Visited Shanghai One Fine Dining for the first time on a Sunday afternoon for dim sum. We waited about 20 minutes to be seated, even though a few tables were clearly vacant but just not cleaned, a bit frustrating, clearly understaffed. The layout seems to cater more to larger parties, so smaller groups may feel a little out of place. Unfortunately, the service left a lot to be desired. It took over 10 minutes just to receive a menu after we sat down, and we had to wave someone down multiple times for basic things like tea refills. (Even with the lid open... the universal sign for "more tea," no one came.) The staff didn't seem very attentive or interested in checking in, which made asking for help feel like we were being a bother. Several dishes, like the deep-fried squid, spring rolls, and egg tarts, arrived already cooled off, as if they'd been sitting around for a while. Not ideal. Prices weren't cheap either, so it was hard to justify the overall experience. All in all, pretty underwhelming. Not rushing back. read more

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TL;DR/The Short Version: It's slim pickings for dim sum in Ottawa and this place is the best I've had here (that is still open). Not as good as in Toronto or the GTA, obviously. Order only, no carts pushed around. The Long Version: I took my mom here for dim sum because she loves dim sum. We got there at opening on a Friday. We were thrilled to discover that Happy Hour was Monday to Friday 11am (opening) to 2pm. During Happy Hour, all Small, Medium and Large items were $5.95 (which is the regular price of Small items). Otherwise, medium items are $6.55 and large items are $6.95. We ordered 8 items. We might have overdid it, lol, but we managed to finish everything! Here's the rundown on what we had: Shrimp Siu Mai: easily the best item of the lot. Four big and juicy shrimp balls wrapped in a wonton wrapper and steamed. So delicious! Shrimp Dumplings: these are Har Gow. The wrapper was not chewy but rather starchy and ripped easily. However, the filling was excellent. Very similar to the Shrimp Siu Mai filling. All shrimp, no bamboo filler. Chicken feet: I did not eat any. Too creepy looking, lol. However, my Mom enjoyed them. She said they chopped them up into smaller pieces than at other places though and she didn't like this as much. Glutinous rice with chicken: glutinous rice with ground chicken and tiny pieces of mushrooms, wrapped in lotus leaf and steamed. It was ok, but was too filling, as it's mostly rice. I don't regret trying it, but I wouldn't personally order this again. Radish cakes: crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Small pieces of preserved sausage mixed in. I enjoyed these. Rice rolls: we got a shrimp one and a beef one. They were identical except for the filling. The rice rolls were soft and tasty. The fillings were good. The shrimp ones had 2-3 shrimp per roll. The beef was more a beef paste, not actual slices of beef. Deep fried shrimp rolls: they were shrimp spring rolls. Crispy on the outside with ground shrimp filling. I enjoyed the sweet, sour and spicy dipping sauce. Service was good. My mom noticed that some people who arrived after us got served before us (and ordered some items we had ordered too), but they appeared to be regulars or maybe friends of the staff/owners. We didn't wait too long for our food, so I wasn't really bothered by it. I loved that they gave us a whole pitcher of water. Saved us having to ask for refills throughout the meal. So they put 2 pieces of paper on the table for you with a pen. One of the papers is for you to indicate what you want. The other paper is for them to keep track of when you ordered, what you ordered and what's outstanding after they bring you your food, since plates are brought out one or two at a time. The place is a good size and I loved the high ceilings with cool chandeliers. There's a nice mural on the back wall with what looks to be the CN Tower. Ah, a little slice of my hometown ;) The space is reminiscent of the Chinese restaurants in the GTA that are also banquet halls that are popular for Asian weddings, but on a bit of a smaller scale. And while most of the restaurant looks nice, along the walls and at the corners of the restaurant they do store some items in plain sight and it feels less nice as a result. The restaurant is in a plaza, so there's lots of free parking. (165) read more

