Shanghai City Restaurant in Nanaimo is known for delicious Chinese food, the area's largest buffet and our famous weekend dim sum lunches! Founded in 1999, we've proudly been sharing our wide variety of Chinese cuisine with our community ever since, from delicious Szechuan style dishes to our signature chow mein choices.
At Shanghai City Restaurant, we take reservations, we can cater events, and we offer takeout and delivery. At Shanghai City Restaurant, we're proud to offer the largest buffet in Nanaimo. Our buffet selection boasts more than 30 choices including hot food items, salads, fruits, cakes and ice cream.
At Shanghai City Restaurant, we take reservations, we can cater events, and we offer takeout and delivery. At Shanghai City Restaurant, we're proud to offer the largest buffet in Nanaimo. Our buffet selection boasts more than 30 choices including hot food items, salads, fruits, cakes and ice cream.
Services
Shanghai City Restaurant has been serving delicious Chinese cuisine to the Nanaimo community since 1999. Since opening, we've been dedicated to providing the best Chinese food and customer service in the area. Not only do we have the seating capacity for over 150 guests, but we also have a private lounge that can comfortably host functions of up to 40 people.
Do you want to enjoy delicious Chinese food without breaking the bank? At Shanghai City Restaurant in Nanaimo, we offer a wide range of individual combo options as well as group combos for parties of up to 8. From chicken chow mein to delicious beef chop suey, we're Nanaimo's choice for affordable, great tasting Chinese cuisine.
At Shanghai City Restaurant in Nanaimo, we're famous for our traditional weekend lunch dim sum service. Enjoy our pork dumplings, deep fried squid, pork spareribs and much more. We have over 30 dim sum options. We host our dim sum lunch service on Saturdays and Sundays between 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, so stop by Shanghai City Restaurant for a delicious meal this weekend!
Shanghai City Restaurant is proud to offer the largest buffet in Nanaimo, with over 30 items to choose from. Our lunch and dinner buffets have all your favourite traditional Chinese offerings plus a salad and fruit bar, desserts and ice cream. We also offer a buffet-to-go option, which is a great choice to enjoy delicious Chinese food on your lunch break.
For over 15 years, residents of Nanaimo have been choosing Shanghai City Restaurant for delicious Chinese food, the area's largest buffet, traditional weekend dim sum service and our friendly service. Our restaurant offers dine-in, delivery and takeout options. We also offer catering services for our delicious Chinese cuisine.
Reviews (26)
Saimuth Canada
Jan 23, 2022
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Darryl Page
Jan 15, 2022
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Service was ok , but buffet not the same as it use to be. I don't know if it's under new ownership or different cooks. Food wasn't good , chow mein was dry and hard and burnt. Some veggies and chicken had a sour taste. Not coming back here again. I would rather stick with Hong Kong house smorgasbord.
Lorinne Anderson
Jan 03, 2022
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Who knew the best chicken wings 😋 EVER, were at Shanghai City??? Other personal favs are: Singapore (curried) Fried Rice Noodles, Won Ton Soup (broth is delicious!) AND Beef and 🥦 Satay.
This place has never disappointed in over a decade of monthly meals. Unlike many place there is no MSG, and as mentioned, broths are rich and flavourful NOT watery.
This place has never disappointed in over a decade of monthly meals. Unlike many place there is no MSG, and as mentioned, broths are rich and flavourful NOT watery.
Vyne Ezekiel
Dec 13, 2021
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Had a great experience at the lunch buffet.
Service was impeccable! The waitresses were on the ball, likely the best service I have seen in Canada(both working in the Industry and having travelled alot).
The food was what I expected of chinese buffet. The Szechuan veggie dish was a nice addition and suprise.
I really have no negatives or criticism its a good chinese buffet.
Service was impeccable! The waitresses were on the ball, likely the best service I have seen in Canada(both working in the Industry and having travelled alot).
The food was what I expected of chinese buffet. The Szechuan veggie dish was a nice addition and suprise.
I really have no negatives or criticism its a good chinese buffet.
