Shanghai Wonton Noodle Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

Okay, I had to start off with saying that I went here 3 days straight, like back-to-back. It was that good. I was in town for a conference at the Shaw Centre, and honestly was so tired of the super meh provided conference food. Not to mention that the first time I was here was after a heavy night of drinking with coworkers, so the umami bomb was just what I needed. My go to was, naturally, the beef noodle soup. It wasn't until my 2nd time that I was like whoaaa why would i not add the marinated egg?! The addition is so cheap and so flavorful. But back to the soup. The noodles are the perfect amount of chewy. There are plenty of slices of tender, soft beef along with veggies. Add in spoon fulls of the chili oil at each table, and you got yourself some wholesome goodness. I also got the fried dumplings which were perfectly fried and delicious with the vinegar sauce. For the price point and amount of food you get...well let me just say that I'll make it a point to stop here everytime I'm in Ottawa.

This place is a true mom and pop place. We actually came first thing in the morning right when their hours said they would open, but had to wait as the lady owner (who is also the main cook) was still setting things up. Yes it might get slightly dirty as the day goes on, but give them a break as it's just the couple working together to produce awesome food. There's a water cooler with provided styrofoam cups if you don't want to buy...

Hit and miss.

Tried all their varieties: Dry noodles Broth noodles Wonton soup Dry wonton Fried wonton

I have to say skip the noodles in general. The dry noodles were too dry. The peanut sauce immediately seized your throat. You really feel the grainy texture of the peanut sauce and it didn't feel nice. You need to lots of vinigar and pepper flacks from the table to balance it out. The broth noodles were overcooked and mushy. The broth flavours were lacking. But I have to say the beef were good.

The wontons were pretty good. I really enjoyed the texture of the wonton skin within the broth, very chewy. We got #2 and #3 from the broth wontons and both have their pros and cons. #3 had a more savoury flavour but #2 was more fragrant.

The fried wontons also had a good crisp outside that contrasted all the other dishes on the menu.

But the star of the restaurant is the dry wontons. The dry noodles were too dry but it worked for the wontons! The sauce was smooth (unlike with the noodles) and coated the wontons perfectly. The sauce made the wontons more flavourful and savoury.

As for the atmosphere, it was a hole in the wall type restaurant but everything was clean and bright. There is not a lot of seating so don't come as a big group. The service was nice.

Overall, I will come back for the dry wontons and maybe the fried wontons but...

Would have loved to try this food except for a few things. 1. They never answer their phone for take out. No big deal .My gf and I decide to walk over and she went in to order our take out. She waited for 5 min .Said "hello" and the gentleman looked at her then continure to do whatever it is he was doing. He walked around to deliver food. No big deal .She waited 5 more minutes and he didn't address her. She decided to leave and we decided to take our business down the street. As she was leaving a group of Asian people walked in and he rushed over to greet them. 2. I saw this and decided to ask him why my gf was ignored for 10 min .I asked him politely why my gf had to wait 10 min to be acknowledged. His response "go wait in line ". I told him I'd rather spend my money where we feel welcome. Now I realize that this may come.off as white privilege or mildly tone deaf. But I assure you that both she and myself were blatantly ignored. I will never go back .If you want great Chinese food close to Shanghai. I highly recommend Hong Kong Express two blocks away .they are wonderful. Shanghai Noodle seems not to care about customer satisfaction. If I get roasted for this post so be it. But I wouldn't accept that behavior from any restaurant I choose to spend my hard...