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We made a reservation at an odd time (3pm) and the restaurant wasn't too busy. The food was really good! Everything tasted fresh. However, I've been here in the past during a busy dinner time and sometimes the food is mediocre. It's a hit or miss depending on the day and how busy they are I guess. If you have a large group, you can book a private room on the side. read more

We were here at the beginning of March with our supper club that likes to try different Chinese restaurants around the city. For the past 10 years or so, we 've eaten at the Chu Shing and Yangtze restaurants in Chinatown. Now that the Chu Shing is gone (tear!), we ventured across town to Shanghai One. We were not disappointed. Every dish that came out of the kitchen was my new favourite! We had General Tso's chicken, Singapore noodles, beef & Broccoli, salt & Pepper shrimp (which was to die for! We liked it so much we ordered another plate of it). They also had the best Szechuan beef I've ever had in my life: so tender and perfectly spiced. We had 12 people eating and ordered roughly 12 dishes and the bill came to $22/ person (not including drinks), very reasonable. There was a gimmicky robot that wandered around the room that you could put empty trays on, but we had some trouble flagging him down. We would definitely go back to this place and have recommended it to several friends who live in that part of town; it's worth the drive. read more

Shanghai One - Friends - Chinese Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

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Stumbled across this place while in Nepean for a meeting. It was fifth day away from home (Vancouver) and I was craving Chinese food. While the food here can't even compare to the foods I'm accustomed to at home, it hit the spot and I've dubbed it Nepean good and I would definitely hit it up again next time I'm there. Walking into this place reminded me of the older Asian restaurants you find in Vancouver and Richmond. Nice Asian ladies greeting you at the door, they take you to a table that has the plastic table cloths as opposed to the holey cloth ones that have seen better days. They had a pretty big menu that gave you the option of ordering actual dishes or having dim sum. I like that their dim sum was still being served around 1:00 PM. I ordered spring rolls, hai gow and xiao long boa. Their spring rolls were a little greasy but deli is none the less. They were big and plumb and full of veggies, like the ones they typically serve at dim sum. Their hai gow was decent, the wrapping was a little thicker than what I'm used to but it gave it a nice chew and the prawn itself was plump and tasty. Their xiao long boa had a de Liu's broth inside, the meat was tougher than what I'm used to as well but overall decent. Again, not the Asian food I'm accustomed to or spoiled by but this place was a good fix for what I needed and the price was on point. For what I ordered it cost $20 and that's a price we haven't seen for a very long time in Vancouver. read more

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Together with my son and wife, we patronized that restaurant on 23/5/2024. Food were fresh and nicely done. We enjoyed them very much. There were only two servers servicing that relatively spacious restaurant thus resulting poor services. One of them was poor in attitude that made us unhappy and quite disappointed. The decors appeared old and the glass entrance door full of dirt and finger marks, while the toilet was clean. I would recommend to anyone who would like to enjoy good Chinese food to dine in that restaurant with little demand of services. read more

I have to say that I had a very very bad experience at Shanghai One this evening. Four of us arrived at the restaurant at 6 pm and we didn't have our food until 7:30 pm. The restaurant wasn't really packed or lined up at front, in fact there were still four empty tables, when we were there. I didn't even take the pictures of the food that I ordered. The quality of the food is food court quality. I won't go back there anymore. read more

My dinner club of eleven people went to this place in March of 2022. We all sat at the same table and ordered 14 dishes. I can say confidently that all of us were very impressed. We have been to several other Chinese restaurants in town (mostly in Chinatown) and have not been to a place where there was such consensus with respect to the quality of the food. 14 dishes divided between the 11 attendees came out to about $22.50 + tip per person. (drinks were paid over and above this). Outstanding value. The Szechuan beef was tender and scrumptious. The salt-and-pepper shrimp was so good I could have eaten nothing but that and been thrilled with my dinner. The chicken fried rice was really good. The chicken guy ding was excellent. The general Tso's chicken was deep-fried and incredibly good. Really, there were no disappointing dishes, which NEVER happens in our group. There were also no leftovers. We at every grain of rice. Service was good, but I should also add that we were going at the tail end of the pandemic and it was not crowded. The decor is clean and inviting. We will definitely be going back to this gem. read more

Very nice place. Amazing food. We had steamed fish, Chinese broccoli, Gu Lam beef, and Kon Bak pork.

