SHANGHAI ONE
Unit C – 1872 Merivale Rd., 613-686-1380, shanghaione. ca
Open: Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Prices: most main dishes $12.95 to $18.95, more for seasonal and deluxe seafood
Access: no steps to front door or washrooms cucumber dish, but we were told immediately that the kitchen was out of that delicacy.
I’ve tried a few Sichuan dishes to see if there would be a spin on them at Shanghai One. Ma po tofu (the classic spicy mix of silken tofu and ground pork, $11.95) stressed the tingle of Sichuan peppers, but was less rounded and savoury in flavour and less viscous and more oily in texture. Fish-flavoured eggplant ($11.95) supplied jangling flavours and its sweet note was clear.
General Tao’s chicken ($12.95) was not good — too soggy and saucy and more sweet than spicy. An order of Cantonese fried noodles ($12.95) was massively sized, but pedestrian.
As for a la carte dim sum here, the dumplings and rolls that we had one Saturday for lunch were generally not that refined, and included hits and misses. Deepfried squid and other deep-fried items were surprisingly good, as were some well-seasoned pork ribs, but steamed dumplings were less consistent, and the worst of them were bland and already sticking to the bottom of the steamer. A fried scallion cake was overdone and oily. The dim sum dishes were also a little pricey for what we got.
Service here has varied from friendly to brusque, although the shift in demeanour may have varied with the amount of English the server spoke. Dishes generally arrived quickly from the kitchen.
The restaurant is licensed. Except for the egg tarts in the dim sum section, there seemed to be no desserts.
On its website and signage, Shanghai One touts itself as a fine-dining destination. That’s overstating things, I think, or at least valuing its decor over its dishes. I’m glad for its distinctiveness — sweetness, oiliness, and all — and there are dishes and dumplings I would happily eat again. However, those are in the minority.