Shanghai Club Restaurant & Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

I recently had a terrible experience at Shanghai Club when I went there with my family.

They served me the wrong cocktail, which triggered my egg allergy—I had informed them about my allergy before placing my order for food and drinks. Unfortunately, I had to leave early, even before our meals arrived, because my egg allergy was quite severe, and I needed to seek medical attention at the nearest pharmacy.

To make matters worse, they still charged my credit card for my guests' meals, only removing the charge for the cocktail. They promised to invite me back, but it's been two weeks since then, and I haven't heard anything yet.

I emailed them last week to remind them that I am still waiting for their invitation, but once again, there has been no communication.

Honestly, even if they do reach out now, I don't think I would feel comfortable going back. It's such a shame because I really wanted to like the place, as I am a local to Cremone.

I just wanted to share this in case anyone is considering visiting - especially if you have food allergies like me :(

Update (17/02/2025) my reply to Shanghai Club after their reply to my review.

Dear Shanghai Club,

Thank you for your response and for acknowledging the mix-up that occurred during our visit. I appreciate the offer of a 50% discount and the invitation to return, as expressed in my email to you earlier.

However, I must express that the initial handling of the situation and the delay in communication have significantly impacted my trust in your service. While I understand mistakes can happen, the severity of my allergy and the subsequent need for medical attention made this experience particularly distressing.

I also feel that placing the responsibility on me and my family for not correcting the drink order at the table is unfair. Given the severity of my allergy, it was crucial for your staff to ensure the correct drink was served, especially after being informed about my allergy.

Additionally, I was informed by my partner that your staff requested we take down my review. I declined to do so because I believe it's important to share honest experiences, both good and bad. It's not appropriate to pressure guests into removing their reviews, as it can come across as blackmail.

Furthermore, I did not demand a refund. You replied saying that you would be more than happy to refund me, after seeing my review here, but then told my partner at the time during the refund exchange that you would only refund me if I removed my post. This makes me very uncomfortable and further erodes my trust in your establishment.

I will not consider the invitation to return, as I do not feel comfortable doing so given the circumstances.

Thank you again for your efforts to make amends but more needs to happen before I recommend this place to anyone whom I love and care about.

In my personal opinion, if you had of cared about your guests more, this wouldn't have occurred, as I am a very understanding person and have reviewed positively in most of my restaurant...

We have visited Shanghai club last Saturday. I was looking forward to our visit as I heard about the place since they've opened and always wanted to visit since we live in the neighbourhood. We don't go out too often these days as we have a toddler, so this was a special night for just my partner and me. The ambiance was great, we came early but the restaurant filled pretty quickly for dinner and was buzzing with positive vibes. They did really well in designing the interior and it looks very stylish. The staff were very attentive, sometimes maybe a bit too much, especially at the beginning when there were only few tables, later on they got busy, and the attentiveness declined tiny bit but they always had smile on their face. The cocktails were the highlight although one of them was a big disappointment. We have tried Hotel Shanghai which in my opinion is one of the best cocktails I had. Shanghai'd was also nice and tasty however the Yuzu Pearl Martini was a disappointment. The description says "refreshingly fruity yet sophisticated" however the taste was as I was drinking a sugar water. I have told the waiter when I tasted it however there was no attempt to offer a different drink or try to adjust the taste. There was no fruitiness or freshness as you would expect from yuzu. They brought a lime juice on my request which helped to fix the taste a bit but I would not order that drink again. The food was a hit and miss. We have ordered: -Prawn spring rolls - extremely oily and the shell was very thick. -Angus Tenderloin Skewers - very tasty -Pot Stickers - very nice -Salt and Pepper Calamari - very nice and tender however a bit too peppery, -Pan Seared Baby Bok choy with Shitake mushrooms - big disappointment -Wagyu Sirloin 5+ - very tasty As desert we have ordered: Hot apple rhubarb spring rolls that came burnt on one side (all 3 of them) however they have positioned them on the plate so we could not see it when served. I would not serve a dish like that. Otherwise they were quite nice however the anglaise dip was very watery and overly sweet. Start Anise Chocolate Mousse with lychee compote - another disappointment as the chocolate was very far from a mousse and was very thick and rich. The taste was nice so I have asked for a take away as I could only have few spoonfuls due to the richness and didn't want to waste it. The lychee compote were two shrivelled lychees which I would not call a compote. When I hear compote I envision a fruit cooked in a sauce. The sauce was missing to lighten up the "mousse". Overall it was a disappointing experience and I hope this feedback will help the restaurant to tweak few things and up the game as I think it has a great potential and we would love to see it thrive and hopefully come back one...

Its called a Chinese -Australian fusion restaurant - more like con-fusion...! We made a reservation and were shown promptly to the table, but then left there.....for a long time. We had to chase up a waiter to get served after about 25 minutes. Menu is very brief. Lots of pork belly - it's way too fatty for me to eat. We ordered 4 entrees between 4 persons. After 20+ minutes two entrees arrived. The entrees were ok but the serving size is about half of what you would expect for the price. Very stingy servings. The mains are a confusion... Twice cooked chicken that was not really cooked... and giving a thigh with the bone inside is not a pleasant thing to grapple with. The fried rice was simply disgusting - taste was really terrible, so good thing that serving size was small. Nice, but definitely but the two entrees were not generous and not worth the money we had to pay. So disappointing. Another 30+ minute wait - "Excuse me but can we have our other two entrees?" Immediately the salt & pepper calamari arrived following the waiter's rush to the kitchen, but no spring rolls... Why - "Oh sir, you didn't order any..." What...!! That's not good excuse. Blaming the customer for your error. So, we only got the 3 entrees. Hey..."Can I have some jasmine tea...?" Oh no sir, we don't serve tea, we concentrate on wine. "But I don't want wine tonight, and this is Chinese, right? I'd like some jasmine tea" No way... No tea. The restaurant atmosphere - very noisy, and a bit tacky. The big poster on the wall is so poorly made it has air bubbles all through it. Tables way too close to each other as well. Will I go back? Highly doubt it. There are much better Asian style restaurants around Cremorne and Neutral Bay to bother with this confused fusion place again. Not...