Shanghai Rose — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Since my Yelp review was hidden. I'm posting on Google instead.

I'm so disappointed that I will never return to this place because I love their food. I took two of my friends to this location because we wanted some excellent dim sum, and we got it, but with absolutely terrible service. First, the waiter was visibly annoyed even before arriving at our table to take our order. We ordered a few plates, including a noodle plate. All of our food came out except for the noodle plate. We waited for 30 minutes, and our noodles still did not show up. We asked different staff to check in on the noodles, and they all told us, "It'll be coming right out." Eventually, I asked our waiter again, and it was apparent he didn't remember we ordered the noodles, too. That's fine; I understand mistakes happen, and people forget. If he had admitted to that, it would have been fine. Instead, he goes to the POS to check our order, points randomly to the screen, and says, "It's right there. Let me go check." I told him it was okay and to cancel the order, and he told me, "No. let me go check on it." He walked away, and before going to the kitchen, he went to another POS and inputted the item he forgot after I explicitly said to cancel it if he had forgotten because it was okay and we had ordered other food anyway. Eventually, the noodles came, and they were good. However, when the bill came, the noodle plate was placed towards the end, confirming my suspicion that he added the item late even after I asked to cancel it. He actively avoided our table, and we had to ask other staff repeatedly if they could call the waiter to our table so we could order more. The bill came out to $160, which I gladly paid. However, because of the poor service, I left no tip. I checked my credit statement a few days later, and I saw a charge for $170. I called the restaurant, thinking the mistake was made by accident. No. I got the restaurant owner on the phone yelling at me, saying that I left no tip, so she added a $10 tip because "they were working on a holiday (Labor Day) and deserved a tip." So I confirmed that she added a tip without my consent and charged me more than I signed to pay, and she kept yelling at me on the phone, saying, "Always leaving a tip is their policy." Well, that "policy" was not stated anywhere on the menu nor on the actual receipt where I signed to pay. I told her that it was fraud and that California law states that tip is voluntary. Some restaurants charge a mandatory tip if it's a party over X people; my party was 3 people. I told her I would dispute this charge with my credit card and report her to the Better Business Bureau for changing tip amounts without the customer's consent. She continued yelling at me saying it was "just $10," implying that I shouldn't care. I responded, "If it's just $10, then you should be able to pay a liveable wage to your waiter so they don't need to rely on tips to survive," and hung up. I am never returning here.

tl;dr: Restaurant owner changed the tip amount without my consent, and when I tried to clear up the wrong amount charged, I was yelled at over the phone. Great...

2023.09-01/FRI_1500: We originally ordered from Doordash and decided that we should try this place since the Juicy Soup Dumplings were on-point! Glad we were right! There so many great dim sum varieties to choose from. It was extremely difficult. What surprised us was how good every dish we chose turned out. Fresh, hot and their customer service was excellent, too. I would say another great thing was our seating. We were seated outside and it was fantastic! The tables were huge, the decor is elegant. Love it. The staff, everyone was awesome, too. It's on the second level and finding parking would be the only issue. There's a parking lot but it's small and always packed so make sure you're not going there when you're starving to eat something fast!

We love how the service works there. After the items were cooked, straight to the table they arrive so it's like having a buffet on your table. Everyone who ran the food to us was super nice and our server was awesome, too! We had the best seats in the house because it was outdoor and it was a beautiful day.

We had the Juicy Soup Dumplings. We can't get enough of the mouth-watering juices that squirt out from each bite! Love it. I loved the texture of the noodles in their Beef Chow Fun. Another new favorite, the Honey Walnut Shrimp. The shrimp has the perfect crunch and tenderness with the sweet sauce is great. Not too sweet and it's savory.

There's one ultimate favorite - the Sweet Sesame Balls. Holy moly. I almost shed a tear and had a flashback of my mom making them and getting so excited to take my first bite after she made them. We couldn't touch them until she cooked at least six of them and of course, after they cooled off a little bit. That absolutely sold me. It was done. Every item we ordered was delicious. We usually can't find a good spot unless you go further into the city. This is down the street (sadly, for me, especially when you wanna watch that figure)! We've already had Shanghai Rose at least four times this month! It's thise soup dumplings and the Sesame Balls but now their noodles and Honey Walnut Shrimp, you can't live without! Such awesome comfort food for us! We'll be back. In fact, I'm ordering the Sweet Sesame Balls right now! ✌️ #shanghairose #dimsum #dumplings...

APRIL 2023 UPDATE The first time that I ordered takeout from the new location, the higher prices and smaller quantity was accompanied by poor quality.But since I wanted to have a business lunch in an outdoor setting, I decided to try again. This time there must have been a new chef. The portions were large and prepared perfectly. Each dish was delicious. The wait staff and especially Kevin were attentive and accommodating. The prices are higher but that is the same situation elsewhere, to make up for losses from covid restrictions and high inflation. If google allowed a new post there would be 5 stars, so the 4 is the average of all visits. I would return again and so would my dining friends.

Shanghai Rose is a great place for a social or business dim sum lunch,; nice ambiance, attentive service and validated parking (even if you stay for hours to enjoy a leisurely relaxed meal).However, food quality depends on current chef and is not on par with dim sum in Monterey Park or DTLA. Began with salt & pepper calamari listed on menu as a starter and if it were the usual battered rings, it would serve as an appetizer. But this was squid hood cut bite size, battered and then stir fried, more like an entree style'. The turnip cake was plain, just fried daikon but tasty. My favorite dim sum is rice wrap which was authentic and delicious on a previous visit. But this time was disappointed because there was mainly rice and just a bit of pork, and not steamed long enough for the rice to become glutinous. The BBQ pork seemed more like red-cooked or roast pork than the usual dry-rack BBQ. The sesame buns were the best I've tasted, light and not too sweet and unlike the typical "cannon ball." usually served elsewhere and much too heavy for dessert.. I prefer week days because you order from a menu (instead of passing carts) so your food is cooked fresh to order. Foodies might prefer M Park or DTLA but for locals it is convenient...