Glutton Guide (ShangHai)
上 海
EDiTiOn 2017-2018
Shanghai is undeniably one of the best cities in the world to eat your way through. Designed by foodies, for foodies, this guide is all you’ll need to plan a memorable meal-based trip, highlighting the city’s most authentic and delicious foods. More than just a book of listings, you’ll find an overview of Shanghai’s best street foods, safety tips, the best regional cuisines and much more.
Designed to eliminate the language barrier, every listing has a bilingual address section (for seamless taxi rides), subway stop listings and ordering recommendations for restaurants that have Chinese menus. This gets you off the tourist trail and eating the best dishes at each restaurant, shoulder to shoulder with local diners.
Perhaps the best part of eating Chinese food in China is the regional variations not often found abroad. As well as offering an overview of each regional cuisine, this guide also details the best representative restaurants of each region within Shanghai’s city limits. Depending on your needs, this book can guide a months-long eating and drinking bonanza, or alternatively can serve as a shortcut to finding the most suitable places to dine for those with too little time. Longer-term Shanghai residents will find the food shopping section especially helpful.
Each restaurant's address section features an external Google Map link
- with an internet-and-VPN-enabled device, just click 'save' in your maps application for easy reference while touring on the ground. While in China,
using the Baidu map link (Chinese only) is preferred if you do not have a VPN
installed as Google services are blocked. Each listing title is marked with an abbreviated symbol for price point, mealtime and location of the restaurant.
Pricing is per person, with the following average meal cost:
$Less than RMB 50 (USD 8)
$$ RMB 51-150 (USD 8 – 22)
$$$ RMB 151-300 (USD 22 – 45)
$$$$ RMB 301+ (USD 45+)
Meal
City Area
BPS: Bund/People’s Square
FFC: Former French Concession
HP: Huangpu
B = Breakfast
L = Lunch
D = Dinner
JA: Jing’an
D+ = After-dinner drinks late night eats
NTH: Northern Suburbs (Zhabei,
Hongkou Yangpu)
WB: Weekend Brunch
PD: Pudong
XJH: Xujiahui
ZSP: Zhongshan Park
WST: Western Suburbs (Hongqiao
Minhang)
For example, if the heading looks like:
Fu Chun (B L D, $, JA)
This means Fu Chun is open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, costs less than
RMB 50 per person and is located in Jing’an District.
Shanghai’s Must-Do Culinary Experiences
Dining Scene Overview
Top 10 Street Foods
Best Food Streets
Street Food Safety
Top Noodle Joints
Regional Chinese Food
Top International Restaurants
Brunch
Desserts
Food Activities
Nightlife
Tea
Top Hotels for Foodies
Food Shopping
Foodie Day Trips
Recommended Further Reading Viewing
Getting Around General Info
Mandarin Language Guide
About the Authors
Maps of Shanghai
Index SHANGHAI MAP
JA
BPS
ZSP
PD
FFC (East)
Old Town
FFC (West)
XJH
BPS: Bund People’s Square
Bund People’s Square
FFC (East) Old Town: Former French Concession (East) Old Town
FFC (West): Former French Concession (West)
JA: Jing’an
Jing’an
PD: Pudong
XJH: Xujiahui
ZSP: Zhongshan Park
MUST-DO
CULINARY
EXPERIENCES
Shanghai’s Must-Do Culinary Experiences slUrp xiaolongBao
Arguably Shanghai’s most famous dish, xiaˇolóngbāo (小笼包) are bite-sized steamed dumplings stuffed with minced pork and soup. It’s all about the eating technique (as pictured) – bite, slurp, dunk and devour! More info.
Step 1: Pick up xiaolongbao with chopsticks and place on your spoon.
Step 4: Make the hole big enough to slurp out of.
Step 2: Dunk your xiaolongbao in vinegar (with chili flakes added if you like).
