Discovering Dun Huang/Mo Li Shanghai in Elmhurst for our soup dumpling fix turned out to be a mixed experience. I came here with a friend at 12PM Saturday and it was fairly empty inside. The fusion of names puzzled us initially, but we soon learned that Mo Li Shanghai operates within the Dun Huang chain(?) still very confusing. They need to get that straightened out. We came here craving soup dumplings but did not want to trek far to Flushing since my friend lives in LIC/we were hanging around there and this place was basically a 11 min drive. Talking about the food --the soup dumplings were decent, not exceptional, but the allure of the deal they had at the restaurant - spend $30 and get a free order of soup dumps - led us to order other dishes: crab fried tofu, scallion pancakes, and a spicy beef and tendon appetizer, all totaling around $40 which was fantastic. Each of the food was actually pretty decent, I don't have much complaints really. You get what you spend you know? However, we felt bad for the one staff member managing multiple tables at once. We were waiting for a very long time for our food and he was very quick to dismiss us whenever we asked for something..and we felt that this affected the overall service quality. Inexpensive and passable in terms of taste, it's a reasonable choice for a quick and affordable meal, but not sure I like this place enough to come back again.
Glenn C.
Slightly hard to write this review as I arrived a bit late to the meal. I went here months upon months ago. Not knowing that this was part of Dun Huang, I thought I went to the wrong restaurant but it turned out it was one and the same which was surprising. I was here with a group of nine others. As I arrived a bit late, the soup dumplings had already been there a while but they were still of very good quality. My favorite of the night was the Salted Egg Yolk & Shrimp Stir-Fried Rice Cakes. The texture of the rice cakes were perfect and the egg yolk complimented it well. I also liked the Dry Fried Shredded Eel & Chives. I also would have preferred them less shredded as I couldn't taste much of the eel texture but the sauce was nice and the blend with the chives added some good depth. The Fried Dough Twist Spicy Chicken or Laziji with Mahua was also surprisingly spicy for a restaurant which is primarily Shanghainese now so I guess they still have some influence from the old Dun Huang. I've had it before with these dough twists from the excellent Peppercorn Station and these rivaled that place even though the chicken there was a bit pricier but then again there was larger pieces of chicken in the latter. The Fish Fillets in Sour Cabbage Soup was also pretty solid as well as the Grilled Lamb Kebabs. You can essentially see Andie's review for the rest of my thoughts as they essentially reiterate hers. Yes it was too hot inside and as I was rushing to get there, I got warmer than most but oh well. Would go back but maybe go during the fall or winter if the AC isn't fixed yet. Mid 4
MK M.
An exceptionally serene atmosphere sets this Elmhurst eatery apart. It's a haven where I can truly enjoy a tranquil dining experience. The cuisine here is notably superior, with the beef noodle soup standing out as a remarkable highlight. Highly recommend for a peaceful and delicious meal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Ruotan Zhang
I didn’t know what to eat at night so I ordered this restaurant. The grilled braised braised rice noodles were delicious. However, this dish is not listed on the grubhub menu. The store manager should update it!
Owner is super nice and interior is well decorated. Food is great - very authentic and tasty! Recommend the XLB and pork belly with egg (hong shao rou). Please try this spot if you're around the area and want Shanghainese food!
Lisa Z.
Came here on a Friday evening with a friend around 5pm. Definitely lots of space around this time, would say it starts getting busy around 6pm for the dinner rush. We ordered the below along with the shrimp dumplings (not pictured). Overall everything was pretty good, definitely more on the average side but service was really good and the waiter was super attentive and nice. Think if you order 3 or more dishes (?) or $30 and above you can get a free order of soup dumplings. We didn't meet this requirement but will definitely check it out next time I visit.
Danang Gultom
I ordered shanghai rice noodle and chicken spicy pot. Chicken felt a bit salty however services was
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Noodles, Braised Beef over Wide Noodle Doup
Mong Deem
Braised pork belly melts in your mouth. On the sweet side, but good! Pork belly bamboo soup was good too and they gave us complimentary soup dumplings. It was just very loud and the noise bounces off the walls in the enclosed area. There was only 2 of us and we couldn’t hear each other. 2 separate rest rooms downstairs, single occupancy. Street parking only.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Lisa Chu
A reliable local dinning spot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
akai
I don’t know how delicious it is. I was going to try their restaurant today, but I walked in for five minutes. It was very busy today. I stood there for five minutes and no one paid attention to me. The waiter walked past me twice without saying hello. , although I didn’t eat it, I definitely won’t go there!
So authentic Shanghai cuisine!! Boss is really nice, 5-star recommend it!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tonghong Chen
It's delicious and the portion is huge. Two people ordering three dishes can't finish it. come back next time!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sooji H.
They don't sell Lanzhou beef noodle soup anymore. They have a new menu now and changed it up quite a bit. However, they do sell braised beef noodle soup but that wasn't too good. The broth wasn't flavorful--instead, it was all fat. I got the beef stew over rice and they served me OLD OLD rice. It was hard and yellow. They served me so much rice and I see why. The beef stew itself was decent. The lamb skewers tasted slightly burnt. The lamb burger barely had lamb filling inside of it. I believe if you order 3 dishes, it comes with free order of soup dumplings and those were good. The quality of these dishes were extremely underwhelming. However, the waiter was very attentive and nice.
raymond d.
Lunch there today. Food is fine. Service is good. Environment is clean. Hope more stores like that in Elmhurst.
Ng A.
