Shanghai Chef

17638 Vanowen St, Lake Balboa
(818) 578-6205

Recent Reviews

Jaden Glass

I like this spot! They serve tasty food, their menu is varied, The chief cook in that spot is a real pro, I like very much eating all their food. The food is consistently fresh and tasty, the attitude towards the visitors is good. I go often to this restaurant and I not even once was discontended. Highly recommended.

Ann Lee

The food was decent but not spectacular.

beth essington

Wonderful dumplings.

Chelsea B.

Tucked into the back of a shopping plaza, but this place is so good!! I went in keeping my expectations low but realized they were serious about what they do when I noticed the photo of the Shoyu ramen had dark broth, indicating it's flavorful and strong. I got the miso ramen and the broth was strong, the chashu was super tender, and the noodles had an excellent flavor. I wouldn't be surprised if they made their noodles in house. Super enjoyable meal, definitely going back.

Ellen N.

This place is a solid 3. Food is okay but the menu options are few. Mostly just soups with a pittance of ingredients in them. To be fair my husband does like this place but the only thing on the menu I've sort of liked so far has been the bacon noodles.

Janet I.

Very cool place for ramen, I ordered the ramen with the egg and it was pretty delicious, I highly recommended this place

Elaine N.

I just left here tonight so disappointed and angry with the service. My boyfriend, being vegan, asked our waitress (didn't get her name but she had brown hair, glasses, and a foreign accent I couldn't place) what their vegan options are - which is listed as an option on their Yelp page... we were asking about noodles specifically - if they had any type of veggie soup noodle? No just dry noodles. Ok..anything besides egg noodles; rice noodles or glass noodles perhaps? And she said no that's all we have..seeming annoyed by all the questions. So we said that's fine, we'll just order a mixed veggie dish, veggie dumplings and some cucumber salad. Food was pretty good..we were content.. my boyfriend was still hungry and asked if our waitress could see if a veggie curry was possible. She said she'd check with the chef and turns out they could do it. Amazing. And then - she comes out a few minutes later with a veggie curry fried rice with scrambled egg...we told her he can't eat egg...she then tries to say that we ordered the wrong thing. We ask if she can make us the curry instead. She goes to the back to ask the chef, comes back, tosses the rice dish back onto our table and walks away saying "we don't do that". Not only was that rude behavior uncalled for, she blatantly avoided our table the rest of our meal. But wait..it gets better. Another couple walks in and takes a seat nearby. The female asks "can you guys do a noodle soup with rice noodles and vegetables?" The waitress says "I think so! Let me ask and double check". I hear the chef confirm that he can make it. Um...excuse me? Did we not just ask for THE EXACT SAME THING?" I was livid by this point and asked to speak to a manager (who luckily wasn't there). Safe to say I will never go back.

ali r.

Support a local business they say ...... this review is gonna be brutally honest . The food is terrible . They advertise Shabu Shabu . They basically bring you a hot pot of water with beef bullion and a ton of seasonings which makes it impossible to taste the crappy frozen meat . Frozen freaking meat!!!!!!!!! This was by far one of the worst representations of Shabu Shabu ever ! The dipping sauces weren't sauces . It was terrible . It's not a peanut sauce it's a literally peanut butter . The ponzu doesn't exist it's a glob of mixed spices that also comes out as a paste . Do not go . Save your money . Now I have to hope I don't get sick tomorrow from this terrible food . Abort mission !!!! Did I mention it's grossly over priced .... I took the uncooked frozen meat to feed my dogs . Two people $87 dollars .... and when I said hey this was a very bad representation of Shabu Shabu , the waitress said ... "that why we have yelp" Terrible customer service and food . A part of me wants people to try this and just blast this place for their terrible food and service . But the better part of me wants you to, SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT SUBJECT YOUR WALLET AND TASTE BUDS TO THIS GARBAGE FROZEN FOOD .

Ji Young J.

I got fooled by some good reviews, which now that I think back, must have been written to get some free food or discount for in return. This was such a waste of money and could have eaten much better food instead. If you are really craving asian food but can't find anything in the neighborhood, go to your closest 7eleven and buy instant noodles. We got: -hot pot: trash, but a little better than shabu shabu broth - shabu shabu: both tomato and spicy broth tasted like flavored water, so unbelievably bad - shanghai noodles: flavor was ok but noodles tasted stale and the worst texture - fried rice: good - spicy wonton: good I am truly sad I wasted a meal at this place, please don't even consider coming here, save yourself some sadness.

Jenni S.

Found this place while driving by and though I'd get some fried rice and dumplings to go. The restaurant was super clean and the worker were nice. However, as soon as I got in my car I realized that the food smelled horrible. It straight up smelled like a** which is ridiculous at a price of almost $20. I do not know where the good reviews come from. But save your money and go elsewhere.

Laura B.

For my first time trying this place it was delicious. Came with my fam and everyone ordered something different and everyone was very pleased with their plates!! Definitely will be coming here more often and they told us soon they will have all you can eat hot pot

Adam Jones

Pot stickers out of this world. Will definitely be coming back!

Angela A.

Awesome food!!! And service! Highly recommended it if you are looking for good Chinese food. It's not your topical fast food Chinese place.

Rita L.

As a Shanghainess born and raised in Shanghai, I would recommend this place for authentic Shanghainess food! This place is quite new. We ate at this place twice and the most recent time is really good. Beef pancake roll, young chow fried rice and Shanghai fried noodles are my go-to's! The Sesame Mochi soup was a real party in my mouth! They listed it in their appetizers but it is a really good dessert after the meal.

Cinna M.

Had dinner here and enjoyed our dishes! The hot pot was positively stuffed with food which was amazing. Spicy WonTon wasn't too spicy overall but tasty and well cooked nonetheless. The place was clean and the service was fantastic. Thank you!

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