicy. An order comes with 5 buns so it is great to share.

Terrible Food Quality. Overpriced. Overated.If you like OILY and SALTY  Chinese food drowning in sauce over meager deep fried ingredients, then this is the place for you. Reviews rating this over 3 stars don't have a palette or appreciation for quality food.This place is also way Overpriced. Expect to easily pay $80 for dinner for 2 that will make you sick with grease.<br/>Avoid this Shanghai River.

Hello Hello! This past weekend was Mid-Autumn festival and my family decided to have our dinner at Shanghai River. Shanghai River is located directly across from Richmond Centre so it is not a hard place to find. It also has a designated parking lot so you don’t need to worry about paying at the meter.

I came here for a family gathering and wow it is filled to the brim with Asians. The service is really good as they are really quick to serve you. It's very traditional Chinese food. I enjoyed the Chinese bun dipped in condensed milk, as well as the wonton soup. I didn't like the fried taro duck (I think it was duck) at all- I felt as if the combination just didn't work together. Their xiao long bao was quite nice- just up to standard.<br/><br/>I feel like it is quite an expensive restaurant; I definitely wouldn't eat there for a normal meal. Definitely check it out if you are a fan of Chinese food though!

I went to this place quite a few times.  I like their Xiao Long Bao, and vegetable dumplings as they are freshly made after ordered.  You can see their staffs from a glass window busying preparing those dumplings.  I also like their rice in oyster soup, and picked vegetable with meat noodle soup.  I will definitely go again and again.

Don’t understand why this restaurant has been highly rated. Been here 2 times trying different dishes, but has been disappointing. Dishes are not authentic.<br/>豆酥鳕鱼 without 豆酥 but topped with minced pork instead. The 海蜇皮 jellyfish appetizer is tasteless. 水煮鱼 is totally wrong in the spices used, sauce is way too thick, not sure why a Shanghai restaurant has to put this Szechuan dish on their menu when they don’t know how to make it.<br/>And today we tried to order the classic Shanghai dessert : deep fried banana and the deep fried egg white balls but were told the kitchen could not make them because they were too busy. We were very upset. The waiter and the manager also could not give us a good explanation. I think if they don’t want to make these whenever they are busy, they might as well take them off the menu, or say only available before 7pm Monday to Thursday only...

Duck hot held in old duck grease ...gross. Fish that was likely going bad was frozen, then heated in some sauce. I had to spit out the fish. I informed the manager. Waitresses having noticed we ate only 10% of the dishes served were murmuring to manager. Paid for food that had not even come to table yet. Chinese manager was rude, obnoxious and stubborn.<br/>Terrible gross, old food of what we tasted. It was in our best interest to get out, rather than get food poisoning. Stay CLEAR of Shanghai River!

○decent service<br/>○Good food depend on what you get/ they're known for their xiao long bao but I've tasted better at other places / not a place where you'd go for dim sum or breakfast , more like lunch / dinner portions and Better go with 4 or more people<br/>○free parking in the parkade<br/>○family friendly<br/>○a tad high priced<br/>○if I had to choose 1 dish : rice in oyster soup<br/>○would i go back ? Maybe

Every dish, even the more rustic ones, has a high level of refinement reflected in a specific sauce or a small detail, such as the Noodle Soup with Tender Chicken, in which the noodles are slightly pan fried first with soy sauce, in order to have the extra layer of flavour. But at other places, this dish is usually pretty bland and boring.

Just another weekend. Tried to make it count. I try to make every meal count now, too, because I'm no spring chicken. We came to Shanghai River Restaurant for a pretty satisfying dinner:. We had some (old) pea shoots, fried yee meen noodles, the pork with the sweet sauce, and chose 3 appetizers to start. We tried their drunken chicken, because I still had cravings for the ones at Asian Legend in Toronto. I wouldn’t come back for this drunken chicken.

When I crave shanghai food, this place in Richmond always come to mind. Whether it’s their XLB’s, noodles or cold plates, they are all my favourites. . Juicy pork xlb’s. Have to drench mine in black vinegar and ginger slithersWonton in soup with vegetablesSad how this dish turned out

Service so bad!girl no smile no answer sosososososossosososo bad never come back!!!😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

my curiosity have led me to this restaurant that is located in richmond, went here with around like 10 people ish while discussing some things in life. luckily one of my friend have visitted this place, and he knows some of the more popular dish, and which one worth trying, so tried their xiao long bao, which is nice, but not the best that i've tried so far, but good enough, then ordered mayo prawn which is okay, fish, pork etc, so far it all tasted decent nothing really memorable that let's me think it's worth going for a second time type of food.

Worst dining experience. <br/><br/>Ordered a Peking duck which comes in 2 dishes. They took away our first dish and discarded it without asking our permission and obviously there were still food on the plate.<br/><br/>Then we found out there was a metal wire in our second dish and it almost put a cut in my mouth. I asked for the manager, and I told him what I found. He then explained why is there a wire and where it possibily came from. I did not ask for explanations of the origin of the wire. I just wanted him to take away this dish and cancel the order. He said, 'It is hard for me to cancel it because this dish is part of the whole Peking duck order.' I had to teach him, 'If you can't cancel the portion of this order, just cancel the whole order'. He then walked away.<br/><br/>Finally, the bill came and there was a discount.<br/>A 30% off on the Peking duck order. Yes, you read it right. He only discounted 30% on that one order.<br/><br/>There are obviously better restaurants with similar food in the area. I am never going back to this place.

