Tri-City: Shanghai Noodle House
Unless someone takes you to Shanghai Noodle House, you wouldn't think to step through its unassuming doors:
Or walk through its back entrance, which is what we did.
I definitely would never have gone to Shanghai Noodle House if not for my mother. She had been introduced to it by a friend and liked it. So when we happened to be in the area one day, she suggested stopping there for dinner.
The restaurant is pretty small and sparsely decorated. Um, make that not decorated at all:
It was rather empty when we arrived, but it quickly filled up after we placed our order. We also noticed a lot of people picking up takeout orders, including an old family friend. Small world.
I nibbled on the complimentary peanuts and pickled cabbage while my parents caught up with our family friend:
My mother went a little crazy with the ordering. Even our family friend commented on how much food we had for three people.
We had cold salted pork liver drizzled with sesame oil ($4.95):
Out of curiosity, we ordered something that we'd never heard about before. The English translation, "Shanghai style flour cake" ($5.45), didn't really tell us much. When it arrived, it was love at first sight:
At least it was for me. The Shanghai style four cake is easily one of my top food finds of 2016. It's essentially a fried disk made with shredded daikon and other veggies:
It's a bit oily, yes, but it's also hot, hot, hot savory goodness on the inside and crispy on the outside. Eat with care or you may burn your tongue.
We got the spicy little pork wonton soup ($5.45):
It wasn't spicy at all, but the wontons were delightful.
For some reason, my mother thought we needed two soups. Which is how we ended up with the stuffed wheat gluten soup ($5.95):
The sesame sauce noodles ($7.25) were my second favorite discovery at Shanghai Noodle House:
I can't really compare them to the sesame noodles from Shan Dong Restaurant in Oakland, which is my ultimate favorite noodle dish, but it's certainly delicious in its own right. I told my parents I tasted coffee in the sauce. My dad said that was just the pork fat. Okaaay. Apparently pork fat tastes like coffee to me.
For my father, we also ordered the braised lamb noodle ($10.95). We did not expect the lamb to come separately from the noodles:
The noodles came in a large soup bowl:
The soup base was on a bit on the bland side, but the reason for that was clear. The lamb was very salty, so once combined, it was just right.
The noodle quality at Shanghai Noodle House is amazing. As it should be. But Shanghai Noodle House offers more than just noodles. We went back on a different occasion and tried their Shanghai style pork fried rice ($6.35). It was pretty damn awesome.
If you like hole-in-the-wall type restaurants that serve simple, yet delicious food at affordable prices, Shanghai Noodle House is the place for you. It's definitely geared toward Chinese patrons, but don't let that deter you. Pack your wallet with cash and head on over!
Shanghai Noodle House
40575 Fremont Blvd
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 668-1007
Or walk through its back entrance, which is what we did.
I definitely would never have gone to Shanghai Noodle House if not for my mother. She had been introduced to it by a friend and liked it. So when we happened to be in the area one day, she suggested stopping there for dinner.
The restaurant is pretty small and sparsely decorated. Um, make that not decorated at all:
It was rather empty when we arrived, but it quickly filled up after we placed our order. We also noticed a lot of people picking up takeout orders, including an old family friend. Small world.
I nibbled on the complimentary peanuts and pickled cabbage while my parents caught up with our family friend:
My mother went a little crazy with the ordering. Even our family friend commented on how much food we had for three people.
We had cold salted pork liver drizzled with sesame oil ($4.95):
Out of curiosity, we ordered something that we'd never heard about before. The English translation, "Shanghai style flour cake" ($5.45), didn't really tell us much. When it arrived, it was love at first sight:
At least it was for me. The Shanghai style four cake is easily one of my top food finds of 2016. It's essentially a fried disk made with shredded daikon and other veggies:
It's a bit oily, yes, but it's also hot, hot, hot savory goodness on the inside and crispy on the outside. Eat with care or you may burn your tongue.
We got the spicy little pork wonton soup ($5.45):
It wasn't spicy at all, but the wontons were delightful.
For some reason, my mother thought we needed two soups. Which is how we ended up with the stuffed wheat gluten soup ($5.95):
The sesame sauce noodles ($7.25) were my second favorite discovery at Shanghai Noodle House:
I can't really compare them to the sesame noodles from Shan Dong Restaurant in Oakland, which is my ultimate favorite noodle dish, but it's certainly delicious in its own right. I told my parents I tasted coffee in the sauce. My dad said that was just the pork fat. Okaaay. Apparently pork fat tastes like coffee to me.
For my father, we also ordered the braised lamb noodle ($10.95). We did not expect the lamb to come separately from the noodles:
The noodles came in a large soup bowl:
The soup base was on a bit on the bland side, but the reason for that was clear. The lamb was very salty, so once combined, it was just right.
The noodle quality at Shanghai Noodle House is amazing. As it should be. But Shanghai Noodle House offers more than just noodles. We went back on a different occasion and tried their Shanghai style pork fried rice ($6.35). It was pretty damn awesome.
If you like hole-in-the-wall type restaurants that serve simple, yet delicious food at affordable prices, Shanghai Noodle House is the place for you. It's definitely geared toward Chinese patrons, but don't let that deter you. Pack your wallet with cash and head on over!
Shanghai Noodle House
40575 Fremont Blvd
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 668-1007
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