Rob M.
Yelp
In the land of mediocre Chinese buffets, Shanghai is an anomaly. It's an actual sit-down, full service restaurant, and it's good.
I had a craving for Egg Foo Young one day, so a Yelp search and a short drive later and I found myself in this small restaurant in a strip mall. The place has about 8 booths and 4 or five tables and is pretty quiet inside.
I knew what I wanted already, so I just needed to check the menu to confirm they had it. The menu was pretty well populated with the dishes you would expect, categorized into pork, beef and fish. I was really looking forward to the Egg Foo Young, because you just can't seem to find it here in Fargo.
When the waitress arrived, I was so excited about the main dish, and so taken aback by finding an actual sit down Chinese restaurant in Fargo, I forgot to order any soup. So my first visit was going to be focused solely on the Egg Foo Young. Good thing, too, because they brought me a stack of them.
Egg Foo Young is kind of like a frittata, egg blended with vegetables and cooked meat, all grilled together until the egg is browned, and then served with a savory brown sauce (sometimes a brown gravy, and I have found that is good, too). The common varieties are pork, chicken and beef but, you can sometimes find ham, as well. If they are done well, the vegetables are caramelized before going into the egg mixture - Oh, so good.
Shanghai's wasn't the best I have had, but it was pretty good. They would do well to add some caramelized onions to their Egg Foo Young.
Since that first visit, I have also had the Kung Pao Chicken and the Hot and Sour Soup. Both were good.
So, you might be asking why I make all the fuss about the place being a sit-down restaurant. These places are good because they are the perfect place to share a meal with friends. Everyone can order a different dish and then you all share the large portions. A buffet just seems so assembly line and impersonal to me. You might go to a buffet for a quick lunch, but dinner is meant to be enjoyed with friends.
I am definitely glad I found this place, and I will be back many times to come.