Good Shanghainese food in a nice environment! I like the food but I think for a lesser price you could get just as good XLB/noodles at a different restaurant.

This place is labeled as masters of dim sum. This place has the worst dim sum. I don't know about their dinner menu but their dim sum menu is absolutely garbage.

Have seen the hundreds of photos in Zomato, we decided on a whim to try it tonight.<br/><br/>No MSG is right, yay!!<br/><br/>We ordered Xiao Long Bao, Steamed Chicken Soup with Wontons, Pan Fried Yellow Rock Cod with Mushrooms, and peashoots.<br/><br/>The soup was delicate and delcious, I enjoyed the taste of the wonton filling. The Xiao Long Bao was too thick and doughy at the top, and so sticky that every one of them bursted at the bottom. We prefer the Xiao Long Bao from Dinesty on Robson. The fish was OK, but Kirin would have executed better. The peashoots never arrived, and we were full anyways, so we were sble to cancel it. We felt great after the meal because we didn't suffer from CRS (Chinese Restaurant Syndrome).<br/><br/>We came back for lunch. Six of us ate until we were full and the price per person after a 20% tips were $16. We ordered the usual lunch small dishes including Pan Fried Wontons. The XLB was much better at lunch. The sticky rice took 20 minutes but was well worth it – very delicious.

July 2016, 7:30 on a Monday night in Downtown Richmond. Original plans fell through. 4 hungry people needed a place to eat. Peering through the windows of Shanghai River, looked busy, clean, promising. There was a line-up. Was told 45 minute wait. We left, came back at 8, and were seated right away. Place was full. Big, colourful menu with lots of choices. We ordered and shared:<br/><br/>Wonton soups x 2<br/>Pan fried cod fish with spicy pork on green beans<br/>Salted vegetable and squid (Zomato menu shows cuttle fish, but it's not up to date)<br/>Mushroom stuffed pastry (don't remember the name on the menu)<br/>Pork dumplings (2 different kinds, don't remember exactly which ones)<br/>A noodle dish<br/><br/>I usually don't expect much in these kinds of restaurants; just filling, greasy food with poor service. But the food here was surprisingly good. Flavours (mostly sesame) were unexpectedly subtle. Textures were just right. My favourites were the squid salad (served cold) and the cod fish with spicy pork (cod was melt-in-your mouth, almost slimy, but for me, perfect, pork was not spicy at all, though, but still tasty). Everyone was satisfied, although we could have ordered one less dish. We managed to eat everything, but it was really too much.<br/><br/>Service was acceptable, better than other places of this type. (We didn't feel rushed. The servers didn't seem too annoyed with us.) I'll definitely come back. The duck dishes we saw on other peoples' tables looked really good. I want to try those.

Best shanghai buns in town! So hot and so juicy. My daughter ate 6 and mom and dad got 1 each. Handmade noodles here get em while they're hot! Chicken fried with shanghai sauce,beef ettuce wrap

Not bad, not great, but pricey. My maternal family is from Shanghai and my mother confirmed the menu is authentic and comprehensive. We ordered an assortment of dishes that, to me, seemed like what one can get at most pan-Chinese restaurants in Richmond, all laden with corn starch for maximum gooey-ness (although these came with nice touches, such as lily bulbs, wood ear, and yellow chives). I thought the xiao long bao were mediocre, and my partner thought they were dry. On the plus side, we ordered the Shanghainese vegetable rice, a staple in the region for the middle class, which came in a sizzling ceramic pot with finely chopped bok choy and some sort of ham. This was one of the more memorable dishes, nicely fried at the bottom, aromatic, crunchy, and well-flavored. The service was congenial and the establishment clean, both noteworthy for a Chinese restaurant. That being said, we might not return for another try.

• busy all the time, just wait or your turn<br/>• the best Xiaolongbao for me in the lower mainland, there's no msg!<br/>• nicely plated dishes & clean<br/>• $$-$$$<br/>• everything on the menu are just awesomely delicious, you'll keep coming back for more<br/><br/>

This place has got the best Shanghai-nese food I can find in Vancouver. I always order their dumplings and the chicken wonton soup. Service is fast and decent for a real Chinese place :) Parking is not too bad either, there's a covered carpark right beside the restaurant. Large restaurant so getting a table is easy even for large groups.

Love this place!! This is probably my favourite shanghai place in Richmond. have to try the original shanghai dumplings and the crab meat shanghai dumplings. Also must order their cold dishes..

If we had not felt rushed and had better timing on our food arriving, this would be a 4.5 rating.  My husband had short ribs with vinegar sauce.  I had black cod with spicy pork and green beans.  We also had the steamed pork dumplings. The food was really good.  However, my husband's ribs came out well after my fish.  I went ahead and started, because I hate cold fish.  We arrived around 9:15 PM.  They close at 10 p.m.  (Apparently, 10 p.m. sharp.)  Before we even got our main courses, we were asked if we wanted anything else because the kitchen was shutting down.  Then, a check was given to us before my husband's food arrived.  Then within about 5 minutes, waitress came to check to see if we had a credit card in the folder, which was odd, since we still didn't have my husband's food.  I'd still recommend this place, though.  It was busy, and I felt like everyone around us was enjoying their food.

