Shanghai Garden - Issaquah

We love this place. The food is great, with lots of healthy options, and they'll substitute with low-sodium soy sauce and bring brown rice on request. The service is excellent, with a ready smile always available. The ambience is what's to be expected of a Chinese restaurant, but that's par for the course (who goes to a Chinese restaurant for the romance and ambience?). We go here at least every 2 months and have never been disappointed.

Pros: Great service, wonderful food

Cons: not much parking

Posted 02/09/07

I'm basing my review on what the restaurant is. It's NOT a restaurant where you'll get the fast food items you'll find at Panda Express. Which btw is if that's all you want, it really is good for the money there.

It is a place where you'll find some variety of dishes that you normally wouldn't find at other restaurants. i was amazed at the selection of dishes that was at my disposal. Literally it was 6-8 pages on a 16x24 inch menu with size 12 font print. Nonetheless the selection seemed large. They also have an insert of the more popular and specialty dishes with photos.

We had the hand shaven noodles, orange chicken, spicy green beans, and the eggplant. The noodles were good but were different from what i had expected. They were more dumplings or doughy than i liked. Relatively i preferred the HK style pan fried noodles but hey, my wife loved it. Orange chicken, yes, we got it as a reference to compare other restaurants to. They did it well. It was flavorful but not overdone. The green beans were good but could have been spicier. The eggplant was my favorite dish. Tangy and spicy, it was by far the most flavorful mouth watering item i had the night.

Definitely check out the restaurant. Food is good but it's on the pricier side of things. If you need a cheap noodle fix, probably best to go elsewhere. Otherwise explore the menu, you'll find some pleasant surprises.

Pros: Great food selection, just need to find it

Cons: parking bad, hole in the wall ambience, service could be more attentive

Posted 11/19/06

Better than average americanized Chinese restaurants you can find in every neighborhood.
Somewhat unique to casual diners. A few different kinds of potstickers are a must - very good.
Shaved noodle dishes are not as great as they claimed to be. Seasonal vegetable dishes are great. Some of more expensive dishes with Shrimp and etc. are disappointing. Nevertheless, overall experience is satisfying. **About "No MSG" claim, I wouldn't bet that they, or any other restaurants not use MSG at all. They may not use anything out of a 30 pound bag that's labeled with "MSG", but did you know that all soy souce contain significant amount of MSG? Also, all their sauces and oils probably contain MSG.

Pros: fairly quick serving of foods

Cons: lack of unique taste in each dish

Posted 07/14/06

For those who love standard greasy deep fried, syrupy sweet sauces and MSG laden dishes--skip this place! The food is very fresh, the flavors are delicious and not masked by grease and salt. There are some nice, healthy dishes available and there are also some dishes not traditionally seen on Chinese restaurant menus. I have eaten at this restaurant with people who are foodies and with picky-eater kids/ adults as well--everyone has gone away happy. The staff is super friendly & efficient.

Pros: flavorful & fresh, affordable, seating for big group

Posted 04/02/06

The hot and sour soup tasted bland, the generals chicken tasted like sweet n sour, and the kung pow tasted like bland beef. If you are looking for a great dining experiance your money is better spent in a higher quality resteraunt.

Posted 02/11/06

Shanghai Garden in Issaquah is one of the best Chinese restaurants on the East side. It has two other locations, one in Factoria and one in downtown Seattle. The Issaquah location is in the old downtown, and within walking distance to the salmon hatchery and library. Their specialty is hand shaven noodles, which for the uninitiated, are like dumplings. They are recommended, as is the pepper salted squid and the fried string beans with pork. Service is very friendly, No MSG. The only regret you'll have is not also being able to dine at Jak's excellent steaks, which is next door.

Pros: Excellent food, Good specialties, Nice service people

Posted 01/15/05

The lunch specials are great here, (Monday thru Friday only) but I always want want what the cooks are having! They eat about 2:00. The shrimp dishes are delectable. If you want something different try their appetizers in the case. The Salt and Pepper Shrimp and anything with the handshaved noodles is highly recommended. I like the barley ones. You can get brown rice instead of white if you ask. Chicken and corn soup is a welcomed relief on a cold NW damp day. Save room for dessert...they make their own ice cream!

Pros: great value, good for kids

Posted 12/13/04

We like this restaurant so much that we commuted to Issaquah from North Seattle several times just to have good Chinese food! Then we found the sisiter restaurantin the ID. The food is unusual - our favorites are the steamed meat dumplings as an appetizer, with hand shaven noodles and crispy beef with sweet and sour garlic sauce. Yum! The hot and sour soup is also very good - but quite sour, so watch out! The parking lot is medium-sized, so you may have to trek a bit farther if you come at a peak time.

Pros: Tasty food, Unusual flavors, Reasonable prices

Posted 11/12/04