ShangHai Taste Las Vegas: Xiao Long Bao in Chinatown

Las Vegas has plenty of Chinese restaurants, but ShangHai Taste in Las Vegas Chinatown focuses on something much more specific: authentic Shanghainese cuisine built around handmade dumplings, noodles, wontons, and traditional Shanghai flavors.

The restaurant, also listed online as Shanghai Taste 上海弄堂, has become especially well known for two dishes: Xiao Long Bao, the delicate steamed soup dumplings filled with broth, and Sheng Jian Bao, their pan-fried Shanghai cousin with a crisp bottom and juicy center.

Behind it all is Chef Jimmy Li, a 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Southwest.

We stopped into the original Chinatown location inside Shanghai Plaza with my fiancée Destony to see what made the dumplings so popular and ended up discovering that there is much more to ShangHai Taste than Xiao Long Bao alone.

What to Expect at ShangHai Taste in Las Vegas Chinatown

ShangHai Taste keeps the experience casual.

The Chinatown restaurant sits inside Shanghai Plaza on Spring Mountain Road, surrounded by one of the most concentrated collections of Asian restaurants and dessert shops in Las Vegas.

The dining room is relatively simple, with dark red walls, traditional artwork, polished tables, and a large mural that immediately draws your attention.

We happened to visit during a quieter part of the evening.

Instead of walking into a packed room and waiting for a table, we were greeted quickly, seated almost immediately, and handed menus within moments. Water and hot tea followed right behind.

That slower window made it easy to settle in and look through the menu without feeling rushed.

“It was nice walking into a place that wasn’t packed. We were seated immediately, the tea came out right away, and everything felt relaxed from the start.”

Service remained attentive throughout the meal, and dishes moved steadily from the kitchen to our table.

For diners exploring more of the area’s Chinese restaurants, China Mama is another nearby Shanghai Plaza option with soup dumplings and a broader Chinese menu.

ShangHai Taste Menu: More Than Soup Dumplings

The ShangHai Taste menu centers on Shanghainese street food and comfort dishes rather than the huge multi-page menus found at some Chinese restaurants.

The current menu includes Xiao Long Bao, Sheng Jian Bao, Shanghai scallion pancakes, wontons, Shanghai Duck, steamed dumplings, sweet-and-sour pork ribs, Kao Fu, bean-curd noodles, soups, and other Shanghai specialties.

The restaurant says its dumplings, noodles, and fillings are handcrafted daily.

That focused approach makes it possible to build a meal around several smaller dishes and compare different styles of Shanghai cooking.

Sheng Jian Bao: Pan-Fried Soup Dumplings

Before diving into the steamed Xiao Long Bao, we started with Sheng Jian Bao.

Sheng Jian Bao and Xiao Long Bao share the same basic idea—a wrapper surrounding juicy filling—but the experience is completely different.

The Sheng Jian are pan-fried, giving the bottom of each bun a golden, crisp texture while the top stays soft.

Inside, the filling remains juicy and hot.

The contrast between the crispy base, soft dough, meat, and broth made them an excellent way to start the meal.

They also arrived hot enough that patience was required before taking the first bite.

For another Chinatown restaurant built heavily around dumplings, Xiao Long Dumplings offers another way to explore soup dumplings and shareable Chinese dishes nearby.

Old Fashion Shanghai Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs

One of the other dishes that immediately caught our attention was the Old Fashion Shanghai Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs.

The small ribs arrived coated in a glossy sauce balancing sweetness with a deeper savory flavor.

Each piece still had a section of bone inside, so this was not the kind of boneless sweet-and-sour pork many people associate with American Chinese restaurants.

It felt much more connected to the Shanghai-style menu around it.

Dishes like these are important because they show why ShangHai Taste should not simply be thought of as a soup-dumpling restaurant.

House Fried Rice With Chicken

During our visit, we also ordered the House Fried Rice with Chicken.

The rice had distinct grains with egg, chicken, and scallions mixed throughout.

It was simple compared with some of the more distinctive dishes on the table, but that worked in its favor. Between rich dumplings, broth, and glazed pork ribs, the fried rice gave us something familiar to return to between bites.

For diners who want to go deeper into Chinese noodles and dumplings in Chinatown, Special Noodle is another nearby option with handmade noodles, soup dumplings, pan-fried buns, and regional dishes.

Xiao Long Bao Are the Main Attraction

Eventually it was time for what ShangHai Taste is most closely associated with: Xiao Long Bao.