Kind of random Chinese restaurant out in the suburbs, between Mobilia and Party City. This place just opened Sept 2017. I ordered Cumin spiced lamb, dried tofu with vegetables, Shang hai style eggplants, har gow, and stir fried eel. Pros: large interior with lots of seating. Lots of menu items to choose from, and parking space. Cons: We found a plastic rope segment in the lamb dish. The waitress was hard to come by when we needed a water refill or wanted to order something additional. Our eel dish also took about 45 min to arrive. Not sure if I would come here again. read more

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Food is good, but the service is atrocious, even for Chinese standards. We ordered at 7, and didn't get food until 8:15... it wasn't even that busy. Management needs to be fired, and the owners should take a class on how to make meals on time... read more

My mom wanted to go for dim sum on Christmas day since dad didn't have to work that day. So D and I took my parents to this place for dim sum (it was dad that made the suggestion to come here). I have to say I did not have a high expectation for the dim sum quality in Ottawa compared to Markham / Richmond Hill. I have to say this place has a few things going for them in my opinion : 1) I do have to go all the way to China town 2) they have their own parling lot, so unlike China town places, I don't have to look for parking 3) the space inside is not cramped so I thought the seating is so much more comfortable As for the food quality, I like this place much better then a few places I've been too in Ottawa. Besides a dish or two being a bit too salty, everything was good. I would definately come back for the dim sum service. Next time I'm in town, I plan to try their dinner menu. read more

Food was absolutely delicious. Staff was friendly and attentive. Place was clean and accommodating :)

Great private rooms, we asked the staff to recommend some authentic dishes and enjoyed all of the suggestions! Plates are meant to be shared, portions are large and unique options I haven't seen elsewhere. Some favourites were the soup dumplings, pork, sweet egg dumplings, shrimp, and beef and seafood soup! read more

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Had dim sum here on a Saturday. The quality is very good although price is also on the high side. We had awesome service so maybe we got lucky since I saw so many bad reviews on the service. We came late so the push carts didn't have many choices but our waitress was checking with kitchen multiple times to ensure we receive what we ordered. I would come again. read more

First of all, this is not a Shanghai restaurant. It is a Cantonese restaurant. The food is decent. Typical Cantonese style cuisine. Decor is upscale for a Chinese restaurant but by no means is it fine dining. The 2 star given is purely for food. I can't even say the service is just as expected from typical Chinese restaurant because there was NO service. It is by far the absolute worse service or lack there of I have ever experienced. Never once came to ask if we need any more water or anything for that matter. It's almost impossible to flag downtown any servers. The service is so bad that it can't compensate for the decent food. If I could give a negative star, I would. read more

Worst service . One of the short hair waitress woman yelled at my 2 yo for walking around. Wtf. Would have yelled right back if yesterday wasn't Chinese nee year. read more

Give credit where credit is due. Made a return visit recently on a weekend and discovered its dim sum service had vastly improved: The har gow dumplings didn't fall apart; the steamed rice noodle was well-seasoned and had a smooth & silky texture; the egg-cream custard buns were fresh out of the oven and oozing with delightful decadence. Better quality control was clearly evident. It helps that the restaurant offers push-cart service on weekends, thus eliminating kitchen preparedness issues and allowing the servers to attend to the dining room floor. And yes, some of the a la carte mains I have tried from its menu are also very good - in particular: the beef brisket casserole, the garlic snow pea tips, & the standard chow mein & stir-fry rice noodle dishes. So, kudos to the establishment for raising its game. read more

