Shangrila Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Lower Paxton Township

First off, the ambiance of this place is really good. To start, it has a descent bridge over a pond full of fish making it feel like you're stepping into the Asian culture. Inside, they've got a pretty good setup; a side with a bar & some tables/chairs. And, on the other side they have 4 spots that have 2 habatchi grills each that can fit about chairs around both grills; not too cramped anywhere I must add. In between both sides they've got 2 descent aquariums with some nice fish in them. In a nutshell, we really enjoyed the setting.

So, it was our new 13 year old daughter who thought it'd be perfect to celebrate her birthday dinner with the entire family here. We could eat together & spend time with each other. Unfortunately, they only brought out one chef to cook at one grill while the other side waited & watched the back of the chef cook & serve the one side; and the worst part, is that it was NOT the kids that were served 1st, even though they knew the birthday girl was on the other side. In short, the one side was served & was basically done eating by the time the other chef finally came over to cook for everyone else. As you can imagine, kids would of been starving if someone didn't give them part of their dinner from the 1st chef. To top it off, they brought out the wrong appetizers, wrong drinks, and we had to keep asking for refills. Not to mention, the busser was waiting not even 4 feet behind us for the last 10 minutes of us eating. Making us feel like we needed to rush to finish our food so that another party can sit.

Overall, ambiance is good BUT even though they seemed nice, the service was very disappointing. Half the party was uncomfortable while the other half didn't get their food for another 30 or so min later. Suggest cook for everyone at once (there was room for 2 chefs) & focus on those that could possibly be hungry 1st (i.e. kids & VIPs/birthday guests). Also, double check food requests & check on guests more often; especially if we have to wait for a 2nd chef to cook for the other half of the party. And, don't make customers feel they need to...

It's been a bit since I've felt compelled to review but here we go.

When we got there we sat at the bar for a bit. Unfortunately it was not manned and we were not able to get a drink till we got seated. A quick trip to the restroom and I thought I may have been at a fast food place. Definitely wasn't up to standard, but the trash was empty which either .means it was just cleaned or more likely, by the lack of cleanliness, the employees hadn't washed their hands. I should mention this is just an inference and not fact.

The service was very pleasant by both the wait staff and the owner. It's becoming more and more likely to receive unappreciative and inattentive service unless dining at a more elegant place.

I ordered Ala carte sushi, goat briyani and my wife ordered the tandoori chicken, fried chicken dumplings and garlic Naan. Let's start with the good. Every dish was flavorful. Great flavors actually. Unfortunately, the tandoori was made a day or so prior at least, obviously reheated and not made to order. It was extremely dry and for me almost inedible. The briyani also had a great flavor but there was more what I refer to as knuckle meat than actual meat. I've eaten goat overseas and if you haven't goat is different than what most Americans are used to but this was a bit more difficult to eat and like the tandoori may have been reheated in the fresh briyani rice.

All in all this has the potential to be a really great experience if the owners are able to make the proteins to order and not reheat previously cooked proteins. Steam clean the restrooms and once the budget is there, update or remodel to get rid of the fast food decor.

Would I eat there again? I'd like to support this establishment as its a great mixture of ethnic offerings and if they can refocus on freshly made proteins then...

This place is weird! We sat for hibachi and instantly regretted it. I dare you to touch under your tables. Nothing was cleaned properly. Nothing actually tasted like Japanese food. My daughter has loved hibachi and often asks for it. When given the salad. It was just covered in creamed ginger and my daughter thought it was applesauce. She wouldn't have been wrong if I didnt know any better. That's not ginger dressing. They do not offer noodles. The pricing was insane. The chicken was so bad and chewy none of us wanted to touch it. Nothing about this chicken was sesame or Asian. In any way. Instead of flinging shrimp or a vegetable for you to catch as part of a normal show. He flung cold globs of uncooked rice at us. Yummy. I dont think this chef had ever cooked Japanese food or food at all. The show was awful and he had no idea what he was doing. We couldn't understand him he couldn't nail normal moves like spinning utensils. I was terrified as he was trying to light a onion volcano instead set the whole face of the grill on fire. I'm so confused. If you think I'm over exaggerating... please take a quick trip around the building and look at how they keep the back door by the kitchen. Its absolutely disgusting. I cant imagine what is only feet...