Shuang Cheng

1320 4th St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-378-0208
http://shuangchengrestaurant.com/index.php

Category: Chinese

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 7
Service: 7
Ambience: 5

Recommendation: Very Good. This restaurant serves top notch Chinese food with quality seafood dishes.

Shuang Cheng is a Chinese restaurant located in Dinkytown (U of M East Bank area). In many ways it is like most Chinese restaurants (large menu, restaurant lacking ambience), but what it does have is a wide array of seafood done really well. The décor at this restaurant is sparse (it’s probably a step above most ethnic restaurants) but it’s clean and not a hole in the wall. We had a chance to sit by the window and the people watching was fun in this neighborhood.

Their menu is rather large with a couple of hundred options – there is also a daily special menu posted on a white board towards the back of the restaurant. The special menu had a wide variety of seafood (lobster, crab, fish, clams, mussels…) and we ordered off this menu. The Chilean Sea Bass in Black Bean Sauce was amazing – the fresh fish is lightly fried before being mixed with the sauce. This dish was a delight because of its complex flavors. The Chicken with Asparagus was also very nice – it was in a white/clear sauce and had mild flavors. It was different than the Chinese food you have come to expect from most Chinese restaurants in America. The food was served quickly and the server was attentive – there wasn’t a large staff and I can see the quality of service going downhill during busy times.

$$. The two of us paid $40. Lobster and Crab is about $20. Sea Bass was $23 – however all portions are large enough to serve two people.