Shanghai Chinese Restaurant review

Shanghai Chinese Restaurant

1998 N. College Ave.

Fayetteville

We recently took our entire staff to Shanghai Chinese Restaurant for lunch to celebrate our favorite co-worker’s birthday.

Several people were impressed with their meals, rating them a four on our five-star scale. Others said their meals were average and rated the restaurant three stars. So we averaged them together to get an overall rating of three and a half stars, which is pretty good but not great.

Most of us opted for the lunch specials, which generally run between $5-$6.

Two of us had the triple delight, which includes beef, chicken and shrimp with vegetables and fried rice in a brown sauce. The specials are accompanied by an egg roll and soup (egg drop or hot and sour).

Our diners had varying opinions on the soup. While most seemed to appreciate the hot and sour soup, another said he’s had better at other Chinese restaurants in town.

One member of the party replaced her soup with an order of crab rangoons ($3). Fried wontons stuffed with cream cheese and crab meat, the appetizer came in an order of four. We recommend ordering enough rangoons on the side to let everyone try the tasty pieces.

A couple of diners who prefer their food as hot and spicy as possible were a bit disappointed in the lack of heat from a couple of items they ordered.

The Beef Jalapeno was advertised as the hottest item on the menu, but the diner wasn’t screaming for water. Likewise for the diner who ordered the Twice-Cooked Pork. However, she did like the steamed rice and lean pork.

Another complaint came from the diner who ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken, saying the batter was a bit too soggy.

Thick and fatty batter on small bits of chicken also disappointed the diner who ordered the crispy almond chicken combo.

Two scoops of fried brown rice and a light and fresh-tasting helping of vegetable delight, broccoli, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn and carrots, saved the meal. She said she’ll simply order the veggie delight alone next time.

Sitting on the window deck in the restaurant, our table enjoyed a comfortable atmosphere for conversation and quick, steady service.

The biggest eater in our group loved the egg rolls, which he complimented for not being too greasy. Most of the Oriental restaurants in town could learn a lot from Shanghai’s egg rolls.