The restaurant’s current menu includes several versions, including Traditional Shanghai, Crab Yolk, Angus Beef, and Shrimp & Cucumber Xiao Long Bao.

We ordered two different styles to compare.

Traditional Shanghai Xiao Long Bao

The traditional version is filled with pork and savory broth.

Each dumpling arrived carefully pleated with a thin wrapper holding the filling and hot soup inside.

That liquid center is what separates Xiao Long Bao from an ordinary steamed dumpling.

The safest approach is to lift one carefully into a spoon, give it a moment to cool, open a small section of the wrapper, and let some of the broth escape before eating the rest.

The first bite released the savory broth followed by the pork filling.

“These are the dumplings people come here for. After the first bite it was easy to understand why.”

Angus Beef Xiao Long Bao

For a second version, we ordered the Angus Beef Xiao Long Bao.

The construction was similar, but the beef produced a noticeably heartier flavor than the traditional pork.

Trying the two versions side by side was one of the most interesting parts of the meal because the wrapper and technique remained familiar while the filling changed the character of the dumpling.

Xiao Long Bao vs. Sheng Jian Bao

If you have never tried both, ordering them together is one of the easiest ways to understand two of ShangHai Taste’s signature dishes.

Xiao Long Bao are steamed. Their wrappers are relatively delicate, with meat and hot broth sealed inside.

Sheng Jian Bao are pan-fried. The bottoms develop a crispy exterior while the upper portion remains soft, with juicy filling inside.

Both are closely associated with Shanghai cuisine, but the textures are completely different.

That comparison alone makes ordering both worthwhile on a first visit.

Exploring the Current ShangHai Taste Menu

Even after ordering several dishes, we had barely touched the menu.

Current options extend beyond the traditional pork XLB into Crab Yolk, Angus Beef, and Shrimp & Cucumber versions.

There are also steamed vegan dumplings, steamed fish dumplings, Shanghai pork wonton soup, shrimp-and-pork wonton soup, spicy wontons in chili oil, Shanghai Duck, scallion pancakes, Kao Fu, and other Shanghainese dishes.

It is the kind of menu where returning with a larger group makes sense because ordering more dishes means trying more of the kitchen.

ShangHai Taste Chinatown vs. ShangHai Taste Southwest

This visit was to the original Chinatown location inside Shanghai Plaza on Spring Mountain Road.

ShangHai Taste also operates a second Las Vegas restaurant in the Southwest Valley near Rainbow Boulevard and Windmill Lane.

The Southwest restaurant is larger and has its own expanded menu, while the Chinatown location remains the compact Shanghai Plaza restaurant most closely associated with the brand’s original Las Vegas following.

So when you see searches or listings for Shanghai Taste Southwest, they refer to a different Las Vegas location.

For this story, everything we ordered and photographed came from the Chinatown restaurant.

Chef Jimmy Li and ShangHai Taste

ShangHai Taste is closely connected with Chef Jimmy Li, whose work has helped move the restaurant well beyond the status of a neighborhood dumpling shop.

Li was named a 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Southwest, recognition that covered chefs across Nevada and several neighboring states.

The restaurant itself describes its goal as preserving traditional Shanghainese flavors through handcrafted dishes and techniques.

That helps explain the focus of the menu.

Rather than trying to cover every style of Chinese cuisine, ShangHai Taste stays centered on Shanghai street food, handmade dumplings, noodles, wontons, and familiar regional flavors.

A Chinatown Restaurant Worth Exploring Beyond the Dumplings

Some restaurants become known for one dish and never move beyond it.

ShangHai Taste has the opposite problem: its Xiao Long Bao attract so much attention that it is easy to overlook everything else.

Our meal with Destony started with tea and crisp-bottomed Sheng Jian Bao, moved through sweet-and-sour pork ribs and fried rice, and finished with steaming baskets of pork and Angus beef Xiao Long Bao.

The dumplings lived up to their reputation, but the ribs, fried rice, and broader Shanghainese menu made the meal feel much more complete.

If you’re already exploring Shanghai Plaza, O.Onigiri adds Okinawan-style rice dishes to the plaza’s mix, while nearby Mama Chai’s makes an easy after-dinner stop for boba, mochi donuts, and desserts.

And if you’re spending more time exploring Chinatown, Gäbi Coffee & Bakery offers a completely different café experience a short drive away.

For anyone looking for Shanghainese food, Xiao Long Bao, or soup dumplings in Las Vegas Chinatown, ShangHai Taste is a restaurant worth knowing by more than just its signature dish.