Can’t argue about the authenticity of this spot. The decor and service may be outdated, but the food is well spiced and delicious. A great spot for some classic Chinese.

My wife and I enjoyed lunch yesterday at Shanghai Pine Garden and the food was great. We had pot stickers as our appetizer and followed with Mushu Pork and Orange Chicken and white rice. The food was wonderful and the service was excellent. We will be back to try some of their many other dishes.

☆☆☆EXCELLENT FOOD!☆☆☆ I highly recommend this place! The service was excellent as well. I was pleasantly surprised at just how delicious the food was and the quality of the food. I haven't really found a great Chinese restaurant, but now I have! It's a bit pricey, but two things... 1.) You get what you pay for. 2.) You're on Balboa Island! This place has been here since the early 1970s! So they must be doing something right! Right? If you're in the area and want GREAT Chinese food... don't hesitate to go here! Then, after you're done eating, you can go for a nice walk up and down the main street here on this quaint little island. I also recommend going down the street and getting a Dad's ice cream bar! Yum! 😋 Enjoy!

+3

It’s got a cozy, family-like vibe, where locals hug the staff as if they’ve known each other for years. Every dish is prepared with finesse, sparkling with freshness and carrying those unmistakable Chinese flavors that make it truly special.

Amazing food and atmosphere. Food is astonishingly well priced for how delicious it is. Vicky is an accommodating sweet heart! Try the new onion pancakes and the sesame balls. I always get shumai and the walnut chicken is out of this world !

This is one of our go to place whenever we crave for Chinese food. We saw the improvement over the years from the decor ambiance to the food and service. Yesterday we just missed the lunch special since we arrived a few minutes after 4pm yet we ordered a la carte and were glad we did. We started off with the egg flower soup and egg rolls, followed by the Mongolian beef with brown rice, this must be by far the best on the menu. The beef is so tender and tasty good enough to share for two, It’s marinated with what seems like oyster sauce sautéed with strips of fresh onions. We also end our meal with only dessert red bean sesame balls. What a delight. The service we got from Vicky and Cici was impeccable as well. Both were amiable and greeted us with a smile and were very welcoming with our service dog. We sure will be back here soon.

The people who run this restaurant are so kind, it’s my wife and I’s favorite place to eat on Balboa Island. Vicky was especially so kind an amazing server!

Love this place, excellent food, so tasty, their orange chicken is better than Cheesecake Factory

Fantastic services. Nice smiles 😃 😊. Very polite servers. The prices for the dishes are average. The orange chicken dish is a must try, after I ate all of tug first plate of it, we need to order another one because my kids and I love it so much. We also had the Lettuce wrap to start with, it was a great choice. Tug atmosphere is OK, is an American style Chinese, cleaned but I personally do not like the lighting, it's a bit too dim. Overall, love this place and we will be back next time we come to Balbao Island, Newport beach. Sorry, forgot to take photos!

My family and I have been going to Shanghai Pine Garden for about 2 years now. We love it. The food is always delicious and just what we want. The service is fantastic, all of the workers are very attentive. We never have to wait long to be seated or to get our food. I would say that the food is more “family style”. I would recommend sharing plates. Even when my family of 5 shares, we end up with leftovers. The must try’s are the fried dumplings, war wonton soup, and any fried rice and low mein options. The restrooms are also always clean. Overall, a great place to eat and catch up with family. Sometimes we’ll drive an hour to Balboa Island, just so we can eat here. I’ll always recommend this restaurant.

Carlos Eduardo

Love this place, excellent food, so tasty, their orange chicken is better than Cheesecake Factory

Beau Akhavain

Amazing food and spectacular service. Everyone was so nice and very accommodating. The power went out on the island and we still had a full service for the night… an experience I will never forget. They were awesome!

Sara Jimenez

My family and I have been going to Shanghai Pine Garden for about 2 years now. We love it. The food is always delicious and just what we want. The service is fantastic, all of the workers are very attentive. We never have to wait long to be seated or to get our food. I would say that the food is more “family style”. I would recommend sharing plates. Even when my family of 5 shares, we end up with leftovers. The must try’s are the fried dumplings, war wonton soup, and any fried rice and low mein options. The restrooms are also always clean. Overall, a great place to eat and catch up with family. Sometimes we’ll drive an hour to Balboa Island, just so we can eat here. I’ll always recommend this restaurant.

Semira Lee

Fantastic services. Nice smiles 😃 😊. Very polite servers. The prices for the dishes are average. The orange chicken dish is a must try, after I ate all of tug first plate of it, we need to order another one because my kids and I love it so much. We also had the Lettuce wrap to start with, it was a great choice. Tug atmosphere is OK, is an American style Chinese, cleaned but I personally do not like the lighting, it's a bit too dim. Overall, love this place and we will be back next time we come to Balbao Island, Newport beach. Sorry, forgot to take photos!

Mandy Osburn

This is a great spot on the Island to get some fresh tasty Chinese food. We like how we were able to walk in and food came out quickly.

