Ate at Shanghai Bun about two years ago. Loved it but just have not been able to get back there. Had Ox Tail Noodle Soup and some pretty amazing dumplings and scallion pancakes.
Their scallion pancakes are good. Thereâs also a dish with stir fried rice cakes (I donât recall what was in it) that was amazing.
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Shanghai Bun has now gone âfancyââinstead of generic dishes and disposable cups and chopsticks, they now have Melamine everything (tea cups, plates, bowls, Chinese spoons, and chopsticks), all matching and with their name on them! The forks and serving spoons are still generic metal, though.
And the food and Shanghai Bun is better than ever- the soup dumplings, Sha Cha beef, and cumin lamb are top notch and wholly authentic
Ate there again just two weeks ago. An âafternoon snackâ with Justin after a five mile hike in Hartshorne Woods. Tried the cold-served wine chicken, tender leek dumplings, and pork buns. The latter two were outstanding as always. The chicken was ordered to be our oddity for the meal. It tasted a bit like a Marsala, but not something I would order again.
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Itâs not a âsignature dishâ, but itâs kind of nice in the summer when you donât want something hot and heavy.
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Yes, but even as someone who will eat almost anything, cold chicken fat is kind of off-putting. I pulled it off and then ate just the meat.
Same here, actually. (But my mother used to spread chicken fat on matzoh or bread for breakfast, so who knows?)
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I find the general aversion to mushy chicken skin really interesting, I think Iâve loved it as long as I can remember. I wonder if itâs a cultural or genetic thing, since Hainanese chicken /khao man gai is so popular in Asia.
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My Dad always said that when institutions spend the $ on putting their names on things (ashtrays and drink stirrers, for example, in the old days) that they want you to steal them. Advertising!
I would have lifted a pair of chopsticks, but those fancy ones are too slippery for my liking. Iâm pretty much a pro with wooden ones, but still need time on the plastic/metal.
Oddly this place is closed on Tuesdayâs so it was off too Sichuan Cottage for dinner tonight. (see review in that thread!!)
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I have been burned so many times by the closed on Tuesday thing. I feel like most restaurants are closed Mondayâs so this always throws me off!
Funny because one of my favorite restaurants, Jimmyâs in Asbury Park, does the same thing. I canât tell you how many times over the years Iâve rolled up on a Tuesday just to have my chicken scarp heart broken.
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There are 2 Italian restaurants in my town. One is closed on Mondays and the other on Tuesdays. I can never remember which is which. Not that it matters.
Missy
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I learned to use chopsticks over fifty years ago, but I still hate the plastic ones. I also hate the ones that are pointed, because that means the tips donât come together to hold small bits. I want the classic bamboo chopsticks (which I think are among the most ecologically friendly even if you donât re-use them).
Apparently there is a movement afoot in Japan and China for people to carry their own re-usable chopsticks in a little case, because the quantity of wood needed to supply disposable chopsticks is ludicrous.
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I guess itâs because weâve been going so long that we remember itâs closed on Tuesdays. Our problem is that we donât always remember what day of the week it is!
If you go by mistake on a Tuesday, West Lake is just down the road about a third of a mile.
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Yes! And we frequently end up getting that or our other standby Siam Smiles Thai next door to West Lake.
An epiphany I just had about Shanghai Bun (which may make me seem a bit slow 
) is that they are the only Chinese restaurant in the area I can think of that doesnât have a lunch menu (or lunch buffet).
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Between the great food and the small size of the place they have no need to offer discounted lunches. Most places are trying to fill up empty tables, no need here. They offer the bare minimum of service and still pack them in because of the food. If I lived in Matawan, Iâd be there all the time instead of just a lot of the time!
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