Food are tasty and the environment is nice, will definitely come again! Server is welcoming too!
Discovering Dun Huang/Mo Li Shanghai in Elmhurst for our soup dumpling fix turned out to be a mixed experience. I came here with a friend at 12PM Saturday and it was fairly empty inside. The fusion of names puzzled us initially, but we soon learned that Mo Li Shanghai operates within the Dun Huang chain(?) still very confusing. They need to get that straightened out. We came here craving soup dumplings but did not want to trek far to Flushing since my friend lives in LIC/we were hanging around there and this place was basically a 11 min drive. Talking about the food --the soup dumplings were decent, not exceptional, but the allure of the deal they had at the restaurant - spend $30 and get a free order of soup dumps - led us to order other dishes: crab fried tofu, scallion pancakes, and a spicy beef and tendon appetizer, all totaling around $40 which was fantastic. Each of the food was actually pretty decent, I don't have much complaints really. You get what you spend you know? However, we felt bad for the one staff member managing multiple tables at once. We were waiting for a very long time for our food and he was very quick to dismiss us whenever we asked for something..and we felt that this affected the overall service quality. Inexpensive and passable in terms of taste, it's a reasonable choice for a quick and affordable meal, but not sure I like this place enough to come back again.
Slightly hard to write this review as I arrived a bit late to the meal. I went here months upon months ago. Not knowing that this was part of Dun Huang, I thought I went to the wrong restaurant but it turned out it was one and the same which was surprising. I was here with a group of nine others. As I arrived a bit late, the soup dumplings had already been there a while but they were still of very good quality. My favorite of the night was the Salted Egg Yolk & Shrimp Stir-Fried Rice Cakes. The texture of the rice cakes were perfect and the egg yolk complimented it well. I also liked the Dry Fried Shredded Eel & Chives. I also would have preferred them less shredded as I couldn't taste much of the eel texture but the sauce was nice and the blend with the chives added some good depth. The Fried Dough Twist Spicy Chicken or Laziji with Mahua was also surprisingly spicy for a restaurant which is primarily Shanghainese now so I guess they still have some influence from the old Dun Huang. I've had it before with these dough twists from the excellent Peppercorn Station and these rivaled that place even though the chicken there was a bit pricier but then again there was larger pieces of chicken in the latter. The Fish Fillets in Sour Cabbage Soup was also pretty solid as well as the Grilled Lamb Kebabs. You can essentially see Andie's review for the rest of my thoughts as they essentially reiterate hers. Yes it was too hot inside and as I was rushing to get there, I got warmer than most but oh well. Would go back but maybe go during the fall or winter if the AC isn't fixed yet. Mid 4
An exceptionally serene atmosphere sets this Elmhurst eatery apart. It's a haven where I can truly enjoy a tranquil dining experience. The cuisine here is notably superior, with the beef noodle soup standing out as a remarkable highlight. Highly recommend for a peaceful and delicious meal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
I didn’t know what to eat at night so I ordered this restaurant. The grilled braised braised rice noodles were delicious. However, this dish is not listed on the grubhub menu. The store manager should update it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: shanghai pan-fried buns 上海生煎包 4, braised pork 红烧肉
Owner is super nice and interior is well decorated. Food is great - very authentic and tasty! Recommend the XLB and pork belly with egg (hong shao rou). Please try this spot if you're around the area and want Shanghainese food!
Came here on a Friday evening with a friend around 5pm. Definitely lots of space around this time, would say it starts getting busy around 6pm for the dinner rush. We ordered the below along with the shrimp dumplings (not pictured). Overall everything was pretty good, definitely more on the average side but service was really good and the waiter was super attentive and nice. Think if you order 3 or more dishes (?) or $30 and above you can get a free order of soup dumplings. We didn't meet this requirement but will definitely check it out next time I visit.
I ordered shanghai rice noodle and chicken spicy pot. Chicken felt a bit salty however services was
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Noodles, Braised Beef over Wide Noodle Doup
Braised pork belly melts in your mouth. On the sweet side, but good! Pork belly bamboo soup was good too and they gave us complimentary soup dumplings. It was just very loud and the noise bounces off the walls in the enclosed area. There was only 2 of us and we couldn’t hear each other. 2 separate rest rooms downstairs, single occupancy. Street parking only.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
A reliable local dinning spot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I don’t know how delicious it is. I was going to try their restaurant today, but I walked in for five minutes. It was very busy today. I stood there for five minutes and no one paid attention to me. The waiter walked past me twice without saying hello. , although I didn’t eat it, I definitely won’t go there!
Restaurantji Recommends
So authentic Shanghai cuisine!! Boss is really nice, 5-star recommend it!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It's delicious and the portion is huge. Two people ordering three dishes can't finish it. come back next time!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
They don't sell Lanzhou beef noodle soup anymore. They have a new menu now and changed it up quite a bit. However, they do sell braised beef noodle soup but that wasn't too good. The broth wasn't flavorful--instead, it was all fat. I got the beef stew over rice and they served me OLD OLD rice. It was hard and yellow. They served me so much rice and I see why. The beef stew itself was decent. The lamb skewers tasted slightly burnt. The lamb burger barely had lamb filling inside of it. I believe if you order 3 dishes, it comes with free order of soup dumplings and those were good. The quality of these dishes were extremely underwhelming. However, the waiter was very attentive and nice.
Lunch there today. Food is fine. Service is good. Environment is clean. Hope more stores like that in Elmhurst.
Food are tasty and the environment is nice, will definitely come again! Server is welcoming too!