I would have rated this place a 3.5 had their servers been more helpful. This is my family's go to place for Shanghai food since many closed down in the past couple years. The food is pretty good and their xiao long bao are to my standards. Thin dumpling wraps, lots of soup on the inside and delicious pork in the centre. Another dish I love about this place is there Chinese doughnuts. They are really well made. We also ordered some sweet soy drink to combo with the Chinese doughnut. This is where my deducting story comes in. So the soy drink usually arrive pretty soon since they're already made, just need scooping and serving. So after ALL our orders arrived, it still hasn't come. We had to ask the server if they had missed our order....THREE TIMES until someone actually checks and head over to the bar and grab us a bowl of soy drink. We had to wait a long time. Our Chinese doughnut that we were saving to accompany the soy drink have turned cold.

Amazing. SERVICE: the staff here were extremely attentive and friendly. I can't say enough about this because most dim sum places you visit you feel like an outcast as a white guy. They were so helpful and recommend dishes to us and really seemed like they cared about the experience we were having. Easily five star service. FOOD: Right of the bat, it's not traditional dim sum from Hong Kong, but actually mainland style dim sum so was very different however super delicious. Everything is literally made fresh in this place and comes out piping hot and fresh. There is actually a window into the kitchen and you can see them rolling wonton and other items. PRICE: Extremely reasonable. I bought lunch for myself and two others and it was $40! There was food left over too! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND experiencing this restaurant.

Worst shanghainese experience. 3 years ago, this was one of the best shanghainese places. Now... I'd strongly advise against going. My reasons: their food is not fresh, and they cover it up by adding way too much salt. Its bad enough that their overpriced food sucks, their service was next to nothing. That's my honest review. Never eating here again.

Do not accept a table in the front area. I have eaten here many times but my advice is completely avoid taking a table near the front entrance. Completely unacceptable that a restaurant of this stature allows the front dining area to act as a lobby overflow. Crowds of noisy people standing 3 deep behind our chairs and table, manager and staff act oblivious. No sense of crowd control, I understand this is the territory with Chinese restaurants but again, this is not some old school Chinatown diner. Food is fine but would not accept this level of "service" when there is so much choice in Richmond.

The restaurant is nicely appointed except for the cramped waiting area. Food is good but service could be improved, but that is typical with many Chinese restaurants.

The lamb rack was stellar if not too Chinese, and the surprise of the evening was “fish fillet in seaweed,” which turned out to be oh-so-lightly tempura’d and came with straight Worcestershire sauce that was a wonderful accompaniment.

I think they must have read the reviews which say poor service. We had great service and enjoyed the food too!

Yummy food. Service is poor...food is good...it is a typical "china" restaurant...if you have been to china you will understand ....better than most in terms of food...my daughter loves the dumplings...they do their best...not good enough for most westerners ...if you want good northern food this is it...if you want good service, go to downtown Kirin.

Awful Supper at Shanghai River. As an official trip to Vancouver Stayed at Sheraton Reception staff Recommended This restaurant.<br/><br/>On 2nd Oct along with my colleague we walked over to this restaurant there was a waiting going on ....after about ten minutes we were invited and offered a table between aisle and two big round tables of almost 8-10 guests each .<br/>the restaurant was really busy full of Chinese community.<br/><br/>We were quickly served a kettle of Chinese tea along with some sauce while we were looking at menus which was hard to understand as we couldn’t find Rice or Noodle option in main course after about five minutes a waiter came for order- we explained him we need your help and we asked can we pick the dishes from fix menu he showed helplessness politely then we asked Are the main dishes comes with rice or noodle he replied: NO you have to buy separate and we offer only sticky rice in this ( a little ) bowl. <br/>Any way I ordered veg dim sum, lamb in red wine sauce with sticky rice for her and chicken with Ham with Sticky Rice for me - he said ok. Thank you <br/><br/>We were told lamb takes about 15 to 20 mnts we said ok bring all together <br/>in about ten mnts dim sums were on the table and after another ten mnts my chicken was served without rice I offered chicken to my colloeuge as thinking lamb is on the way but by the time it came we both finished the chicken slowly and when she received the lamb it was dry lamb again with no rice I had to call server and reminded about lamb with sauce he said he will correct it she got the Lamb and I got the sticky rice and chicken was already finished <br/><br/>So I had to eat rice with on the house chilli sauce and took some help of lamb sauce which was full of Sugar <br/><br/>So not only all this mess Left Bitter Taste in our mouth we both felt cheated.<br/>All this with $20 a dish. <br/><br/>Value for money : Zero<br/>Ambience : 1 Very Noisy Place <br/>Service : Polite with poor knowledge <br/>Portion : Moderate <br/>Presentation : Good

Pretty good but pricey. Xlbs were pretty tastey but I have had better ones. The skin of the xlbs were a tad thicker than id like it to be but it was still good. Fried chicken and pork shoulder also quite tastey. If you love shanghaineese food, give this place a try!

Most disappointing dinner in Richmond ever!!! asked most unprofessional waitress for malantou, not only didn't they have it, the cow didn't know what it was??? Ordered Mandarin fish which was soggy, flavors unbalanced (way too vinegary)!and deboned by some rookie in the kitchen (plus the dish showed up first), drunken chicken was a grizzly mix of bones and skin (no meat at all), chili garlic crab was overcooked beyond believe with no chance getting any of the meat off its shells, Shanghai noodles tasted drenched in peanut sauce, crab topped peatips looked like someone puked on a pile of spinach, I don't think I ever had a more disappointing Chinese meal ever! I want my $165 back!

