Shanghai Delight

Shanghai Delight
218 Barber Court
Milpitas, California 95035
(408) 434-6888

Vitals:
Hours: Mon-Sun: 10 am – 3pm, 4:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Cash only up to $20

This is a casual, no frills restaurant that serves some good Chinese food from the Shanghi region. I’m not that familiar with Shanghai cuisine, but the food here is good (it’s Northern Chinese cuisine, which isn’t spicy and some dishes may be on the sweet side). We were looking for a place to eat in Milpitas (the restaurant we were going to was actually closed that night) and then wandered into the Milpitas Square (with the 99 Ranch), which has a wide variety of restaurants serving food from many different regions. We chose to try Shanghai Delight because unlike other restaurants, this place was full and there were people waiting to get in (this is usually a good indicator that a restaurant is good).

Since this is a typical Chinese restaurant, turnover was quick and we were seated quickly. Don’t expect great service. If I’m not that familiar with the cuisine or the restaurant, I generally do a survey of what other people order and also ask the waiter what the most popular dishes are. This was especially important here after after looking over the menu, which had over 180 items!

Most people seemed to order the Shanghai Style Rice Vegetable and Salt Pork ($6.95, item #144). The rice was soft but not mushy, with a slight saltiness to it and it had a generous amount of slightly crunchy vegetables (bok choy) and some salted pork. It was a good dish and was one of my favorites of the night (perhaps because it was like comfort food to me).

We saw many people order the Beef with Black Pepper on a Sizzling Plate ($8.95, item #73) and decided to try it. The beef was tender and it had a good flavor to it (very well marinated). The dish only had a hint of the pepper and it didn’t overpower the dish.

Since we wanted a vegetable dish, we order what the waiter recommended, the Sautéed Shanghai Style Vegetable ($7.95, item #112). The vegetables were not very leafy and it was very salty and oily. We couldn’t finish this dish, but had a few helpings. Definitely will try something else the next time.

Overall, it was a good Chinese place - the food was tasty (I think that they use MSG) if a bit oily , but the prices were really good. I would come back here again.