Cheryl W.
Nov 24, 2021
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I was on the hunt for good Chinese food in Naniamo last week. This is as the first one I tried. Excellent friendly service. Super kind people but the chow-mien was literally dry warm tasteless noodles with a tiny bit of cabbage and carrots. The almond chicken was edible but there was no sauce so also basically tasteless. The location is a bit odd in the back of a shopping plaza. Sorry. I would not recommend.
Tere Arboleda
Nov 24, 2021
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We went here for my birthday dinner. We just want to eat Chinese cuisine. We are surprised when we were asked, if we would like only to order or dine in the buffet area.
I did not expect that this restaurant is also a buffet place.
You can get your own food. No one will serve it to you unlike the Chinese buffet in P.G.
They have different tasty selections. Food were great. Yum!
I love their ice cream. Drinks will be serve to you.
Customer service were great 👍 and price too.
Washrooms were clean...
I did not expect that this restaurant is also a buffet place.
You can get your own food. No one will serve it to you unlike the Chinese buffet in P.G.
They have different tasty selections. Food were great. Yum!
I love their ice cream. Drinks will be serve to you.
Customer service were great 👍 and price too.
Washrooms were clean...
Joy Wu
Nov 20, 2021
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Leana Pellegrin
Oct 18, 2021
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Shanghai city is fantastic! It’s very clean and the staff are friendly. I’m so grateful that they have vegan dishes, we had delicious curry spiced rice vermicelli, tofu chop suey (the tofu was fried and cooked to perfection, the vegetables were so fresh and good) and super tasty green beans in black bean sauce we added some steamed rice on the side! My family loved the food and we have lots of leftovers for lunches..... a 5 star experience to be sure.
Kate C.
Sep 25, 2021
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A Chinese Canadian buffet.
The hot and sour soup was ok, not very spicy and just sour. The fried chicken wings, spring rolls, salt and pepper squid, gyoza, and battered shrimp were good. The sweet and sour pork and the beef were very tough. The siu mai and chicken balls with sauce were very bland.
Overall they call themselves an "authentic" restaurant but they aren't. Not even Shanghainese (the only dish being hot and sour soup). Just a typical Chinese Canadian restaurant but nostalgic for a Vancourite like me who hasn't had this in over 20 years because they don't exist
The hot and sour soup was ok, not very spicy and just sour. The fried chicken wings, spring rolls, salt and pepper squid, gyoza, and battered shrimp were good. The sweet and sour pork and the beef were very tough. The siu mai and chicken balls with sauce were very bland.
Overall they call themselves an "authentic" restaurant but they aren't. Not even Shanghainese (the only dish being hot and sour soup). Just a typical Chinese Canadian restaurant but nostalgic for a Vancourite like me who hasn't had this in over 20 years because they don't exist
Gungs
Sep 13, 2021
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Im not impressed by your performance shanghai city. The buffet was lack luster, the chicken balls were cold and the mint ice cream tasted a bit old. Nothing special and it is very westernized. The curry chicken was my favorite out of all the dishes i tried. I paid 24 and i expected waay more authentic food with more variety. I am very disappointed.
ChristianFromML
Sep 03, 2021
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Jerry W.
Aug 29, 2019
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Have to give this place one star as we went during the lunch hour on a weekday and were greeted and asked if we wanted the buffet, we said we wanted dim sum from the menu. Got seated with menus, water arrived, and that's it. Ignored completely after that. Needless to say we left and won't be back. Went to Da Tang, greeted and seated immediately and had a fantastic, tasty, and reasonably priced dim sum lunch. Friendly service and food was freshly prepared.
Norrie B.
Jun 30, 2018
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We had dim-Sum this morning. The front of house greeter was very pleasant and courteous. We were seated in a few minutes and had a server ready to take our drink order immediately. Within just a few minutes we were selecting our meal and found the serving staff very attending as we enjoyed our meal.
The Dim-Sum was average compared to some of the best Dim-Sum that Vancouver restaurants had to offer when we lived in that City.