Step 5: Slurp out all the pork broth
(dunk again, if you like vinegar)
Step 6: Pop whole dumpling in your
Step 3: Bite a hole in your xiaolongbao. mouth and enjoy
How to eat xiaolongBao (soUp dUmplings)
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7Shanghai’s Must-Do Culinary Experiences explore tHe mUslim market
There are two large Friday Markets that are hosted outside mosques. In Puxi, the original market downsized and relocated back in 2013, but it sprawls across the street from the Huxi Mosque and still sees a lively mix of cultures and great examples of China’s far west cuisine. The one on the Pudong side of the river is a little cleaner, thanks to its location on the sidewalks outside the mosque.
At both, you can expect to sample the best lamb kebabs, steamed baked dumplings, cold noodles and roasted fowl you can find in Shanghai while sitting elbow to elbow with locals gathering for prayer. Come to either location for the food, stay for the atmosphere and a glimpse into the lives of China’s non-Han
minorities. More info. experienCe aVant garde dining
Dinner at Ultraviolet is so much more than a meal. The fully immersive restaurant serves up Chef Paul Pairet’s brand of “psychotaste”, pairing each of the 20+ dishes on the menu with not just a drink, but also a sound, visual and sometimes scent. The result? Mind-boggling. Reservations for the 10 seats per night are released at midnight 90 days in advance and only bookable online, so plan accordingly. Chef Pairet just launched the third version of the meal (UV-C, after UV-A UV-B, of course), and it’s the darkest twist yet.
More info. see YoUr noodles Hand-pUlled to order
You can’t get noodles fresher than this! Watch as Hui minority chefs manipulate, stretch and pull their dough right in front of your eyes, turning wheat and water into thin strands of noodles in mere seconds. It’s like an edible
magic trick that will arrive at your table steaming hot in less than a minute.
More info.
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Join UntoUr sHangHai’s food toUr
Overwhelmed by the language barrier? Intimidated by long menus as thick as textbooks? Apprehensive about chowing down on street food? UnTour
Shanghai takes the guesswork out of eating in China with intimate halfday food tours led by a bilingual guide. While you’re experiencing the city’s food scene, you’ll also walk through Shanghai’s traditional street scenes, parks and neighborhoods to see how the locals live. Tours are offered every day of the week, including Street Eats – Breakfast, Hands-On
Dumpling Delights and Night Eats options.
Email: info@untourfoodtours.com
Web: photo: untour shanghai
9DINING SCENE
OVERVIEW
Dining Scene Overview
In 2016, the much-anticipated Michelin Guide finally arrived in Shanghai, and the entire city erupted in anger and disappointment. The vast majority of the stars went to Western and Cantonese restaurants – and many of the recepients were hotel restaurants. Many offended observers speculated that the Michelin palate was unadventurous and culturally ignorant.
Since Michelin inspectors mostly eat alone, experiencing a proper Chinese meal which is typically served family-style is incredibly difficult. Only five of the 26 restaurants were Shanghainese and just three other stars came from any of China’s other delicious regional cuisines (which are often under represented or toned down for foreigners in the West).
While blog posts on the slights of many of Shanghai’s best chefs and restaurants popped up like mushrooms, the city came together to voice their chief complaint: the only three-star restaurant in the bunch was T’ang Court, a Hong
Kong restaurant that was decidedly average and overpriced. Do yourself a favor and skip this restaurant while visiting Shanghai. Check out the Bib Gourmand restaurants (less than RMB 200 per head) instead – the list of 27 restaurants is better researched and merits more attention than the little red book.
In 2017, two of Shanghai’s restaurants (Ultraviolet and Fu He Hui) made it onto
Restaurant Magazine’s Top 50 in Asia list. Add to that the Michelin Guide's arrival and Shanghai’s catapulting wealth and historical openness to foreigners, and you’ll understand why the city has attracted celebrity chefs who’ve already
demonstrated a keen interest in Asia, including Jean-Georges’ Vongerichten
and Umberto Bombana.
The city is also appealing to up-and-coming international chefs, such as Gordon
Ramsey-protege Jason Atherton, who opened his first solo restaurant Table No
1 in Shanghai in 2010 and Commune Social in 2013. He now has restaurants in
London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Cebu and Sydney. Chefs the caliber of Michelin-starred Mauro Colagreco, who opened his eponymous restaurant on the Bund in 2012, are seeing a more refined palate and hunger for intriguing dining experiences from both the locals and foreigners who call Shanghai home.
