Shanghai Cafe Deluxe

This is a difficult review to write, but I feel it has to be written. I reviewed this place before with nothing but good things to say about it. However, slowly this began to change. The food is still very good with possibly one of the best soup dumplings in Chinatown. However, the service makes the experience unbearable. Let me put this in perspective, I am a person who absolutely adores Chinese food and Chinese culture. I am white, but I won’t be caught dead ordering chicken with Broccoli. I also believe that people in the food business work tremendously hard and should be compensated. A reasonable tip is 18-20% for good service. Anything less is a way to show displeasure at subpar service. On this one occasion we were seated at a table and then moved to the booth when it became available. The waiter has asked us to move our own drinks. I don’t find this deplorable but it is in bad taste. When the soup dumplings arrived the waiter barked “excuse me” while we rearranged our plates to make room for the dumplings to be hastily dropped on the table. Service was not courteous for some time but this was a tad much. It felt like we were unwanted guests in someone’s living room. This motivated me to leave a 12% tip. On our way out the manager approached my companion yelling something in Chinese. I asked for a translation. Apparently the manager asked my Chinese companion to convince the “white guy” to tip appropriately. I informed the manager of why the tip was reduced. To this she replied: “In an Asian restaurant you can bring your own water.” I take offense at this. There are plenty of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown where service is valued. Furthermore, there are plenty of soup dumpling houses with on-par or superior dumplings, such as Shanghai Asian Manor. Demanding a bigger tip, rather than apologizing for the poor manners of your wait-staff, is abhorrent in my opinion. The conversation ended, with the manager assuring me that next time “She will bring my drinks herself wherever I go. “ Why would there be a next time? more

this place is horrible. went in the place was half empty. still had to wait ten minutes for me and my girlfriend to be seated. ordered onigiri/rice-balls in 2 styles with scallion pancakes and bubble tea milkshakes. scallion pancakes were fine. instead of milk shakes they bring out bubble tea, made on site, from powders, but like 60% ice. the onigiri wasn't onigiri. was the premade , store bought rice flour rolls. imagine a sausage made out of rice. and for the chicken or pork portion that is supposed to be in the center of the ball of each order was instead under cooked meat loaded with bad kimchi so it was more kimchi and raw meat than anything. pointed out the wrong order to waitress and they said this is how they make it. knowing this isn't what i ordered i said are you sure, they replied yes. decide let's try it anyway. we pay. they demand a 25% tip. as in cook, all wait staff surround us til i give them 3 dollars while they demanded more. got up and left. within half an hour feel the food fighting to get out and go home. spent the rest of the night with food poisoning. glad i have 2 restrooms. more

Used to love this place. Now it's nasty and gone downhill. I found a roach in my water the other day. My friend found hair and in his soup dumpling. He missed work for 2 days de to food poisoning. The NYC Health department just cited this place for 20 health violation twice. Violation points: 20 Violations were cited in the following area(s). Sanitary Violations 1) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation. 2) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas. 3) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies. 4) Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared. 5) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly. more

This is my favorite Chinese restaurant, been going there for over 10 years.\r Check out their cold appetizers, smoked fish, preserved duck, spicy five jewels, vegaratarian mock duck,..black mushrooms wrapped w/ bean curd skin. \r There is one stupid rude waitress...she's short (around 5 feet) and wears a ponytail...the rest of the staff is pretty good. Pros: best soup dumplings , cheap , great food more

Note this is now called Shanghai Cafe, not Shanghai Gourmet. Despite all the comments I've seen about unpleasant servers here, I decided to give it a try, as the food itself seemed quite compelling. I've found that if you approach the customer-restaurant relationship with the right attitude, people that might usually tend to crankiness will actually warm up and be relatively pleasant. If you are quiet and courteous, servers will respond in kind. I also recommend being ready to order when the server first comes, not ordering off menu, eating all or nearly all of the food, and waiting patiently when things are busy. Also, don't skimp on the tip because of perceived injustices. Anyway, I ordered the spicy stewed beef with noodles in soup ($4.95), the steamed tiny buns with crab meat and pork ($6.95), and a hot ginger tea ($2.25). The stewed beef and tea arrived within five minutes. The beef broth was delicious, spicy/salty/sweet, and the beef itself very flavorful. The noodles weren't that exciting, but they just seemed like an accompaniment anyway, so no big deal. The ginger tea arrived very hot and was a good level of gingery zinginess but not overwhelming. A few minutes later, the buns arrived. These ""tiny"" buns were actually pretty substantial--way too big to fit into my soup spoon--and there were 8 of them. The waitress thoughtfully reminded me that they were very juicy and that the juice was hot, so I should be careful. I was careful and avoided any juicy disasters. As for the filling, the flavor was quite good and the texture was exemplary. The meaty part avoided the hard ball you can often get, and instead was tender to the teeth but held together well so you didn't have to eat it all in one bite. Everything was good enough--and not overly heavy--to motivate me to eat all of the buns and 90% of the soup. The waitress brought me the check within a couple minutes of my finishing and she even smiled when she thanked me--admittedly a rarity there. Others thanked me as well when I left. Overall a very satisfying experience. Pros: Really tasty food and nice decor Cons: Bad background music more

