Shanghai Garden does not follow the typical suburban formula for Chinese restaurants of providing mass quanties of food at cheap prices. In fact, it is not really a suburban restaurant, but is an offshoot of one of the most popular establishments in Seattle's International District.

The lunch menu is very limited, mainly consisting of the American public's favorites such as kung pao and sweet and sour whatever. I did find the kung pao, though, to be excellent, and I imagine other lunch specials are good as well.

The real treasures, though, seem to be found on the dinner menu, which is priced quite a bit higher than the lunch specials. The restaurant specializes in several dishes that come from the region of Shanghai, and they are well worth seeking out. Shanghai cuisine is known for its absence of chiles such as would be found in Hunan or Sichuan cooking. It was somewhat hard for me to conceive of mild Chinese dishes giving as much satisfaction as the spicier ones, but the ones here have been some of the best I have experienced. It is no wonder that I observed many of the patrons having pleased and astonished looks on their faces while partaking of the food.

Shanghai Garden offers several versions of Hand Shaven Noodles that offer a good start in sampling Shanghai cuisine. The noodles I tried were thick and flavorful, mixed with fresh vegetables (the staff obviously frequents the Seattle area markets to get the freshest ingredients). The key to the dish, though, was the sauce. It had a light, delicate flavor that so enhanced the other ingredients that this dish should be considered a work or art (and it was as much so visually as in flavor).

Bean curd sheet rolls at Shanghai Garden

Shanghai Garden has proven that it is not necessary to go into Seattle for an authentic and delicious Chinese meal--you just have to dig a little bit deeper than the lunch specials and the common items you can find at virtually any Chinese restaurant in suburban U.S.A.