Eateries are also being downsized; gone are the days of massive banquet halls and sprawling hotel restaurants. Intimate restaurants where you can practically reach out and touch the chef are becoming the status quo, and fast casual restaurants serving inventive and inexpensive food are popping up all around town.
As in many other parts of the world, it’s become trendy in Shanghai to know not just what you’re eating, but who made it and where it came from. At the dinner table, food is as much fodder for conversation (and social media) as it is sustenance.
This trend extends to restaurants serving local cuisine, as more and more Chinese
11 Dining Scene Overview
become aware of domestic sourcing and food safety issues. Restaurants such as Jianguo 328 are going viral by proclaiming their use of quality oil and filtered water, as well as actually imposing the country’s no-smoking-in-restaurants rule. Foreign chefs are championing “Proudly Made in China” products. Whether they are using produce from their own farm like Hunter Gatherer or sourcing wagyu beef, foie gras, caviar and wine from Mainland suppliers, they are turning stereotypes of Chinese food quality on their head.
The government is also getting on board by enforcing food safety laws in an attempt to clean up their tattered image. Unfortunately, this means many of Shanghai’s roving street vendors are getting the heave-ho, and many food streets are being shuttered and revamped, turned into mixed use commercial districts free of grease splatters and delicious bites. But don’t worry – there’s still good street food left to try, and even a few food streets still thriving. So get eating!
12 TOP 10
STREET FOODS
Top 10 Street Foods
From dawn until dusk, Shanghai’s streets are fragrant with the scent of cooking.
Steamed, fried, baked, roasted, boiled – the city’s incredible range of fresh street food is often made right in front of your eyes. There’s a bite for everyone and one serving shouldn't cost more than RMB 10, you just need to know where to go. To
find out more on how to stay safe while eating your way through the streets of Shanghai, see our guide to eating street food.
ˇxiaolóngBāo (小笼包)
One of the region’s most famous dishes, xiaˇolóngbāo (or soup dumplings) can be spotted streetside in towers of steaming bamboo baskets. The thin dumpling wrapper encases minced pork and liquefied pork jelly. Dip the dumpling in rice vinegar steeped with ginger, then slurp out the piping hot pork soup carefully before you take a bite. More info.
Fu Chun 富春 (B L D, $, JA)
For a taste of Shanghai-style soup dumplings with thicker dumpling skins and sweet broth, head to this local institution. The second floor serves other
Shanghainese dishes in a sit-down setting, but the packed first floor offers quick counter service dining with steamer baskets constantly rotating out of the open
kitchen.
Google map. 650 Yuyuan Rd, near Zhenning Rd. 愚园路650号近镇宁路. Subway: Line
2/9 – Jiangsu Road. Tel: +86 21 6247 1277. Hours: 6:30am-midnight. Menu: Chinese only. Baidu map.
Nanjing Style Soup Dumplings 南京汤包麻辣烫 (B L D, $, FFC)
With a delicate wrapper that you can practically see through, Nanjing-style xiaˇolóngbāo has a smaller meatball and more soup than its Shanghai brethren.
This specialty shop in the former French Concession offers al fresco seating and some of the best bites in the city in a typical no-frills setting.
Google map. 641 Jianguo Rd (W), near Gao’an Rd. 建国西路641号近高安路. Subway:
Line 7/9 – Zhaojiabang Road. Tel: +86 21 6473 5648. Hours: 6:30am-midnight. Menu:
Chinese only. Baidu map.
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Top 10 Street Foods fꢀꢁꢂuꢃ xꢄꢀˇꢂꢅꢆꢇꢈbꢉꢂ Chꢀꢄꢇꢃ
We love Fu Chun and Nanjing Style for their authentic takes on xlb, but there are plenty of chains around town that make it easy for the Mandarin-illiterate to try soup dumplings. With six locations around town, Jꢄꢀjꢄꢀ tꢀꢇꢈbꢀꢂ is the most famous hole-in-the-wall shop and has an abbreviated English menu. The original
Huanghe Rd shop is conveniently located across the street from shengjianbao
chain Yangs’ Fry Dumplings, making it the perfect two-birds, one-stone stop for visitors without much time to dive into the street food culture.