Salty Sauce

Nice corner spot with big bay windows to people watch while sitting comfortably inside. Food came fast. I was in and out in 20 minutes, tops. But I could've stayed. It wasn't terribly busy while I was there, maybe 5 tables, I just had somewhere else I had to be. Portion size is average. The item that stood out to me was the hot n sour soup. It really had a nice smokey savory flavor and the little scallion garnish on top was a great burst of flavor that complimented the base of the soup perfectly. Was really impressed with the soup. I ordered fried rice with my kung pao chicken. Fried rice was a little dry but not bad. The main entree was just average to me. I've had better but I've also had worse. Overall was not bad. Price was reasonable for that area and place was clean and service was friendly. (Noted : my criticism for these types of Chinese restaurants is high since I make a point to try them whenever and wherever I see one. I've been to over 40 in Southern California. )

Simon Kaulius

Average Chinese food. Fried rice is basically steamed rice with some diced veg thrown in. Sweet and Sour Pork is good, but nothing special. Nothing was bad, it's just that nothing wowed me. Lunch specials go until 5pm which is nice.

Average Chinese food. Fried rice is basically steamed rice with some diced veg thrown in. Sweet and Sour Pork is good, but nothing special. Nothing was bad, it's just that nothing wowed me. Lunch specials go until 5pm which is nice.

Nice corner spot with big bay windows to people watch while sitting comfortably inside. Food came fast. I was in and out in 20 minutes, tops. But I could've stayed. It wasn't terribly busy while I was there, maybe 5 tables, I just had somewhere else I had to be. Portion size is average. The item that stood out to me was the hot n sour soup. It really had a nice smokey savory flavor and the little scallion garnish on top was a great burst of flavor that complimented the base of the soup perfectly. Was really impressed with the soup. I ordered fried rice with my kung pao chicken. Fried rice was a little dry but not bad. The main entree was just average to me. I've had better but I've also had worse. Overall was not bad. Price was reasonable for that area and place was clean and service was friendly. (Noted : my criticism for these types of Chinese restaurants is high since I make a point to try them whenever and wherever I see one. I've been to over 40 in Southern California. )

This is a great spot on the Island to get some fresh tasty Chinese food. We like how we were able to walk in and food came out quickly.

Garry Kepes

A holiday night might not be the best way to try out a first-time dinner place to go, but we did it anyway. We had reservations for 6 for 5:30. We we got there, and there was a line out the door and down the sidewalk with people with reservations. The manager was also seating friends without reservations, which was not helping the situation. It is a relatively small place as well. It was about 45 mins to an hour later by the time we had a seat. The food was served efficiently and was good. The place was well light. Perhaps I will try again on not a holiday night and see how things are.

A holiday night might not be the best way to try out a first-time dinner place to go, but we did it anyway. We had reservations for 6 for 5:30. We we got there, and there was a line out the door and down the sidewalk with people with reservations. The manager was also seating friends without reservations, which was not helping the situation. It is a relatively small place as well. It was about 45 mins to an hour later by the time we had a seat. The food was served efficiently and was good. The place was well light. Perhaps I will try again on not a holiday night and see how things are.

VERY PRICEY for what you get!!! Portions are very small. While the food was tasty, it’s hard to swallow the price.

Allyson Stella

VERY PRICEY for what you get!!! Portions are very small. While the food was tasty, it’s hard to swallow the price.

M planetmike

If you enjoy authentic Chinese food, then run away from this restaurant. On average I have come to expect poor service at old school Chinese restaurants, like this one, set within a cafeteria style environment. This restaurant is no different. However one does expect the food to be decent. There is the bland and tasteless wontons. The sickly sweet savory dishes. While we taste this awfulness, servers scream across the room at one another.

If you enjoy authentic Chinese food, then run away from this restaurant. On average I have come to expect poor service at old school Chinese restaurants, like this one, set within a cafeteria style environment. This restaurant is no different. However one does expect the food to be decent. There is the bland and tasteless wontons. The sickly sweet savory dishes. While we taste this awfulness, servers scream across the room at one another.

Wow, we have eaten here a lot. Usually the food is great. This was the worst meal we have ever had there. The cashew chicken was tasteless with dark funky chicken pieces, not too many cashews and a lot of celery. The chicken moo goo gai pan had a ton of veges and hardly any chicken. So disappointing for a very expensive meal. This was a delivery. One of the bags of appetizers was wide open when we got it. Ugh.

K McL

Wow, we have eaten here a lot. Usually the food is great. This was the worst meal we have ever had there. The cashew chicken was tasteless with dark funky chicken pieces, not too many cashews and a lot of celery. The chicken moo goo gai pan had a ton of veges and hardly any chicken. So disappointing for a very expensive meal. This was a delivery. One of the bags of appetizers was wide open when we got it. Ugh.

We have dined here many times. However we ordered a feast for the whole family on Christmas this year to be delivered locally on Balboa Island. The food never arrived. We called the restaurant and reconfirmed the address and order and they assured us that it was on the way but it never came. Incredibly dissappointed. I would not recommend ordering to go food from here. Not reliable.

James Piper

We have dined here many times. However we ordered a feast for the whole family on Christmas this year to be delivered locally on Balboa Island. The food never arrived. We called the restaurant and reconfirmed the address and order and they assured us that it was on the way but it never came. Incredibly dissappointed. I would not recommend ordering to go food from here. Not reliable.