Reviews for Shanghai City Restaurant in Nanaimo, BC

Went for the evening buffet, was happily impressed with the food and the service. Arrived right at the start of the buffet time... so we had the restaurant almost to ourselves. By the time we were leaving the restaurant was busy. The buffet food was fresh,hot, and great tasting. Crisp veggies, good tender meat and chicken, and flavourful sauces. One of the better hot and sour soupsI have enjoyed and the best I have found so far in Nanaimo. Deep fried squid was crisp and nicely spiced. They have a little ofeverything but if I had to suggest one improvement it would be to add another vegetable dish to give a bit more variety. We areplanning to go back and try items from the menu. As I understand it the buffet is more generally aimed at a Canadian Chinesedishes and the menu at more traditional Chinese dishes. I?ll know more when we try it. Overall, we will be back as we found ournew favourite restaurant for Chinese cuisine. Read more

Quite authentic given standards on the island! The beef and tomato fried rice is a little too sweet for my taste but the... Singapore vermicelli is solid. The curry powder could be mixed in a little better. Read more

Customer Service: 5/5 All the staff were really nice and polite. They also were really quick with getting us water, and serving... our food. Ambience: 4.5/5 The lighting was slightly off but it was a busy yet still not overcrowded restaurant. Food:3.5/5 It's like a hit or miss. We ordered two dishes and one turned out fantastic with a burst of flavor. However, the other onedidn't have enough taste, and was cooked alright. Overall: 4/5 The customer service was fantastic, and the food was alright. Read more

Authentic Dim Sum here in Nanaimo? In the past us Islanders would need to either go to Victoria's Chinatown or cross by ferry... over to the lower mainland for an authentic Dim Sum experience. At Shanghai City they offer a full menu Dim Sum only on theweekends 11 AM to 2 PM. We arrived around 1 pm and the restaurant was half full on a hot summer day. There are 52 items offeredbut a dozen weren't available. The current price as of July 2022 was a flat price of $7.95 a dish. The menu has your traditionalDim Sum and also some items you don't expect on a Dim Sum menu. I was curious how authentic the Dim Sum would be. We orderedthe Seafood fried rice off the regular menu. The rest of the food we ordered on the Dim Sum menu (see photos). The Seafood friedrice was quite good, but needed a little bit more salt for my tastebuds but some will be satisfied. The chow fun fried noodlesfrom the Dim Sum menu was okay but for a small portion for $8 they could add sliced beef (beef ho fun) and make it muchbetter. The Dim Sum I won't rate it all but my favorite would be the sticky rice. It was better than most other Dim Sum joints.It has a great texture and flavor to it. My least favorite was the sui mai (pork & shrimp dumpling). It was as good as the onesat the buffets in town. It came without fish row and the meat was way too mushy. It's an item I hope they try to improve nexttime I go back. The overall taste and quality of the Dim Sum is good, but little adjustment would help go along way to gettingit to great. My final thought is that Dim Sum is just authentic enough to pass when compared to the big city but good enoughfor Nanaimo. Hopefully they won't stay pat on the Dim Sum and look at ways to improve the quality moving forward. Service wasquick and friendly. My biggest issue and why it lost a star rating is the flat prices of $7.95 as some dishes like the 4 rollswith condensed milk are not worth $8 and some dish like the shrimp haw gow are worth the $8. I would Read more

Went for the lunch buffet. Food was fresh, and tasted good. Nothing special but not bad either

Good food friendly staff affordable Prices great selection we went for the buffet.

We went here for my birthday dinner. We just want to eat Chinese cuisine. We are surprised when we were asked, if we would like... only to order or dine in the buffet area. I did not expect that this restaurant is also a buffet place. You can get your ownfood. No one will serve it to you unlike the Chinese buffet in P.G. They have different tasty selections. Food were great.Yum! I love their ice cream. Drinks will be serve to you. Customer service were great ???? and price too. Washrooms wereclean... Read more

A Chinese Canadian buffet. The hot and sour soup was ok, not very spicy and just sour. The fried chicken wings, spring rolls,... salt and pepper squid, gyoza, and battered shrimp were good. The sweet and sour pork and the beef were very tough. The siu maiand chicken balls with sauce were very bland. Overall they call themselves an "authentic" restaurant but they aren't. Not evenShanghainese (the only dish being hot and sour soup). Just a typical Chinese Canadian restaurant but nostalgic for a Vancouritelike me who hasn't had this in over 20 years because they don't exist here anymore. I was suprised they didn't have ginger beef,the Canadian-invented Chinese dish. Read more