Another easy option is dꢄꢇ tꢀꢄ fuꢇꢈ, an international Taiwanese chain with many locations around the city (mostly in shopping centers) and a bilingual menu, if you prefer your dumplings in a classier and more accessible setting. They do a delicious upscale take on the original pork with a truffle pork option.
Avoid the long lines at nꢀꢇꢊꢄꢀꢇꢈ sꢋꢌꢀꢁꢌꢍ duꢁꢎꢅꢄꢇꢈꢃ in Yuyuan Gardens by heading to the top floor’s sit down restaurant to order them. The first floor window may have the longest lines, but there’s really no need to queue for hours.
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CōngYóUBing (葱油饼)
These scallion oil pancakes come in a variety of forms and cooking methods, from single-serving, crispy, flaky fried bing to giant, thickly-layered baked options, but they’re best when cooked-to-order. An all-day Shanghai snack, you’ll find them flecked with green onions on many street corners in the former
French Concession and the small alleyways of Old Town.
A Da Congyoubing 阿大葱油饼 (B L, $, FFC)
Mr Wu wakes up at 5am to make his scallion oil masterpieces, mixing the dough that will later be slathered with lard and stuffed with green onions before hitting the spitting grill. Each batch of 20 pancakes takes about 15 minutes, with a crispy finish inside the kiln hidden under the griddle, so expect
long lines. More info.
Google map. 120 Yongjia Lu, near Ruijin Er Lu. 永嘉路120号近瑞金二路. Subway: Line
9 – Dapuqiao. Tel: No phone. Hours: 6am-3pm or when he sells out (closed Wed).
Menu: Chinese only. Baidu map.
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JiānBing (煎饼)
The perfect on-the-go breakfast, these thin crepes are fried on flat griddles with an egg, and then flecked with cilantro, green onions and pickled mustard tubers. Savory bean paste and fiery chili paste are slathered on to add flavor, while a deep-fried wonton skin adds crunch. If you prefer your treats nonspicy, just ask for it “búlà (不辣)” and the vendor will forgo the chili.
Authentic Shandong Jianbing 正宗山东特色煎饼 (B L, $, FFC)
Typically a breakfast treat, most jiānb�ıng vendors wrap up production by about 11am, but this vendor down the street from the wet market on
Wulumuqi Rd understands that after one bite of her delicious bing, you’ll be
craving them all day long. She stays open through lunch, until about 2pm.
Google map. Wulumuqi Rd (Middle), near Wuyuan Rd. 乌鲁木齐路近五原路.
Subway: Line 1/7 – Changshu Road. Tel: No phone. Hours: 7am-2pm. Menu:
Chinese only. Baidu map. photo: authentic shandong jianbing
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Top 10 Street Foods sHēngJiān Bāo ꢀ生煎包ꢁ
Locally called shēngjiān mántou (生煎馒头), the most famous of these Shanghai specialty fried pork buns is guidebook favorite Yang’s Fry Dumplings, with
20 stores and a reputation for tourists. Shengjian bao are famous for being incredibly juicy, so bite carefully and slurp out the hot soup inside before you dive in completely. Fried on the bottom and steamed on top for a duo of textures, these buns usually come in orders of four. Sprinkle on the vinegar and enjoy!
Da Hu Chun 大壶春 (L D, $, BPS)
A member of the exalted group of China’s “Time-Honored Brands”, Da Hu
Chun was one of the originating vendors of the shengjian bao back in the 1930s. They use the “clear water” technique, frying the seam of the bun faceup to allow for more juice on the inside. Try them with a side of yellow curry
beef broth. More info.
Google map. 89 Yunnan Rd (South), near Jinling Rd (East). 云南南路89号近金陵东路.
Subway: Line 8 – Dashijie. Tel: No phone. Hours: 7:30am-2pm, 3pm-8pm. Menu:
Chinese only. Baidu map. gUōtiē ꢀ锅贴ꢁ
Though you might not know it, you’ve probably tried these treats in some incarnation before. “Guo” means “pot” and “tie” means “to stick”, so these are literally “potstickers”. Like shengjianbao, these juicy pork-stuffed dumplings are fried on the bottom in a shallow wok, before being steamed with a bit of water in the same pot.