The overall decor was ok, but signs of wear and tear were very obvious as we looked around to take in the atmosphere. I did not like the seeing the three giant T.V
The Dim-Sum was average compared to some of the best Dim-Sum that Vancouver restaurants had to offer when we lived in that City.
The overall decor was ok, but signs of wear and tear were very obvious as we looked around to take in the atmosphere. I did not like the seeing the three giant T.V
Marin P.
Jan 08, 2018
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Michelle C.
Oct 08, 2017
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We've been in Nanaimo for 9 months now, and thought, hey, let's try that Chinese place we keep driving by.. With our two kids in tow, we went in and decided to try the buffet. At more than 16 per head we thought this better be good.. sorry to say, but we won't ever be back or recommend this place. Either Nanaimo's standards are super low when it comes to Chinese food, or the restaurant is just blatantly ripping people off. The buffet chafing dishes were basically bottom of the barrel, completely picked over, as in meat dishes with no meat. We walked up to the buffet and I had
Scuba S.
Oct 08, 2017
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Tried the smorg. Boring Canadian Chinese food and they aren't in a hurry to top anything up. I guess it makes them money. Curious about their authentic Szechuan food and will only return out of curiosity about that, will update this rating once I try it. The serving staff gave friendly and prompt service.
Flo L.
Aug 06, 2017
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Richard L.
May 19, 2017
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Quite good for standard Chinese fare. Buffet every day is a nice option and they have a couple of good seafood selections on the buffet which is rare in this neck of the woods. It's my local go to for Chinese and have visited there about 20 times now. SS pork tends to be overcooked right from the kitchen....hint to fix it eh? Otherwise good food and friendly staff. Reasonable prices too.
Lisa H.
Mar 03, 2017
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We tried the buffet dinner and were pretty disappointed. Everything was fried and tasteless, less than I would expect from the greasest mall food court stall. Also maybe it was just the day we were there but almost all of the dishes were pork. When I asked about sauce for the chicken balls (the only chicken item) I was told to scoop it out of the sweet and sour pork. Yuck! Won't be back.
Serge P.
Feb 03, 2016
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Lolacita V.
Sep 26, 2015
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A few weeks ago I was driving down a road I have driven down a thousand times, but this time I noticed a huge sign that said "Dim Sum Extravaganza". Yes please!
We were out and about today and decided to stop for a bite and I am really happy we did. The dim sum is done both from a picture card and there is a cart with the common items like har gow, siu mai, sticky rice, beef meatballs and bean curd rolls. We went with the first 3 and added some salt and pepper squid, chow mien (for my noodle crazy 5 year old), deep fried shrimp balls and fried pork dumplings. Everything we ordered was
We were out and about today and decided to stop for a bite and I am really happy we did. The dim sum is done both from a picture card and there is a cart with the common items like har gow, siu mai, sticky rice, beef meatballs and bean curd rolls. We went with the first 3 and added some salt and pepper squid, chow mien (for my noodle crazy 5 year old), deep fried shrimp balls and fried pork dumplings. Everything we ordered was
Paul V.
Jul 03, 2015
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Michelle H.
Aug 07, 2013
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Rachel W.
Jul 20, 2013
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Food has always been hot and fresh when my husband and I have been. 'Western' Chinese food so don't expect anything too authentic. Staff are awesome and you can't beat the price. My only wish is that they'd rotate the buffet a little, but it still doesn't stop us from going, one if our favorite places in Nanaimo!
Mel Low C.
Jun 11, 2013
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C. J.
Dec 12, 2010
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If you don't appreciate lies and false advertising, then don't go to this restaurant. I tried to order for delivery, but extra charges apply. Yes they SAY free home delivery in all advertising (yellow pages, online, even in the restaurant iteself) within 5km radius. I live 2.7 km, and they want to charge me additional money. The manager I spoke with said I was just over 4km, from his estimate (um, that's still less than 5 though?). I measured using google, not sure what he used. I pointed out their advertising committments, and that thier delivery policy convinced me to give them
