Not a Huge Fan of Chinese but Shanghai Wok Does it Well!
All food critiques will be judged on the following categories: presentation; taste; creativity; and overall rating of atmosphere. Each category will have a rating of one star to five stars with five being the best. And then all four categories will be averaged for an overall rating.
Best Chinese Corvallis, OR: Shanghai Wok
Best Chinese Corvallis, OR: Shanghai Wok
What: Food Critique
Where: Shanghai Wok (Chinese) Corvallis, OR (Closed Sundays)
Overall: 3 3/4 stars Overall a delicious meal, prepared well with friendly customer service. I am not impressed with the Chinese restaurants in Corvallis, OR and find myself settling for "all right" Chinese. Shanghai Wok is one of the better Chinese restaurants in Corvallis due to consistently well prepared food, cost, atmosphere and location. White people are always saying this and I do find it to be true: "The good Asian restaurants are the ones that all the Asians go to;" this is true for Shanghai Wok. It is usually filled with Asians likely college students due to it's central location and being near to campus. Shanghai offers a great lunch and dinner special which costs $6.50 and includes an entre, rice and egg roll (The egg rolls are made in-house). There is also complementary green tea for those who are dining in. Shanghai is a great bang for your buck with most regular menu items being under $10 and generous portions.
Presentation: 3 stars While the food here is typical of Chinese there is some attention paid to presentation. The dishes are always ascetically pleasing and are not swimming in oil or sauce as with some Chinese restaurants.
Taste: 3 3/4 stars The food felt fresh. The veggies and rice cooked perfectly. The meats were stir fried rather than deep fried which allowed them to be light and tender rather than oil laden. Many of Shanghai's dishes are naturally gluten-free and if not the chef is always willing to cater to special diets. Also Shanghai does not use MSG! The egg rolls were perfect: light/crispy wrapper, tightly wrapped, with a cabbage filling and they are only $1 each (or get one included for free with their lunch or dinner specials)!
Creativity: 3 stars Shanghai's menu has ample choices without being overwhelming. They also have a special menu on their adjacent wall to their main counter that has menu items that I was told by the owner "The Asians order from." See picture below.
Atmosphere: 3 stars This place is a dive a true "hole in the wall" but they do the "dive" thing really well and it comes off as a fun ethnic experience of say a "hole in the wall" in Seattle or China. Part of the atmosphere that really works for me is that it is a mom and pops business--literally--mom works the front counter and pops is the main chef. Both speak just enough English to get by and are always humble, sweet and welcoming. Overall, there is a lack of attention to decoration and atmosphere but somehow it works for Shanghai Wok! 
The picture below is the entre part of the lunch special: Beef with Broccoli. As you can see the dish looks beautiful and it tasted as good as it looked. The veggies were fresh and cooked tenderly and the sauce was perfect not too salty and on the light side with the sauce.
I ordered the lunch special: BBQ Pork with Broccoli. I was skeptical about ordering BBQ pork as Chinese BBQ is usually precooked and pre-seasoned and therefore often very dry when recooked. However Shanghai Wok's BBQ Pork was none of that! The meat was juicy and I could taste several flavor combinations at once that really worked well together: BBQ flavor, the salty fermented taste of the sauce with combined with the flavor of the lightly sautéed broccoli. I took half my meal home and ate it for lunch the next day and it was still delicious!
Contact Information:
Shanghai Wok
(541) 758-7191
1104 NW Van Buren Ave (11th and Van Buren)
Corvallis, OR 97330
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