-- Boston's Hidden Restaurants --

Shanghai Gate

204 Harvard Avenue, Allston, MA 02134
(617) 566-7344 Find location!
--- Winner, Best Chinese Restaurant in Boston Area, 2007 and 2006 ---

Photo of Shanghai Gate, Allston, MA Have you ever done an Internet search for a restaurant and little or nothing came up? We did that in early 2005 for a fantastic Chinese restaurant in Allston called Shanghai Gate. We could not believe that this Boston gem had absolutely no entries on Google at the time we first went to this restaurant. Yes, Shanghai Gate was a fairly new restaurant at the time, and sure, information on this restaurant has increased once people started discovering how truly great this Chinese dining spot is, but still, NO entries? It made no sense that this attractive, almost elegant restaurant, was completely unknown for awhile. It has quite a following now, though, and for good reason.

Shanghai Gate is one of several authentic Chinese restaurants that have entered the Boston restaurant scene of late. Along with the terrific Hei La Moon in Chinatown and the bustling Shangri-La in Belmont, Shanghai Gate satisfies diners who are looking for something other than Americanized Chinese food. You won't want to come to Shanghai Gate for chicken fingers and spare ribs; instead, try such dishes as the outstanding cashew chicken, the tremendous beef dumplings, the beef with green peppers soaked in an impossibly hot chili sauce, or maybe the spicy chicken plate that will also leave you sweating. These dishes, along with many other delectable beef, chicken seafood, and tofu entrees, are prepared beautifully, and have the wholesome freshness that is sometimes not found in other Chinese restaurants.

Allston has some great restaurants, and Shanghai Gate can surely be included with the best of them. And this restaurant proves that diners do not necessarily need to go to Chinatown to get outstanding Chinese food. While Shanghai Gate has indeed made a name for itself among locals as well as Boston's Asian population, it is still relatively unknown, which means that you probably won't have much of a line to wait in if you come to this wonderful restaurant. Lovers of authentic Chinese food who don't like the crowds in Chinatown should definitely make a point of trying Shanghai Gate.