DON'T GO - THIS PLACE SERVES SHARK FIN!. Six of us met for dinner one Saturday evening (7 pm reservation). We had to wait for nearly 20 minutes for a table and yes the place was very busy. The waitress was supremely unhelpful and then told me I didn't know how to order Chinese food (I've only been eating it for 57 years). She didn't even have the professionalism to reorganize how the dishes were to be brought to the table - the cold plate arrived in the middle of the meal. The jellyfish and drunken chicken were nearly tasteless and of what we could taste it wasn't good. We didn't realize this place served Shark Fin - if we did we wouldn't have gone. XLB had thick skins. Smoke fish tasted (and looked) like it came out of a can. The smoked duck (at $38/whole duck) was very well done but the accompanying little buns were looked crudely made. We had to remind wait staff to change our bone-filled plates and we had to hunt for wait staff to order more drinks. Dinner for 6 with 2 beers each was $38pp including tip. Will not be going back.

No. 1 Chinese food. First time here, it's so good . full house when we came in for lunch. service good.

Food is alright but as mentioned, their table hosting service is very dysfunctional. We reserved a table but still had people who did not reserve one, get in before us. Poor service, disgrace to Chinese restaurants.

Absolutely LOVE the pork dumplings here!! So good. Their food is always consistent and reasonably priced. My favourite shanghai restaurant in Richmond. Beware, it does get busy most of the time so call in to make reservations prior to coming

Siu loong bao is a must! Delicious little dumplings

Worst Shanghainese Cusine. Went there because of high rating on some popluar websites. Really disappointed. I worked and lived in Shanghai for 4+ years and even night market food stand could do better than them. The cook is from Guangdong not Shanghai. And they used wrong ingredients in some classic food, such as Yan Du Xian. The waiter suggested us to add another vegetable when we already ordered other food coming with a lot of vegetables. Really bad experience, or the worst one. The service was lousy. We had to ask when dessert could be served when we finished everything. And all you got is more $$$ on your bill.

The appearance of the restaurant gives you the impression that it wants to be upscale. Top notch 'customer is always right' service is also implied. At Shanghai River, you will receive neither great food or attentive service. The food is moderately average, at best. The customer service is absolutely terrible, well below the norm for this type of restaurant. When we ordered our food, we mentioned that certain ingredients not be used due to allergic reactions. This request was totally disregarded. Since our waitress disappeared for more than half the time we were there, we had no choice but to mention the issue to several waiters and waitress. Our concerns weren't addressed and we were made to feel like it was our fault. You will be treated better by bouncers escorting you outside for throwing up on people at a bar.<br/><br/>If you decide to try your luck and waste your money at Shanghai River, walk in with very low or no expectations at all.

Absolute horrible service! They don't take allergies into consideration and treat customers like crap. There were only 4 of us and I noticed that larger tables were served faster and with more consideration. Waitress name is Jenny, extremely rude! Will not return!

Not sure if the food is worth the horrible service. Food is decent but all food in Richmond is good. We were seated right beside the ordering station with 3-4 waitresses constantly walking by, avoiding eye contact. SUCH bad service, even compared to other Chinese restaurants. I'd recommend takeout or else don't bother tipping, it's that exasperating.<br/><br/>Let me elaborate:<br/><br/>Say down, no menu given for 10 minutes. Had to ask for menu.<br/><br/>After, no one comes by to take order for 20 minutes, even after numerous attempts at flagging someone down. Had to tell the host (who is also terrible).<br/><br/>We had an extra chair at our table, the host decided to take it away without asking or acknowledging our presence. 15 minutes later he puts it back WTF?! Is our table a place for your spare equipment? Get it together buddy. He also didn't acknowledge us when putting jt back. <br/><br/>The waitresses put stuff down at your table without saying anything. <br/><br/>The owner really needs to do a rehiring, unless he is that stupid host in which case I have no words.

Good variety of Shanghai dishes, but very average XLB. I love Shanghai food. My favorite Shanghai restaurant in Richmond has to be Top Shanghai but since I've been there so many times, I decided to try a different place. With recommendations from hubby's friend, we found ourselves at Shanghai River. Since we were having brunch with family, I was able to order a large variety of dishes to try. I would say everything we ordered was excellent with the exception of the soup dumplings (xiao long bao). They were very average - skin was too thick, had soup inside but the meat wasn't very flavorful. Everything else - especially the pan fried black cod with spicy bean sauce was excellent. All the noodle dishes used the same noodles but different soup/sauces and my toddler loved the jia jiang one. With all the food we ordered the bill only came to $90 for 8 people ($10 of it was tax too) we thought it was great value. Service was not bad. We didn't have to wait for the table as I made reservations ahead of time, and by the time we left there was a ton of people waiting for a table! I would definitely return and try their other Shanghai dishes but will pass on the XLB.