Pengyuan Guotie 朋缘锅贴 (B L, $, FFC)
This French Concession stall might not look like much, but they serve some of the best and most consistent fried dumplings in the city. If you get there early enough,
you can sometimes get their shengjianbao too.
Google map. 102 Gao’an Rd, near Zhaojiabang Rd. 高安路102号近肇家浜路. Subway: Line
7/9 – Zhaojiabang Road. Tel: No phone. Hours: 6am-5pm. Menu: Chinese only. Baidu map.
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Top 10 Street Foods
CífàntUán (糍饭团)
These glutinous rice balls come in both savory and sweet flavors and are most commonly eaten for breakfast. You can spot them from the street by the wooden or metal jug of rice being balled up with a tableful of ingredients. Just point to what you want added and take your cifantuan to go.
Zhen Yuan Rice Ball 真圆粢饭团 (B L D, $, FFC JA XJH)
The most popular cifantuan spot in the city, this rice ball maker has spread out from its original location on Nanyang Rd in Jing’an all over the city. Now, it makes purple rice balls in several locations around the city and locals queue up for a try. Ask for yours with their famous soy-stewed minced pork sauce (肉酱 ròu jiàng), and don’t forget to add a deep-fried Chinese doughnut (油条 yóutiáo) and soy-braised egg (卤蛋 luˇdàn). More info.
FFC Location: Google map. #27, 133 Maoming Rd (South), near Huaihai Rd (Middle).
茂名南路133弄27号近淮海路. Subway: Line 1/10/12: South Shaanxi Road. Hours: Mon-
Fri 6:30am-1:30pm, Sat-Sun 6:30am-6:30pm. Baidu map.
JA Location: Google map. 100 Nanyang Rd, near Xikang Rd. 南阳路100号近西康
路. Subway: Line 2/7 – Jing’an Temple. Hours: Mon-Fri 5:30am-6:30pm, Sat-Sun
5:30am-10am. Baidu map.
XJH Location: Google map. 2422 Xietu Rd, near Wanping Rd (South). 斜土路2422号近
宛平南路. Subway: Line 1/9/11 – Xujiahui. Hours: 6:30am-6pm. Baidu map.
Tel: No phone. Menu: Chinese only.
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Top 10 Street Foods
Bāozi (包子)
Steamed buns the size of a fist, baozi are one of the cheapest and most efficient on-the-go breakfasts in the city. Stores usually sell a variety of fillings, from original pork flavor to vegetarian options with a combination of mushrooms, bok choy and tofu (菜包 cài bāo usually denoted by the green fleck in the seam on
)top. Black sesame (芝麻 zhīma) paste is a sweet option popular with the locals.
Yili Baozi Dianxin 伊利包子点心 (B L D, $, FFC)
Famous for their juicy pork-stuffed buns (肉包 ròubāo), reminiscent of xiaˇolóngbāo’s soupy interior encased by fluffy, soft white bread, Yili is located right around the corner from the mammoth Shanghai Library. Keep in mind the creamy egg custard buns (奶黄包 naˇihuáng bāo) sell out first, so try to get
there before 10am if you want a sweeter bao!
Google map. #11, 1 Gao’an Rd, near Huaihai Rd (Middle). 高安路1弄11号侧近淮海
路. Subway: Line 10 – Shanghai Library. Hours: 6am – 7pm. Menu: Chinese only.
Baidu map.
Bao Bao 甘其食 (B L D, $, FFC NTH)
This modern baozi shop is what the future of street food in Shanghai and other quickly-modernizing Chinese city looks like. Dumpling technicians carefully weight and measure well-sourced ingredients behind a safety glass and feature reative stuffings, like sweet-and-sour lotus root and apple-bbq pork, that aren’t usually found streetside.
FFC Location: Google Map. 380 Shaanxi Rd (South), near Fuxing Rd (Middle).
陕西南路380号近复兴中路. Subway: Line 1/10/12 – South Shaanxi Road. Hours: