Shanghai River
2700 W Anderson Ln, Austin, 78757-1132, 512-458-9598
Chinese buffet located across from the Village Cinema Theater. They have a good vegetarian section everyday at lunch, with an enlarged buffet on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. At the night buffets, they have soy milk ice cream for dessert. Standout items include the curry tofu, General T'so's tofu balls, and the green beans with wheat gluten. They also have a separate buffet table with items for your more omniverous friends. Their vegetarian hot and sour soup is peppery and one of my favorites. ($10)
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When was this written? Village Cinema Theater? That's been gone for... 3 or 4 years now. It's now an Alamo Drafthouse! :-)
Yes, this review is from late 1999, but Shanghai River is still open. I just ate there about a month ago, and they've expanded their vegetarian and vegan options since I wrote this. I need to do an update, but I still like this place a lot.
Okay, I have been a regular customer at Shanghai River for many years. I've always loved it. But I do have one complaint. Starting about a year ago, everytime I would eat there (usually at lunch), my food would be cold. I've had to send my plate back to be heated up. I think something is not right with their buffet lamps, I don't know.
Otherwise, the food is delicious - the hot and sour soup is one of my favorites.
My husband and I visited Shanghi River for the first time in September 2006 based partly on the reviews on this Web site. Unfortunately, the experience wasn't very good.
The upside was the the owners/staff were very, very nice. The downside was that food on the buffet was cold and tasted (and smelled) funny, and all the dishes had a layer of congealed film on the top as though they'd been sitting untouched for a long time. When fresh food did come out, the server mixed it with the cold food that was already sitting there (yuck!!!). Also, the buffet was supposed to be all vegetarian (went on a Friday evening), but it wasn't - half was meat.
I'm sorry I gave the impression that their buffets were all vegetarian on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. I meant to indicate that they have the full vegetarian buffet on those nights -- if you went on a Tuesday, you'd have a more limited selection.
I have been to Shanghai River many times over the last 15 or so years. The experience is not always consistent but more often than not it is very good. If you can not eat in a "dive" stay away. This is not a full restaurant experience. It is a buffet. Vegetarians have a great selection of dishes here. In fact, the vegetarian food is much better than the meat selections. I am vegetarian but my family is not, my wife and son often stick to the vegetarian portion of the buffet because it tends to be tastier (they say). Sometimes the food is cold but not if you are there at "normal" meal times.
Sad thing, I used to go in every weekend for the lunchtime buffet, and last visit I found the owners out on the sidewalk loading furniture into a truck. She said the rent was being raised and they were closing, to reopen perhaps in a few months at some undecided location, perhaps not. If anyone hears news of them reopening elsewhere, please post!!!