AWFUL STAFF and lacking in CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!. Well, be prepared to be judged on whether you are worthy of a seat immediately or not and forced to unfairly wait 5 times as long. The rudest host and waitress in the entire Richmond/Vancouver area. <br/><br/>I was in for a casual meal last week with my family and the host and waitress took turns refusing me a table for 4 and kept offering the next available tables to customers coming in after me. What happened to first come first serve for people without reservations? When I asked the host why he was seating parties of 4 for people who came in after me, he just ignored my question. This is unbelievable and totally unacceptable customer service! I don't know who gave them the right to judge people? I mean, let's face it, Shanghai River isn't exactly your high end restaurant and it is definitely perplexing that minimum wage earners in a mediocre restaurant feel they can select who they feel like seating first without reason! Actually, seating is not so arbitary as it became apparent that it was a pattern that they seat a certain race first, moreover, for all I know they were friends of the host? You will also notice that certain races suspiciously gets window seats! <br/><br/>Ha, with that kind of service, be prepared to lose lots of customers as there is no shortage of Shanghainese style restaurants in the Richmond area! Recommend to avoid and go to a restaurant that treats customers equally!<br/><br/>Never returning. They need to hire new staff if they want to maintain their business.

Great food but make sure you pay right away. We got rushed to pay mid meal. Never had this kinda crappy service. Great food, bad service. Oh the dilemma.

Best Shanghai and XLB in the city!. This place definitely lived up to its hype. Oh how I miss Shanghai food in Vancouver! The XLB here are to die for, very soupy and delicious, especially the crab meet ones. I've also tried the bean curd with mushroom, drunken chicken and jellyfish, all shanghai staples which were solid. I also really enjoyed the salty sticky rice. The XLB is something else though.....mmmmmmmmm

Lunch/Dinner. I LOVE this place! If you want fresh, consistently good, Shanghainese food, this is the place to be! <br/>There's a glass wall, where you can see the smaller kitchen in the restaurant. Here the chefs make fresh dumplings, etc, with a smile on their faces. You can see they enjoy and take pride of their jobs. When you get the food, oh my!, it is exactly like the Chefs smiles!

Good food. Love the xiaolongbao. everything else we ordered was also very tasty. their online menu is completely different (and boring) compared to their REAL menu which is beautiful and varied. can't wait to go again to try more dishes!!! recommended. make reservations. service was fine, not spectacular, but no real complaints.

No smart service. Food is ok but portions are small, prices high, service no smart

Bad service, good food. We went for a family celebration. The host must have ordered more than a dozen dishes which ranged from seafood to Beijing (Peking) duck, and an assortment of noodles, vegetables, beef and pork dishes. Duck was relatively lean, the noodles toothsome, and the seafood dishes delectable. I actually really enjoyed bean, eggplant, and mushroom dish the most. The food was delicious and not MSG heavy. The service was less than to be desired - particularly the manager and female staff. The young male server was great, but he wasn't in our section. Love the food. Update - went for two more dinners. The servers - particularly the middle-aged men - are unbelievably arrogant. I guess being a server at Shanghai River means they feel entitled to treat their customers like crap. Never again will I eat there.

Very good shanghai food!!

Not what I expected.... Ben passing this busy restaurant for our walk at Minoru Park. Decided to Have Dinner for my wife's Birthday. We were placed in a room and placed in the corner for a table for 3. The place was less than half full at that time. Wondered why? The food-Fish maw soup was great, so with Crab meat Ball with claw and Spicy Crab. Steamed dumpling was too salty. Scallop was great.Fish was recommended by the Waitress. Claimed it was special. It was the head and tail no body. Taste not as good as expected. Not as fresh. Other food ordered was so so. Service was lousy. Waited for so long for the bill. Gave 10 % tip. The server did not even say Thank you.

Had a late dinner here. Ordered the xiao long bao and hot & sour soup. The XLB were good with some soup inside and tasty pork filling. I actually prefer the XLB at Shanghai Wonderful and Wang's in Crystal Mall more because their XLBs have more soup, tastier fillings and thinner more tender wrappers. The hot & sour soup was ok too, but it was too hot for me with the thick layer of chili oil on top. Considering that we came in to eat at 9:00 pm (because we were too lazy to drive further) it was good for a late dinner.

Great food, but a few faults. Atmosphere & service:The restaurant is very nice inside. It was clean, well-staffed and busy. However, as other have said you have to almost stand up and wave in the servers faces to get their attention - they ignore you unless you chase them down. I was pleased, however, to find that it was not cash only (a pet peeve of mine because I never carry cash:))! Parking is at the back - in case it is your first time!<br/>Food: We ordered the Peking duck, xiao long bao, & chow mein. We enjoyed our food and it is as good as other have described, however I would say that I wish there were more options for those coming in a party of two. I wanted to order more dishes, but would have had to bring 6 people to eat it. It would be nice if there was an option to order half portions. I really wanted to try more dishes, but didn't want to take home a fridge-worth of leftovers. Guess I'll just have to go back and give some of the other dishes a try!

What to try (from NYT). Black vinegar spare ribs with pine nuts

Decent food. Interesting service. When looking in the area of our hotel for a place to eat I came upon several reviews stating that the Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) here were very good. Having a special place on my favourite foods list for them we decided to try this place out.<br/>We were seated quickly due to arriving somewhat before the dinner crowd and were right next to the window through which we could watch the baos being made.<br/>We had to flag someone down to order our food and when the dining room filled we found it interesting that the tables with non-Asians all had different tea pots than those where only asians were seated. <br/>We ordered some of the baos and decided on the 2 course Peking duck as our main.<br/>The baos were indeed good and unlike many we've tried actually did contain some soup. These were likely the best we've had outside of Hong Kong so far.<br/>The duck was served more or less Beijing style with only the skin on the plate for inclusion in the wraps. They did not cut the duck the same way and served hoi sin instead of the Tian mian jiang like most westernised places. It was quite good none the less and the noodles with the meat were nice as well.<br/>It proved difficult to get service and we had to not only flag down a server when we needed something, but ask another for the same thing when our request was not fulfilled by the first one.<br/>I'd recommend the food but am quite disappointed by the service at Shanghai River.

