Shanghai Village — Restaurant in Melbourne

So, been a regular and frequent customer at Shanghai Village for several years now, it has always been the 'go-to' restaurant that my girlfriend and her family eat at whenever they have an event on in the city, mainly due to the fact that it is cheap, good food (especially the dumplings) but most importantly because of the BYO 'license'.

Last night we arrived to have a succulent Chinese meal before heading to the Coldplay concert, both events we were very excited for!

Greeted at the door by the host who asked us if we were drinking any alcohol which is a question we have never been asked previously, and considering this is pretty much their entire business model, was quite an odd question to be asked, either way we said yes, after which he told us that we would have to sit upstairs, again, not an issue. However, my partner realised as we were heading up that nobody downstairs was drinking, and when we arrived upstairs, everyone was drinking. I assumed this was maybe because they wanted to have a 'quieter' environment downstairs but again, this place has never been known for its 'quiet' environment (never been a problem for us and we believe this is all part of the chaotic experience which we loved).

So we ordered our food which, as usual, came extremely quickly and was reasonable especially for the price and everything seemed to have returned to a normal Shanghai Village experience.

Halfway through the meal one of the waiters was walking around to every table and advising them that they had to finish their alcohol ASAP, our table was included in this. Again, another out of the ordinary experience, as having any communication with the staff whatsoever was rare! Anyway, we reluctantly agreed to the request and started downing a full bottle of wine and a 4 pack of mixed spirits as quickly as we could without getting absolutely plastered.

Probably 10 minutes later the door host comes upstairs and starts going around to every table, and aggressively telling everyone that they have been told multiple times that they cannot drink in this restaurant and they have been told to finish their drinks. Everyone else in the restaurant was looking around in disbelief.

When he arrived at our table, which at this point we are all very confused and gives us the same spiel as he was giving the other tables. We could not believe that this guy was straight up trying to gaslight us after we had literally just told him that we HAD alcohol and the whole purpose of him sitting us upstairs was because we HAD alcohol and that he was aware of this, we also told him that we have been coming to this restaurant for several years and have never had this type of issue previously. Straight away he begins apologizing and whispering so only our table could hear that he made a mistake and remember that we did tell him and then walks away... 15 minutes later the other waiter returns to our table and hands us the bill in a way to tell us to get our act together and leave. Which we did.

Overall, a very confusing and out of character experience at Shanghai Village. It feels as though they might have possibly lost their BYO license and are aware that the main reason people come to the restaurant is to BYO alcohol, because of this they're doing dodgy business practices to avoid getting caught out and putting it back on their customers which can be quite a jarring experience.

Unfortunately, if this is what the future looks like for Shanghai Village, I can see massive decline in customers purely based on the BYO issues and trying to blame the customers mid-meal. Even my partner and I who are loyal customers have agreed to part ways with Shanghai Village for the...

I very rarely leave reviews but this place was so disgusting and disappointing that I felt I needed to warn others…

Disgustingly filthy - if it’s dirty in the dining room I feel sick thinking about what the kitchen must be like. The health inspectors really need to do an audit on this place.

Food - not very good and also it’s really not that cheap. Once you order a few plates to share it’s about $30-40 per person. Can get a plate at Chin Chin for that much and that place is pretty expensive. The table that paid before I did paid $265 for 5 people for lunch. It really isn’t that cheap! The dumplings had that yuk texture that you could tell they had been frozen. And so bland - where’s the flavour?

Service - non existent. For some reason we have learnt to expect bad service at Chinese restaurants but this is worst I’ve experienced as normally it’s overly aggressive or rude but here it just doesn’t exist at all. Have to order via QR code, staff working in trackie pants, have to get your own cutlery and water, all while the 4 staff just stood up at the bar watching us. We sat down as a table for 3 but it was set for only 2 - did they bring an extra table setting? Don’t be silly. So we had to walk up and get our own. Which is located about 2m from whether the staff were just standing there. They brought out some of the dumpling dishes in disposal paper containers - why?? When paying I said that I had ordered an extra dish and it didn’t arrive so can it be taken off the bill - they printed the bill and turned out I had forgotten to add it via the QR. One of the staff started giggling about it. After I paid and turned to walk away they both broke in hysterical laughter - so rude!!

Ambience - the place is disgusting. Have a look at the photos I have posted. I don’t know why I stayed and still ordered after I saw the filth. I guess I was hoping the food would make up for it… The door is very creaky and slams every time people come in or leave - just oil the hinges and adjust the auto closing mechanism! It’s not hard. No music at all, which makes it feel uncomfortable for lunch time when you can hear conversations of tables next to you. Maybe no music works for rowdy dinner services, but not for lunch. There was a huge screen on the wall showing security cameras but then some of the cameras weren’t working so they were just flickering. Why? Why is this there but also why have it up there if you’re showing that the cameras don’t work?

One measure of Chinese restaurants is how many Chinese people are eating there - this place fails that test miserably.

I noticed there are a lot of glowing 5 star reviews mentioning someone by name, which makes me super suspicious that they are fake or paid-for. As unless I’m talking crazy pills I can’t see how anyone would be happy paying regular China Town prices for super average food and having to serve yourself your own cutlery and water all while sitting in a dining that is filthier than the alleys off the side of Little Bourke St.

Avoid it like the plague… although, even the plague might be cleaner...

what a big let down !first came here for dumplings with family in 2018, delicious ! returned in 2019 & 2020 several times all delicious ! again in 2022 but probably started to notice it was getting dirty. there are other chinese restaurants in melbourne that are dirty usually in the toilets, area near kitchen filled with excess stock etc BUT Shanghai Village in little bourke st, china town has lost it, unfortunately ! it is filthy, seriously filthy to the point where i dont think a food inspector from the council has visited in years. we were going to a comedy show so thought quick feed here cant go wrong been plenty times before . WRONG ! dont understand how it is rated 3rd best, i can only think that might be on dumplings alone, certainly not on cleanliness & service. i really hate having to scan a QR code to order, its so impersonal & makes me feel like im in a crowded food court. condiments on table were filthy. dont get me started on the female toilet upstairs yuk, grafitti all over walls, just disgusting ! there were 3 male waiters on duty, 1 who pointed to QR code & more or less grunted. we asked for a menu but none. we had to go up, order & pay. the fried rice with pork looked awful, didnt taste much better, it had thin slivers of pale meat like looking stuff eerrrr ! my prawns with brocolli had about 2 heads of half cooked brocolli & was swimming in a clear thick liquid made of cornflour & water. if you look at past photos it used to have a brown sauce probably soy but not now, no flavour. we got 1 thin napkin, scratched old chopsticks & it all felt dirty. on the way out if you are silly enough to go in, check out the grease, grime, dirt & germs on the back of the door. this just made me feel sick, lucky i wasnt. please please go round the corner to a real chinese restaurant with friendly waiters great food & a clean experience. anywhere but...