Shanghai Bay — Restaurant in Southampton

After hearing good things about Shanghai Bay, I finally decided to give this place a go and brought a party of five for a late celebratory dinner for the Chinese New Year.

The restaurant is quite reminicent of any typical restaurant I've been to during my visit to Hong Kong. As you approach the stairs landing you can literally see and smell the authenticity: sets of massive round tables, an aquarium of lethargic crustaceans in the corner, Oriental dragons on the wall, and the scent of food cooking in the kitchen wafts in the air.

Food was absolutely fantastic, filling, flavourful and well worth the money spent. Everything we ordered was freshly made and piping hot (especially the dim sum). It should be mentioned that the menu was outright extensive that we actually struggled to make a selection. Each item literally begged to be tasted. Once everyone has ordered, we didn't have to wait too long before the food, served in their individual plates or bowls were placed steaming on the spinner in the middle of the table.

Also, the staff were very friendly and attentive and take into account any modifications you want on the dish you ordered (my partner doesn't eat peanuts and they made sure they were removed from his kung pao chicken). Lastly, unlike most Chinese establishments, you can conveniently pay by card.

Overall, Shanghai Bay is easily my new favourite Chinese restaurant in Southampton and so...

Shanghai Bay’s Cantonese dim sum is absolutely top-notch, offering an authentic taste of traditional Cantonese cuisine. My favorite dish is the Fresh King Prawn Cheung Fun (大鮮蝦腸粉)—the rice rolls are silky smooth yet delightfully chewy, and the prawns are impressively large, fresh, and flavorful, far superior to the usual frozen ones.

Among other dim sum, I especially love the Prawn Dumplings (鮮蝦餃皇), which are made without fatty pork. The Minced Pork Dumplings with Prawn (鮮蝦蒸燒賣) and Beef Dumplings with Dried Bean Curd (山竹牛肉球) are also excellent. The Fried Dough Cheung Fun (炸兩), featuring crispy Chinese dough sticks wrapped in rice noodle rolls, is wonderfully crunchy, and the mini Glutinous Rice with Meat in Lotus Leaves (迷你珍珠雞) are perfectly portioned and well-seasoned.

I would even say that the dim sum here is better than any Cantonese restaurant I’ve tried in London, considering both the quality and size of the dim sum. Everything is freshly steamed to order, arriving at the table piping hot, making it well worth recommending.

As for Shanghai dim sum, such as the Shanghai Dumplings with Crab Meat (蟹粉小籠包) and Pan-Fried Pork & Vegetable Buns (香煎菜肉包), they are decent but not particularly outstanding compared to the...

The staff here are extremely rude, and they need further education.

I usually spend £20 to £30 at another Chinese restaurant, but this week, I injured my mouth and the pain makes it impossible for me to eat anything except porridge. So I came to this restaurant and ordered a bowl of porridge.

The elderly male staff looked displeased after checking my order and treated me with sarcasm. I felt uncomfortable but tolerated it. However, he went even further.

After completing the order, he turned to other colleagues and started mocking me loudly, saying "it's even more economical than eating at McDonald's," which could be heard throughout the entire restaurant.

I felt extremely embarrassed and angry. Don't you know this is very rude? If this restaurant has a minimum spending requirement, you should have told me directly, and I would have understood and left.

The porridge was unappetizing, and the staff were uncivilized. This is the first and last time I will visit this restaurant.

I was puzzled when I first entered why there were so few customers, and now everything makes sense.

For those who want dim sum and Cantonese cuisine, I highly recommend M dim sum. Both the taste and service there are much better than...