Canton style Shanghai food.... Not good Shanghai food, I can say...

Terrible Service. I visited this restaurant three times. I have to say that the service of the restaurant is consistently lousy. <br/><br/>The first time I was there, I could hardly sit comfortably because it was too crowded. Either the servers kept hitting the back of my chair when they passed by, or the back of my friend's chair being hit by the other customer's chair sitting at the next table, which was placed too close to us. We did not hear any "thank you" at all when we placed the order, asked for the checked, or paid for the bill. I had a feeling that they didn't really care if we were their customers or not, since they place was always packed. There were enough staff working front of the house, but none of them seemed to notice our "waves of our hands". I could hardly flag down any server.<br/><br/>The second time was disastrous! We had 9 guests at our table for lunch. We ordered our own favourite items on the menu, and we planned to share. The first plate came within 5 minutes. We thought it was fast. After consuming 2 pieces of that plate (out of about twenty-something pieces), we figured out that none of us ordered that dish and it was a wrong item served to our table. We told the server that that was a mistake, and asked them to take the dish away. He noticed that we had a few pieces. Not only he did not apologize for the mistake, he insisted that since we "had touched the plate", we had to pay for the item, and we had to take that even if we didn't want it. He was only willing to take that off the bill after we talked to the manager. Again, no "thank you" at all throughout our meal.<br/><br/>The third visit declared that was final. It was a very busy Friday evening. People were lining up at the door. We were a party of 5. We ordered 5 items. 3 of them were fair, but not outstanding. 2 dishes, including the Sweet and Sour Fried Fish, was not ideal. The fish did not taste fresh, and the heavy sauce on the fish could not even disguise its "frozen taste". For whatever reason, the restaurant is always noisy. The high ceiling doesn't help absorbing the noise of the clashing of plates and cups, and the loud conversations from the other tables. We didn't feel very welcome with their indifferent attitude.

Such a letdown. So for our weekly dinner out I decided to take my mother to this place and was it emberassing for me having the place disappoint her over and over... the place was super loud and crazy, people were walking around with kids showing them things and although it was a cute sight it's a bit bothersome having people stand at your table with their kid cause the kid finds you fascinating ... back to the story - we got an akward table which I could deal with but then the service was slow and awful just to order something, getting someones attention was impossible and once we had our order taken the food took an even longer time, I think they actually forgot to bring our food out when it came up because once it did the soup was lukewarm and the lamb was also cooling off. Although we loved the sweet and sour pork (one of the best I ever had) it's just not good enough to come back for.

Siao Long Bao Heaven. If you must try one thing at Shanghai River, it's the siao long bao (steamed pork dumplings). Made fresh daily throughout the day by chefs who specialize in the construction of these little succulent dumplings, the siao long bao at Shanghai River take the spotlight of the restaurant, as the chefs make the siao long bao in front of the customers behind a glass window. The restaurant itself is a mix of modern design with Chinese nuances. Service is efficient and the food is consistently delicious regardless of what you order. Just be adventurous and explore the beautifully designed menu!

Great food!. I just recently went here for a friends birthday dinner. Shanghai River has always been consistently great! They also have reasonable prices for what you get. Definitely on the better end of chinese restaurants in Richmond

If there is one thing you have to order at a Shanghai restaurant, it is their xiao long bao (XLB). These are more commonly referred to in English as soup dumplings with a pork filling. They are folded to collect the juice of the filling as they are steamed. A good XLB should have a thin wrapping except for the top where it provides what people refer to as ‘mouth feel’ when chewing. The filling and the soup that it creates vary from one to another. In addition to XLB, we ordered crab and pork XLB, and a noodle soup. First up are the pork XLB. They were good and had a good ‘mouth feel’ when chewed. This time, the skins were okay and so was the filling. I swear, several years ago their XLB tasted different and were better. Next came these crab and pork XL

I went out to Shanghai River this past weekend for lunch with the in-laws to celebrate my brother-in-law's first job and paycheck. This restaurant is on my list of regular places to go eat and I've been going for the last 7 years. Besides a noticeable decline in XLB (小籠包 - (xiaolongbao) or soupy pork dumplings) quality several years ago when supposedly the master chef left the restaurant, the overall food quality has been pretty consistent over the years. On this particular visit, we ordered quite a few dishes including the popular Shanghai Thick Fried Noodles. For some reason, the noodles were completely unseasoned. We sent the dish back and it was returned to our table with some extra grease, but it tasted completely unchanged! Rather than cause a scene, we packed it to go and salted it later ourselves. Despite that one problem, all the other dishes were very good as usual. We ordered XLBs, green onion pancakes (one of my favorites), salty soy milk, Chinese doughnuts, sticky rice stu

I love how everything is crisp and crunchy with the "Styrofoam noodles" and nuts, and the meat is juicy and tender. The flavouring is mild so it needs a bit of helping with the sauce I think. Eaten alone it's okay, but I feel like there's something missing to brighten it up so I like having the hoisin sauce.

... some had a LOT of meat (exactly the way I like) and others were bare skin; pieces in general were on the large side; skin crisp, but could be crisper still...

