Shanghai River Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond

A sad, underwhelming and disappointing farewell lunch to see us off! Sigh!

As winner of the ‘2024 Vancouver Best Chinese Restaurant Award - Shanghainese food category’. I approach our luncheon rendezvous at this award recipient with high hopes and expectations!

Our meal started off with a huge and impressive bang! The arrival of one of my most favorite Shanghainese Dim-Sum - “ Fried/Baked Shredded Turnip Puff “ looked refined and gorgeous. The generous, savory filling of shredded fresh turnip threads, diced house-cured salted pork and pickled turnip bits was juicy and absolutely delectable! What a fantastic start!

Sadly, things started to deteriorate and went downhill from there.!

Unlike the near perfect rendition we had at Yuan’s Garden a few days ago, the ‘Drunken chicken’ we ordered here was bland and one dimensional tasting, the wine marinade, diluted and under seasoned, the chicken appearing dull and unattractive. Based on our server’s input that wild Warsaw Grouper filet is used for their ‘ Braised white fish in wine sauce and black fungus ‘, my ordering of this favorite fish dish of mine was a cakewalk. Unfortunately, once again, the dish was under seasoned with the requisite sweet tasting component totally missing?! Worse still, the fish was way over-cooked rendering the texture rough and tough! Missing the wonderfully executed ‘Stirred fry Shanghainese Rice Cake ‘ my wife recently had in Hong Kong. We ordered this similar dish in the hope it will satisfy her yearning. Well, I guess without my saying, most of you would have guessed the outcome?! Indeed, the execution was nothing close to Hong Kong’s standard. Shanghai River’s rendition was way below par, totally lacking in ‘wok-hay ‘ components. The taste profile, flat and savorless, the ingredients smothered in thick starchy gravy. The supposedly famous ‘ Water, pan fried pork buns ‘ were acceptable, with fairly light, bun cocoons and crispy bottom. However, the overall product could use a touch more wine seasoning for the pork filling and a more complex broth.

Guess the award does not equate...

Among the many Shanghainese restaurants available in Vancouver and Richmond, Shanghai River sets itself up as the classier option. It's prime location at the heart of Richmond with floor to ceiling windows reaching across the entire wall facing Westminster Highway, the high ceilings, brightly lit interior, glass windows providing a clear view into the kitchen, and the vast interior space packed with tables gives the impression of grandeur.

Fully colour photographs in the hefty menu provide guests with a feast for the eyes and lures you to salivate in eager anticipation of your meal. The food is indeed delicious whether you are choosing from various traditional Shanghainese dim sum and pastries or opt for their larger share dishes to go with rice. There is a finesse to their execution of each dish particularly notable among the variations of options in the menu.

The true test of a great Shanghainese chef is their Juicy Pork Dumpling or Xiao Long Bao (小籠包): a thinly kneeded pastry wrap containing tender and flavourful pork housed together with its decadent soup, steamed to perfection - a signature dish of Shanghainese cuisine. The dumpling ought to be soft to the touch, so thin that it should be translucent enough for you to see the sillouette of the pork and soup inside, but it must hold together and not break when you lift it from the top with chopsticks. That is the true test of skill. Shanghai River passes the test, although not the best in town, but good enough for return meals time and time again.

To wrap up a delightful dinner, be sure to explore their unique desserts not available at most other...

Wow! So I had just flown into Vancouver and was a hungry hungry hippo I had done quite a bit of research before heading to Vancouver but hadn't quite decided what my first meal should be. XLB my stomach decided. I quickly decided on Shanghai River as it was pretty close to my hotel in Richmond.

I arrived at the restaurant and couldn't wait to be seated. I figured there wouldn't be a long wait since it was almost 2pm but I was wrong...I had to wait almost 30 minutes to be seated, but no worries, it was worth the wait.

Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai Soup Dumpings) - Super juicy and generous in size. The meat was tasty, plenty of soup, and the skin was perfect! not too thick, not too thin (none broke!). Best XLB of my trip I believe! $7.50

Fried crab and shrimp ball - Generous amount of shrimp! The crab tasted a bit fishy...but it is shellfish, so maybe it was just me. Came in an order of three for $8.50.

Tsao bing with beef - I can't think of what it's called in English, but lots of times you can get it for breakfast. Usually it comes in thin layers upon layer of dough rolled over and over again so everything flakes perfectly. This one is a bit different, it was more cracker like. It still came with beef in the middle but was doused with soy sauce and had cucumbers instead of cilantro. Still very good, just different from what I was expecting when I ordered it. $7.50

Shanghai noodles - Overall the dish was average, but the noodles tasted like they were fresh! Oh so chewy, my tastebuds delighted and my stomach rejoiced. $12.80

First meal in Vancouver/Richmond...