Joe's Shanghai

05/12/11

Best Chinese Food Ever!!!

by Cara Lawton

Let me first say this place is literally the best Chinese food that I have ever had. On a Thursday night you can anticipate a half an hour wait. The location in Flushing is very popular I've had to RSVP upon arrival and wait on a line going all the way out the door! But it is well worth the wait. Upon entering you'll find that the decor is less than impressive. However, the menu and the great service compensates for to rather well. The seating arrangement is family style, condensed but neat (probably to fit more people). This is also an ideal spot to chow down with a group of friends on a small budget when you don't feel like dressing up. I brought 5 friends with me and we had 4 trays of steamed dumplings (Arguably the best dish), noodles, brown rice, and a large pot of tea. We all felt pretty good about the bill too. If you are looking for a lot a really good without spending a lot of money Joe's Shanghai would be at the top of my list.

02/05/11

Next best thing to buying a ticket to Asia

by Karsing

You see I'm not from NY and I have to say that NY has some decent Chinese foods. I'm from LA and there are a few Chinese Restaurants that are quite comparable to the ones from Asia. Went I visited NY several months ago, a from took me to Joe's Shanghai and I was impressed. I can't say that they were the best dumplings that I've eaten but it was certainly exceeded my expectations. You see travel extensively to HK, China, & Taiwan.. so I've had my share of authentic dumplings... JOE SHANGHAI 5 STARS!!!! the trip to Flushing was well worth it because I was introduced to JOE SHANGHAI! AWESOME!

09/07/09

Under new management and the quality has suffered

by Jeff Schwartz

My family and I have frequented Joe's Shanghai in Flushing for years. We were willing to put up with the frequent 30 minute or longer wait to be seated because the food was consistently excellent. However, 2 weeks ago we went there for dinner after not having been there in a few months and we were very disappointed because the quality of the food just wasn't as good as it had been.

Upon entering the restaurant we didn't recognize anyone working at the cash register and there seemed to be quite a few new staff faces scattered about the restaurant as well. We were promptly greeted and given a number by a staff person we didn't recognize and we waited approximately 20 minutes to be seated.

Once seated I saw posted on the table a notice stating that there would be a 15% gratuity surcharge tacked onto our check. Hmmm, that's new i thought but I had no problem with that because we often left considerably more than 15% as a tip because we enjoy eating here so much. The menus were all familiar and we ordered our favorite dishes - one order of hot and sour soup, one order of pork dumplings, one order of crab dumplings, one order of scallion pancakes and one order of pan fried noodles with seafood which is my favorite dish here and which I consider one of Joe's signature dishes.

The food began arriving and looked fresh and well presented. However, except for the soup and the scallion pancakes none of the dishes tasted the same as they had in the past. It was as if their recipes had changed. For instance, the assortment of fish in the pan fried noodles was not the same as in the past and there was more filler such as onions and faux crab meat as well as the addition of sesame seeds.

Between the new faces, the 15% gratuity and the changed recipes my suspicion grew that there had been a change in chefs or worse, that there had been a change in ownership of the restaurant. So I asked our waiter who had served us many times in the past and he acknowledged that there the restaurant was under new management. I expressed our disappointment in our experience that evening and how we believed the food wasn't as good as it had been under the previous management and he offered to relay our conversation to the new management and chef.

My wife, daughter and I were very disappointed. We all felt like we lost a good friend because we always looked forward to eating at Joe's.What was once a great restaurant was now just so so and we vowed never to return. For the same money spent at Joe's we could have enjoyed our selves much more elsewhere.

• Pros: Atentive and Friendly Staff
• Cons: Mandatory 15% Gratuity

09/07/09

Under new management and the quality has suffered

by Jeff Schwartz

My family and I have frequented Joe's Shanghai in Flushing for years. We were willing to put up with the frequent 30 minute or longer wait to be seated because the food was consistently excellent. However, 2 weeks ago we went there for dinner after not having been there in a few months and we were very disappointed because the quality of the food just wasn't as good as it had been.

Upon entering the restaurant we didn't recognize anyone working at the cash register and there seemed to be quite a few new staff faces scattered about the restaurant as well. We were promptly greeted and given a number by a staff person we didn't recognize and we waited approximately 20 minutes to be seated.

Once seated I saw posted on the table a notice stating that there would be a 15% gratuity surcharge tacked onto our check. Hmmm, that's new i thought but I had no problem with that because we often left considerably more than 15% as a tip because we enjoy eating here so much. The menus were all familiar and we ordered our favorite dishes - one order of hot and sour soup, one order of pork dumplings, one order of crab dumplings, one order of scallion pancakes and one order of pan fried noodles with seafood which is my favorite dish here and which I consider one of Joe's signature dishes.

The food began arriving and looked fresh and well presented. However, except for the soup and the scallion pancakes none of the dishes tasted the same as they had in the past. It was as if their recipes had changed. For instance, the assortment of fish in the pan fried noodles was not the same as in the past and there was more filler such as onions and faux crab meat as well as the addition of sesame seeds.

Between the new faces, the 15% gratuity and the changed recipes my suspicion grew that there had been a change in chefs or worse, that there had been a change in ownership of the restaurant. So I asked our waiter who had served us many times in the past and he acknowledged that there the restaurant was under new management. I expressed our disappointment in our experience that evening and how we believed the food wasn't as good as it had been under the previous management and he offered to relay our conversation to the new management and chef.

My wife, daughter and I were very disappointed. We all felt like we lost a good friend because we always looked forward to eating at Joe's.What was once a great restaurant was now just so so and we vowed never to return. For the same money spent at Joe's we could have enjoyed our selves much more elsewhere.

• Pros: Atentive and Friendly Staff
• Cons: Mandatory 15% Gratuity

11/07/08

Best Soup Dumplings. Period. Now Go!

by azteczulu

I have to admit I was not a believer that this place had the best soup dumplings. For those of you who do not know what soup dumplings are, they are little morsels of heaven. A celebration of the senses of you will. Each pork dumpling is encased with a layer of wrap. The best part is the soup though. Each dumpling is moist because the dumpling skin also holds a little bit of soup inside. Don't bite into the dumpling outright. You will burn the inside of your mouth. Poke a hole into the dumpling and drain it into your spoon and sip the soup then dip the dumpling into the soy sauce - vinegar mix then enjoy. I have ordered other dishes but I always come back to this one.

• Pros: Soup Dumplings. Enough Said.
• Cons: Huge Crowds and Long Waits. Parking. No frills.