Now this is a must read. Is this peking duck or peking squab? Peking what? This is half a duck. There are crunchy, crispy, and soggy pieces. This is half of an old duck that has been re-deepfried. Why is there an old duck that has been sitting in the kitchen? I have no clue. Maybe a table ordered some cold cut chicken plate, no idea. Anyways, for any restaurant to serve this as the first course of peking duck is pretty much an embarrassment. I am all save the children in Africa and do not waste food and I definitely do not speak up. But I had to this time.

Alongside Dinesty, Shanghai River is another high-end Shanghainese restaurant located in Central Richmond. Their xiao long bao is sometimes referred to as being the “best” in the city, but of course, that is up to personal preference. Venturing in on a Wednesday night, it was fairly busy. Picture large groups of families with a smorgasbord of food on the table centre! Yet, there were empty tables up for grabs if diners just so happened to be passing by. My visit this time was mediocre to say the least. Coming here with my family for years, we still collectively agree that Top Shanghai and Suhang are better options. The service here is just plain weak. Plates weren’t properly cleared and the staff didn’t seem to be interested in the customers besides the sole responsibility of taking orders and serving the food. For example, we had ordered the rice cakes but when we received it, we felt that their might have been a miscommunication. It wasn’t what we usually get. Rather than making the

In general, I think Shanghai River is a great place in Richmond for Shanghainese cuisine. They are pricier than many other Shanghainese restaurants but that comes with the food quality and ambiance the restaurant provides.

Good pricing, adequate service and tasty food.

Belated birthday dinner for Adorables! Wanted Shanghainese and this was the closest one! Also came here many years ago, reminiscing about their xiao loong bao =D There were only two of us, so instead of only ordering two dishes and be bored with the lack of variety, I opted for a two person set dinner.

Two things about Shanghai River: It’s always crowded and the vast majority of diners come in large groups. Like eight or ten people—or more. So if you go as just a couple, it may take awhile to get seated. And if you go alone, like I did, you’re going to end up in one of the two booths they’ve squeezed into the back next to the fish tanks. Oh, well. What are you going to do? My waiter, Winston Lai, with his Justin Bieber haircut. My waiter, Winston, looked like a Chinese version of Justin Bieber. Very boyish and sweet looking with that

I loved the deep fried crab with garlic and chili. The meat inside the shell was fluffy, while the exterior was crispy and spicy. AY’s father prompted me to try the crab ‘brains’, which reminded me a lot of deep fried oysters.

While there were some misses, there were also definitely some hits, especially with authentic Zhejiang cuisine. I would recommend sticking to the xiao long bao, soup, and eggplants. Even with some disappointments, the dishes were still good; they just did not meet our high expectations for this place. If you are craving upscale Shanghai dishes and know what to order, then Shanghai River is definitely a good bet.

...world-record-breaking speed, it arrived smoking hot and tasted amazingly good. The duck skin was crisp without being too oily or dry. The meat did not taste as dense or the texture as tough as most roast duck often would. Though it was cooked thoroughly, it’s texture is akin to a medium-rare steak. The pancake was just the right thickness and it’s taste was not do

You already know if I go to a city, I’m looking up the reviews for Xia Long Bao (soup dumplings). If the joint has a Yelp 3.5 star or higher, I’m intrigued. Everyone’s going to compare it to Din Tai Fung (DTF) or Shanghai Joe’s so the opinions fluctuate. When in Vancouver and/or Richmond, hit up the Shanghai River if you want to up your soup dumpling game. The wait is ridiculous but you’re a foodie and down with that anyway. Hell, that’s why you’re reading this site. Be brave, turn on your US phone plan and go shopping at one of the many Richmond Asian malls while you wait. The soup dumplings are so good, you won’t regret it! It’s a nicely crafted dumpling that holds a whole lot of soup. Juicy J pork filling that will make you dance. However, the spicy wontons at Shanghai River don’t quite compare to DTF. It’s a peppery chili sauce similar to many “spicy wontons” except for the DTF. You ought to know that DTF is laced

What does one think of when they crave Xiao Long Bao (XLB)? Those juicy succulent steamed dumplings most popular to Shanghainese cuisine. And where does on think of going to when they want to satisfy this craving? Shanghai River滬江海派料理 , is one of the most popular Shanghainese restaurants in Richmond. It is located on Westminster Highway / No. 3 Road across from Richmond Centre. This restaurant is quite busy and reservations would be a smart choice if you don't want to wait too long in line.

the ambiance of the restaurant is certainly more modern and classy than most Chinese restaurants in Greater Vancouver.

Went to Shanghai River for a family dinner. I haven't been to here in ages and back then, it was only for lunch dim sum. I was excited to try some Shanghainese dinner dishes. We started off with an appetizer consisting of drunken chicken and sweet fish. I don't know the actual names of these dishes so I'm just going by description haha I thought this dish was good. It is a cold dish, you could really taste the slight alcohol taste on the chicken . The texture of the meat was good, it wasn't overly soft or hard. I didn't have much of the fish, but it was okay, it's just a little weird if you haven't had this type of dish before because I actually ate some of the small bones. We ordered four main dishes. Cream Shrimp with walnuts Fried Duck Egg-white with Crab Sweet and Sour Pork I won't comment on the Sweet and Sour Pork because it tasted the same as in any restaurant, but it's still good. The fried duck was definitely the most interesting dish I had. I have never had duck that was prep

This restaurant, famous for their xiao long bao’s, is located in Richmond on Westminster Highway, across from Richmond Centre.

the food is better than most Shanghainese restaurants. There are many varieties to choose from, serving lunch and dinner.