Better than average xiao long bao, and the prices are great. more

Better than average xiao long bao, and the prices are great. more

Been there a few times and the food is decent. However, the service is nothing to brag about. Customers get... more

Been there a few times and the food is decent. However, the service is nothing to brag about. Customers get yelled at across the restaurant about w... more

The food was decent, but nothing to laud over. The service on the other hand was the worst I've ever had the misfortune to experience. When I asked them to take out eggs out of a vegan dish because one of my friend's had to fast for Lent, they threw a fit. They also decided that it was their moral duty to give all of us a lecture on ordering dishes afterward. Finally, the cherry on top of the icing came in the form for an avid demand for more tip, even though we gave them 12%, which was generous considering their treatment of us. NEVER AGAIN WILL I OR ANY OF MY FRIENDS GO TO THIS PLACE. IF YOU WISH TO BE ANGERED BEYOND ALL MEANS, THEN PLEASE VISIT THIS PLACE. Pros: Example: best croissants in town Cons: TERRIBLE SERVICE, GREEDY SERVERS more

Carb lovers take note, this is your paradise. Shanghai cafe's soup dumplings are among the best I've ever had and they are constantly being made fresh. The restaurant's various noodle dishes are awesome and their wine chicken is a treat with a kick. Service is prompt and the decor is nice enough for a date or just hanging out with friends. For a reasonable price ($10-15 a head) you'll walk out stuffed silly. Pros: Excellent food, good service, great value Cons: Can get very crowded in the evenings, get there early! more

OK, food, they are shanghai cuisine, so don't expect dozen and dozens of variety of rice dishes that you can get at a Cantonese place like in most of chinatown. they do have dumplings, that is what they specialize in. but you can get better dumplings, steamed or fried from joe's shanghai, or any of the other joe's restaurants.\r \r i don't recommend this restaurant because of the POOR SERVICE.\r \r i had a ten dollar bill, the lady boss at the counter told an underling to fetch two items from the refrigerator behind her, she did, leaving them on the counter. then the boss lady continued to do what she had to do, and i had to wait several minutes for her to finish and then have those items put in a bag. I tried paying for them with a ten dollar bill but she refused the bill because it felt soft. YES IT WAS FADED, but it was still a REAL FKING TEN DOLLAR BILL YOU B*TCH. I told you to look at the security features, but no, you said it felt soft, like WTF? you wasted my time you ignorant asses. I had to go to the bank and exchange the bill so this won't happen to me elsewhere because of ignorant fresh off the boat (FOB) chinese. and i am now boycotting this restaurant and recommend others to do the same because they don't care about the customer, only about $$$$$. the food is average, and i always see few people eating inside every time i walk past. GO TO joe's shanghai, his restaurants are always super busy and that means fresh food. Pros: if you like being ignored and treated like dirt Cons: shanghainese people all think they are high and mighty. more

They have great food, but I dread going there because of their service. They do rush you out and are short of being rude. But I've tried a few other places and the food just isn't the same. Thats the only reason why they still have so much business. Its definitely worth going there, just ignore their rudeness, they can't do much to you after the food is on the table lol. just kidding.\r \r As for seating....aim for the booths if possible. Pros: food, atmosphere Cons: service more

I went there to eat at least 3X in the past few years. This isn't my spot. I'd go only if I have too. Food is average. Decor is acceptable. Not comfortable seating. Tables are too close to each other. Poor service. All staffs are trained to rush you out as soon as you place your order even when the place isn't full. Pros: Decent Decor ---- Average Food Cons: Poor Service ---- Tables are too close more

This is the worst service in the world. I could not be more displeased. They require a minimum order of $3 per person and they hover over you when you eat. They give you the check before you are done eating, fine, most places in chinatown do that, but they tried to collect the bill multiple times before we were ready to leave. It's like they wanted to kick us out even though the restaurant was mostly empty. Due to their poor services, we decided to leave a less than 10% tip (which was more than enough considering their poor services) and they argued with us to try and get us to give them 15%. I told them 15% gratuity was ""gratuity- to thank you for your good services"" and they tried arguing for it. We would not give in and they told my friends and I never to come back. Fine! There are plenty of other restaurants in Chinatown that have better services and better food for just as cheap! Cons: Poor service more

This place gets 4 stars for the tiny buns and the prices alone. The food, ambience, and service isn't... more

This place gets 4 stars for the tiny buns and the prices alone. The food, ambience, and service isn't spectacular otherwise, but it's worth going t... more

This place gets 4 stars for the tiny buns and the prices alone. The food, ambience, and service isn't spectacular otherwise, but it's worth going t... more

I've gotta disagree with teh last 2 reviewers' ratings. This place does not deserve 5 stars. The soup... more

I've gotta disagree with teh last 2 reviewers' ratings. This place does not deserve 5 stars. The soup dumplings are definitely not as good as Joe's... more