Went there for dim sum with the family. The place was full and the servers are not trained to serve multiple tables. Terrible service and food was cold. read more

Following the change in ownership last year, a disappointing decline in quality. Tried dim sum today, and probably among the most "meh" dim sum I've had recently, even for Ottawa. Limited selection; presentation, quality and flavour mediocre at best; not terribly friendly servers. Unfortunate as the restaurant itself is a pleasant venue. Oh, and nothing Shanghai about the place anymore either despite the name, so if you're looking for Cantonese food, a myriad of other options in town that are at least as good. read more

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visited several times in the past 6 months, because of its decent Chinese dishes and tasteful flavours. One of the best Chinese restaurants in town. Many varieties of food can choose and decent decoration inside offer you a good environment both for family and business gathering purposes. Convenient and plenty of parking and good location in Hunt Club and Merivale cross, easy access. I give it a five star as one of my favourite place to go. read more

I never leave a restaurant without leaving a tip until today. Went there with our grandkids for lunch and were immediately seated. Ordered 4 separate dishes on a check-off sheet menu and the waitress took it when the eye of the lotus blossom opened and went slowly back to the kitchen. After about 10 minutes the children's shared dish arrived without the rice they wanted, and we requested. Then a good half hour later, my wife's dish arrived, but mine, a shrimp dish, was nowhere to be found. I suspect the shrimp fishing was slow today, or the shrimp boats were having trouble docking, and after all the meals were finished (my sweet wife shared hers, fearing I might devour the children ) mine had finally arrived. It was too late- by that time, at least another hour had passed and I lost the rest of my appetite. I will never go back there again unless hell freezes over and the cows come home. My wife told me that the people at the next table had the same experience of non-service. To be clear, the place wasn't even crowded, and several recent arrivals were served long before we were. I hate this place and I believe that you will hate it too. read more

Relatively decent place.... but service by the older lady was bad. Twice she walked around with our food and didn't know where it went. We told her each time we ordered that food and she ignored us. Very frustrating. The Shanghai fried noodles were kinda weird tasting and the steamed soup dumplings were bad. T and t has better pre packaged ones... yes that's how bad it is. Would not return!!! Go to Ottawa for better Chinese food read more

I was feeling adventurous so asked the staff what they recommended from their authentic dishes and was not disappointed! I really enjoyed the eel, the sesame shrimp, the sweet and sour fish (squirrelfish I think!), the egg dumplings (very sweet and not eggy like I suspected) and soup dumplings! Love the private rooms for privacy and just need to wave down the staff from time to time because they REALLY respect your privacy in there. :) read more

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The service here is very poor. We tried multiple times to wave someone over to put in our order but they kept walking by us. We also had to put in our order twice because the first time they took our order it never went through to the kitchen. Throughout our entire meal they never once came to clear the empty plates to make room for incoming plates (we ended up having to stack the plates to make room). Giving it a one star because their xiaolong bao's are very fresh and good! read more

The service here is so so so bad. Slowest service ever. They bring out dishes one at a time. It's so slow, that all the rice got cold, waiting. Only reason I'm not giving this a 1 star is cause the food is pretty tasty. read more

Finally a great chinese restaurant that isn't on Somerset. We've been there at least twice a week for the last 2 months, though not for weekend dim sum because of the line up the one Sunday we tried. If you go in the early afternoon, you can special order all your favourite dim sum without waiting to see whats on a cart. In the evenings we've been working our way through the menu. Every dish we've had so far has been excellent. There aren't a lot of waitresses but the ones we've had have been very friendly and helpful. Our service has been quick and very pleasnt. read more

The food here is actually quite decent. The dim sum sucks, but the main dishes are good. However, the service is atrocious. People should be mandated to take a class in customer service before getting hired. And when I say people, I really mean the young female server... rude read more

I went with a group of friends for dinner. One dish was over cooked and they denied. The service was terrible. We had to ask many times for drinks. This restaurant sucks and do not recommend. read more