The other must-get dish at Shanghai River is actually their dessert -- "doughnut" filled with red bean paste. It's not really a doughnut per say, but more like a deep fried meringue that is extremely fluffy.

In all honesty, I don’t really consider this visit a “dim sum” post despite coming here during the usual dim sum hour. Sure, we ordered Shanghai Steamed Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) – but you have to order these if you ever dine at Shanghai River.

Alright, I've also never been to Shanghai River before, so Marv made it a point to take me there. We were originally on the way to some more Indian cuisine, but I had a sudden craving for Beef Noodle Soup, so we made a huge loop and ended up at Shanghai River Shanghai River 7831 Westminster Hwy, Richmond BC Tel#: (604) 233-8885 We were promptly greeted and brought to our table just outside of the display window to the kitchen. I really enjoy seats with a view of the kitchen Service here is exceptional! Every server was very polite and tea was promptly refilled. I found the tables to be quite large. We were seated in a table for 4, however if you end up sitting across from each other, you'll have to yell in order for your dining companion to hear you. Of course we had to order the Steamed Pork Dumplings . The wrap was nicely done. It was thin but not thin enough that it would break when lifted up. There was an abundance of soup inside the

Shanghai River is completely packed every night, even on weeknights, and there's a good reason for that. The food is great and the service has improved. Even though we came for dinner, we ordered mostly dim sum dishes. This appetizer of chopped shepherd's purse and bean curd roll (薺菜腐皮卷) was excellent and also very healthy. I remember the noodles were not particularly good during my previous visit, so I was surprised that the noodles with preserved vegetables and shredded pork (雪菜肉絲湯麵) was quite good. The picture doesn't look too appealing because I forgot to take a picture before we dug in. The soup was light and not too salty, and the noodles were soft but still slightly chewy. Of course a Shanghainese meal would not be complete without xiao long bao (å-ç¿"å°ç± åŒ…). I love the juicy buns with hot soup inside. They were not as intense in flavour as some other ones I've tried, but I appreciated the lightly marinated

someone give me a lifeboat :Richmond: Yelpers and Urbanspooners love it.  The blogs I follow love it.  My sister likes it.  Her friends do too.  I figured it was a sure bet for dinner with my ma. It's polite and clean.  The anticipation was killing me, especially since you can see them prep the soup dumplings - xio long bow They arrived and after my first bite I was confused.  I did not love it.  While the flavour of the dumplings was good,  the soup was swimming with huge chunks of pork crud and grease.  Now, I've had a lot of XLB in my life and I've never seen it look quite so cloudy and grimy.  The skin itself was super thick and chewy.  I remain confused. This was my mother's first XLB and I regret taking her because she did not enjoy it.  Now it will take persuasion and bribery to get her to go eat it again.  My mother does not agree with my philosophy about trying everything at least twice.  If she doesn't like it, she avoids it. XLB We did, however, love our other two dishes: Ma

...we were all licking our fingers, wiping our faces and hands with damp cloths and generally having a gloriously messy time.

Shanghai River- Recently went to a birthday dinner at Shanghai River. It was a busy Sunday night and all of the tables were full. I've been to this restaurant before but couldn't recall exactly what I had eaten. Consequently I knew not to expect too much

Shanghai River is trying to go for the upscale image, when all it really is, is just another shao long bao (spelling depending on where your from) place in a fancy wrapper. You got the fancy tea pots.... ....and the fancy spring rolls.... .....and the fan

I have been craving for Peking duck for the past couple weeks and one of my friend suggested getting it at Shanghai River in Richmond. Walking into Shanghai River , I immediately got the smell of vinegar and steame

Shanghai River is located in the heart of Richmond, conveniently across the Richmond Centre mall.  This post will be relatively longer since we were invited to a family get together so we had a chance to sample lots of dishes.   View Larger Map You may notice this place is quite busy day and night, no matter which day of the week.  Shanghai River was one of the pioneer Shanghai cuisines that started up here several years ago and has been quite successful.  They are also one of the few who started the open kitchen concept where you can see the chefs making the Xiao Long Baos.  We didn’t sit close enough to get shots though. We had a late reservation so the place was not too full. The first round of dinner guests were already finishing up and paying their bills by the time we arrived.  Ok here comes the food: We ordered 2 loafs of fried plain Shanghai rolls.  They came with a small serving of condensed milk.  Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  You can get them just straight of the steamer non-fried if you prefer the healthy option. Xiao long baos are definitely a must order item when visiting a Shanghai restaurant.  The wrap had a nice bouncy texture, not too thick.  Be careful when biting in or else the soup will explode into your mouth and burn your mouth.  To eat these, bite a tiny hole on the side and suck out the soup slowly before eating the rest. Next comes the stir-fried rice cakes with pork and preserved veggies.  This was a bit oily but is normal for this type of dish.  The rice cakes were quite chewy and fresh.  Nice flavouring came from the chopped greens and pork. Nex

After talking to my friend from Shanghai I have learned that Shanghai River is not really authentic Shanghainese food. It’s still good, but just not authentic. I can see where she’s coming from because I’ve been to Shanghai and when comparing the food I g