" Horribly Disappointing "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I had seen a flyer for a 138RMB dim sum brunch at Whampoa Club when I was in Three on the Bund one time, and thought it sounded like a great deal for a place that 1) looks incredibly gorgeous from its entrance and 2) usually runs much more money per head. The brunch turned out to be a complete waste of money. Even at that price I wouldn't go back. Food ranged from bland (mushroom dumplings) to inedible (seafood and cheese noodles). There were a few decent plates like the chicken and smoked fish, but I was shocked and disappointed in general by the food. Also, while 138RMB sounds like a great deal, they really get you on the backend by overcharging terribly for drinks.

" What I Expected... "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

After reading review after review (not that there were that many), I had my suspicions about the Whampoa Club. However, my boyfriend wanted to take his dad out to a nice Chinese dinner with a Bund view and Whampoa club was what he chose. I did suggest Lost Heaven but...I lost.

The decor is exactly as the pictures show...the main entrance is ok but not spectacular. The dining room itself is small and only about 1/2 the tables have a "bund view" except that most of the tables next to the windows don't even have a full window view. Very disappointing. Another factor was the tacky, 80s looking decor--the green glass dividers were a strange addition given that the restaurant's theme is to bring the diner back to Old Shanghai.

The menu was way too extensive, with typos, I might add, i.e. "Garoupa"=Grouper. There wasn't a whole lot of stuff that sounded good, some things seemed randomly added on considering the Shanghainese theme...I mean, chocolate syrup covered ribs? Really?

The service was ok...not great. The waitresses reached over the whole table to pick up plates, not professional as a Bund-restaurant goer would expect.

All-in-all, the experience was not worth the money or the time, PLUS, there is tons of construction on the Bund so there wasn't even that great of a view of the Bund side after dinner.

Not worth it...definitely trying Lost Heaven next time...or even some street food. Funny aside, my boyfriend's father, a businessman from the States, found the baozi from Carrefour a better deal (taste v price) than the fancy places we took him during his short stay!

" Been Had "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I was taking a married couple visiting from the US out to dinner. This was their first time in Shanghai. I have been in Shanghai about two years and have had limited experience with Bund restaurants other than for drinks at Laris and dinner at M when I first moved here. I thought M's decor was nice and the food was "ok" for the price and location. I had never been to Whampoa and had read the mixed reviews. I threw the dice and made reservations here. I knew it would be pricey, but I figured that the Bund location and price point would be indicative of a minimum level of service/quality of food. I figured wrong.

The entrance of the restaurant is impressive, but the main dining room is...very underwhelming. We were late for our reservation - Perhaps we could have gotten a better table if on-time - The table was cramped for 3. We were next to a window facing Pudong, however, the windows were narrow and the table next to us had put their coats/bags, etc on the window-sill next to their window, blocking the view. As a white-table cloth restaurant, the waitstaff should have cleared this for them as it was blocking a view of one the restaurants selling points.

The menu was extensive. I asked for recommendations and the waitress tried to be helpful - her english was ok, and much better than my Chinese.

The crab appetizer was nice. Drunken chicken was average. If you thought eating lobster at a restaurant was a bad idea, stay away from the hairy crab. About RMB250 per crab and of average quality. I was secretly hoping the crabs might be shelled to some extent. They were not. I am familiar with how to eat crab - my guests were not. The crabs came, and had a slightly fishy smell to them, but the meat itself was nice.

My guests enjoyed the tofu dish, dried tofu strips in some type of stock - I thought it was bland. The pork dish was fantastic, and everyone enjoyed it. One of the dim sum we ordered was the crystal shrimp, with hairy crab meat. The waitress came back and told us they could give us the shrimp part of the dumpling, but not the hairy crab part. Huh? The first 2 pages of the menu are hairy crab items....yet they did not have hairy crab for our dumplings. The dumplings were the same as any dimsum restaurant.

With 3 drinks, the total came out to about RMB 1,750. Expensive for a Chinese meal, affordable for a "Bund" restaurant. You are paying for: the bund view, which we barely had; the decor, which I thought was a bit tacky; the service, which was above average for China, but doesn't say much; and the food, which was mediocre at best. I walked way feeling like I had been had, and a bit embarrassed for having taken my guests here.

" Go Go Whampoa! "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Went to whampoa club a couple of months back when i first came to shanghai.

I didn't know how much is the dinner as it's on my friend.

food: there's no doubt about the food they offer. they serve modern shanghainese food with a tinge of creativity. And their presentation of food never fail to amaze me.

Service: i think that their service is one of the best that i had in shanghai.

Ambience: facing the huang pu river, wad else can i say?

thumb ups! :)

" Quite Good "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, no Shanghainese restaurant can deny having paid tribute to the Whampoa Club with large doses of flattery. After eating here, there's this sense of deija vu... have I had a lesser version of something like this before? At Lynn's.. at Jesse's... hmm. Apprently, the Whampoa Club has been credited to single-handedly bringing Shanghainese food from the quiet dens of group family dinners into mainstream glamor... and for this, us traveling foodies thank you.

While peaking our heads out on the 5th floor of 3 Bund, my friends and I have always been curious what is behind the gorgeous mural of two bowing giants and a statuesque lady in the middle... what we found was a gem of a restaurant.

We thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful dim sum experience full of thoughtfully prepared dishes including the drunken chicken, soup dumplings, and pork dumplings. The drunken chicken was definitely a favourite, and we couldn't get enough of the ice chips of vinegar that kept the dish cold and tasty. Caviar on shanghai smoked eggs? Genius. Better yet was the price, for dim sum anyway, it was a great value. One set price for all you can order weekend dim sum, making the bill tally very convenient for our large group. Although I haven't tried dinner here, I've been sufficiently impressed to want to try it out as well.

Let's not forget this restaurant is in a great location and has a nice view of the Huangpu. Whampoa Club will definitely be added to our frequented restaurant roster.

" A Dissapoitment "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I ordered a duck leg as cold dish, an eel and a vegetable as two hot dishes, and a noddle and a sticky rice cake with ribs. We have had two cups of tea. The total cost was 480 yuan. The food got good presentation. Taste are heavy and greasy. Service was terrible. The waiter and waitress had been in a lowered-voice quibble over work load assignment all the time when serving their guests. We said more "thank you" than them to ask for services. After I signed my credit and when I was leaving the place, there was not even a thank you and good bye. I was not dressed up like most of the guests. I was trying to do a trial for my company president's dinning experience in this June. I will never take any of my friends or guests there again. Good Bye Whampoa Club!