Shanghai No. 1 Seafood

Reviews

• Silvia G.

  star star star star_border star_border 22 September 2026

  I came here some days ago with my sister to have our dinner. After asking many places we were recommended to this place. So the place itself is a nice, beautifully decorated interior, so it's very pleasant inside to sit after dinner and have a cup of coffee.
  
  The food was also good and the prices were nice and available too. The only I put 3 stars here is only the service. After so many good vibes I couldn't expect that I would have to complain about that. They were too slow and it seemed they didn't like their work.If you would improve your customer service everything will be perfect.

• Tara M.

  star star star star_border star_border 22 September 2026

  Decor - very nice traditional decor. Makes you feel like you travelled back in ancient China. Outdoor area is beautifully decorated with traditional chairs and a treasured ancient Chinese wedding carriage for the bride. We quickly snapped some photos with it, but not sure if they permitted as it can be fragile if everyone did same thing.
  
  Service - decent. Hit and miss who you ask for things. Some can be rude, which is typical of Asian restaurants. We had a talk with lady manager about charge for kids for tea setting. They said if under 3, no charge. Otherwise there is a charge like adults. Think of it as a sitting or headcount fee. Some restaurants you may get away with them not charging your kids but you have to tell them upfront when you check in.  
  
  Food - dim sum was OK.  You pick from menu and give order to staff. They will bring out the food. Not the traditional push cart you see in some dim sum places.  Usually restaurants that does this is supposedly be more classy and have fresh steaming hot dim sum.  However there were not so impressive items either taste or not steaming hot.  We like the lava egg yolk bun, filled with sweet egg yolk flowing out. Just be careful on eating this.  You might need a bib or have napkins ready! Another awesome item is the Portuguese egg tart, so delicious!
  
  Price - good value as it is one price across most categories. Weekend and weekday prices differ. Specialty items are more expensive. They also have a regular lunch menu too you can order.

• P N.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 16 September 2026

  Damn! Yelp listed this place as the #1 Dim Sum in San Gabriel. I forgot to read the peeps reviews! This place totally suck. Service horrible. Food is below par. We asked for a glass of ice and a crusty old glass came out that look like they took it out of a bar from a ghost town. The food description was horrible on the order paper, and we got gipped. Six plates came out and we ordered eight. Written in Chinese so we can't tell what they charged us.  
  
  They paid Yelp to put them #1 on the list. How can you be with 3 stars average? Ruin my foodie vacation dammit!

• Alex W.

  star star star star_border star_border 12 September 2026

  Note: for service, it would be 1 star. due to the service provided that time. But I would rate the food at 3.5-4 as the food is of a decent quality.
  
  Came before the lunch hour and it was pretty mellow, but it got busy really quick. A decently sized parking lot underground, but it's SGV so parking is bound to be hard to find at times. The place is on the upper level and walking into the area, it's sectioned off with decorations and a large sign detailing the prices for Mon-Fri and Sat/Sunday prices for the dim sum.
  
  Walking into the store, you have to flag someone to assign you a table and to be honest, not too surprising for a Chinese establishment. I've been to many and while this place is no exception to gruff Asian service, this place is honestly a bit worse than most places. Everyone is 'busy' making sure the food is served and not a care for customers' requests such as asking for a pencil again, asking for soy sauce/chili sauce, or asking for more napkins. That aside, the various servers we saw that day, some have attitude problems and some are more jovial. The worse was that for the lava egg yolk buns we ordered, I asked for a replacement, because its quality was clearly inferior. At the same time, I asked for a pencil to make another round of orders. She made a face, but did do the replacement, but when it came to the pencil, she threw the pencil behind my back and towards the table. The pencil hit my chopsticks and my plate before landing onto the table. In addition, they are visible disgruntled with serving people that did not speak Mandarin or are not elderly. We were a table of two youngsters and it was apparently they didn't give a care for us. We ordered our food first before other tables were seated and ordered, but the other tables' food arrived before ours. When asked if our food is coming, the answer was if the food is ready, it'll come. Instead of, I'll go take a look.
  
  The ordering system is done with marking the quantity desired onto their paper menu and giving them the menu. They will take the pencil away from you to prevent theft. Once they have placed the order, they will give you the menu back with a receipt of what you ordered. We did two rounds of food and since it was just the two of us, we didn't order too much.
  
  Round 1, we had the Shanghai styled pan fried noodles, pan fried shanghai style bun, and the steamed preserved salty egg yolk bun (lava egg yolk bun). The noodles were springy and had a slight wok'ed taste to it. Decent flavors and not too salty. Devoid of any protein, but it does come with shreds of napa cabbage cooked into it. The pan fried shanghai style bun was the main reason I wanted to come give them a try and they didn't disappoint. Crispy on the bottom side with the sesame seeds (prevents sticking) and the interior is juicy and succulent juices. Size-wise, they are definitely small and follow a XiaoLongBao (XLB) format, because traditionally, they should be bigger. But, the quality of it is decent. The salty egg yolk bun had to be replaced and the second batch was better looking. The egg yolk was flowy and the buns are soft and doesn't show signs of re-heating.
  
  Round 2, we had cilantro and scallion, pork and shrimp dumpling (sui mai), and stone pot pan fried rice with pork. The cilantro and scallion rice roll was nice. Decent amount was provided and the rice rolls textures are soft and freshly done. The cilantro is okay, but not the freshest as they didn't taste strongly of cilantro. For the sui mai, a mixture of pork and shrimp was used and while fancy, it generates a very 'bouncy' texture to the meat. If anything, I would rather have pork as the base and a small shrimp inserted into the sui mai instead of a meat mixture as they have done. A bit too peppery for the sui mai, but I think they do so due to the shrimp. Lastly, the fried rice with pork in the stone pot. The stone pot is a gimmick. The rice is cooked and then ladled into the hot stone pot. There weren't any burned rice bottom. The rice itself tastes very buttery and oily. A lot of oil was used to prevent the rice from sticking and for some, this may feel 'fattening'. A decent amount of rice (approximately 3 bowls worth of a traditional Asian bowl) was used and while visible, the ingredients are very tiny. Not much of a wok'ed taste to this one however.
  
  All in all, the food is of a decent quality at an acceptable price point. However, you'll have to stomach the very gruff service. Given other yelpers' reviews, there might be other instances worse than mine.  
  
  Side-note: the dining ware is fancy looking, but I don't think the chopsticks and dining ware match. Very interesting to see wooden engraved chopsticks though.

• Lisa L.

  star star star star_border star_border 9 September 2026

  Went in for dinner, though I've heard through friends that the dim sum is great. The staff is less than friendly, but it is to be expected. My boyfriend always likes to order the signature or oddest dish not available anywhere else. This is the place for unique dishes...bullfrog and pig intestines?!? The noodles and buns needed hot sauce for flavor in my opinion. I will need to give this place another shot for dim sum.