Shanghai Restaurants Near Me: Snacks and Other Authentic Cuisine from the Whole China 2024

Benbang Cuisine or the Shanghai Restaurant “local cuisine” hails from the times of the Qing and Ming dynasties. The humble peasant’s local food is very popular and is distinct for its slightly sugar-induced taste and red-braising technique using local Shaoxing rice wine with herbs and Zhejiang vinegar that normally forms the marinade and infuses flavor and color to the dish. Whether it the thick sauced caramelized and braised fatty pork belly, the distinct soup dumplings, fresh vegetables or just-caught sea fare like the Crystal shrimp and Hairy crab the influence of the Benbang Cuisine and its ingredients from the eastern Zhejiang Province shows in Shanghai’s cooking style and ingredients used.

Typical Benbang dishes at a Shanghai Restaurant are

Haipai Cuisine is equally influential and an “all-embracing cuisine” style popular in Shanghai’s cooking scenario. Why the name? Back in time, in the early 1900s, China lost the First Opium War and the Shanghai port was opened up to the foreign trading activity. In the 20s and 30s of the nineteenth century, Shanghai was even called the Pearl of the Orient. Later around 1943 and after the 1843 Nanjing Treaty the foreign- ruled settlements saw the beginnings of a fusion-styled Shanghai culture and food habits. The Hǎipài cài foods used the western dishes of pork chops, potato salad or borscht with a typical Chinese traditional Benbang twist to it. Of course, during the communist period, the Haipai cuisine was frowned upon and revived later by the younger experimenting chefs.

Typical Haipai dishes are

In 1949 Mao’s forces won with communist power over the Kuomintang nationalist army pushing them to retreat to Taiwan’s juàncūn military and housing villages. And, they carried their culinary skills to Taiwan using the local ingredients to replicate a fusion of necessity cuisine and Shanghai Restaurant is known as the juàncūn cài or Military Village Cuisine using dishes like zhajiang noodles, stir-fried bacon, and beef noodle soup into tweaked and fused dishes. and and turning them into something uniquely their own.

At the Taoyuan, Village breakfast is in this Taiwanese juàncūn cài and has dishes like the dòujiāng soy milk, fàntuán stuffed rice balls, shāobǐng flaky flatbread, and yóutiáo Chinese crullers. Slightly higher than the street-vendor pricing this restaurant is for the ones who love a hearty and late lazy breakfast. The freshly made quality breakfast is one you can wait for in the free wi-fi enabled well-designed bright interiors.

Taoyuan is open every night until 2:30 am in the mornings. Their six locations have different addresses and numbers with the most popular ones being located at 405-Taizhou Lu with telephone number 86* 21* 6277*7917, 67-Xingfu Lu whose number is 86*21*5273*0107 and 1/F, SMS Plaza, 618-Xujiahui Lu with the number to call being 86*21*3159*3557. The menu is strictly in Chinese.

Have you tried the shēngjiān (fried dumplings) with sesame and scallion coating at the typical Shanghai Restaurant Yang’s Fry Dumpling? You should if you look at the long queues here.

Served straight off from the fire in little yellowish and orange-brown bowls, the four liǎng dumplings set costs 20. You could also try the other traditional dish with coriander and duck blood soup. Service is a no-frills affair. You just pay at the left counter and pick up the scalding hot order from the right counter. We suggest you ask for 8 dumplings with their tāng soup. They are located at 97 Huanghe Rd and work from 6.30 am up to early-night at 8 pm.

The Nanjing Impressions restaurant is one of the Nanjing styled cuisine serving Shanghai Restaurant that is extremely popular for its duck-specialties like the saltwater duck and duck meat dumplings. You must also try out jiangmi kourou, the "lion's head" meatball and the rice with sliced pork belly. If you like snacks they also have stall noodles, pancakes, and other sweets and delicacies. They are located at 4/F, Shimao Dept. Store Complex at 13-Gongti Beilu in Chaoyang District.

They work from Mondays to Fridays between 11 am and 2 pm and again from 5 pm to 9:30 pm. The weekends see them open through the day from 11 am to 10 pm. The cash-only restaurant does not permit smoking. Enjoy the roast pork knuckle, the offal dishes, the salted chicken and the smoked fish. This would cost you an inexpensive CNY 48. The drinks menu is also completely in Chinese.

Believe me when we say the food tasting is an immensely filling experience in Shanghai. Here is our list of the best top dishes at a Shanghai Restaurant you simply cannot miss out on.

This classic dish translates into 'little-basket-buns' from the Chinese name of sshyaow-long-baow and comprises of Shanghai thin-skinned soup dumplings filled with vegetables, pork, crab-meat or shrimps floating in a delicious hot broth made from pork-gelatin skin in the Benang style of Shanghai cooking. The bamboo baskets they serve them in make for an excellent keepsake. You should ideally dip them in vinegar and soy sauce served with them before tasting them. You can try them at the popular Din Tai Fung chain or the Jia Jia Tang Bao Restaurant at 90 Huanghe Road, Huangpu. It would cost you CNY 20 which is not expensive at all.

Dàzháxiè or Hairy Crab is a dish typical to the lunar year’s 9^th and 10^th months or early winter months when the hairy mitten crabs are found in the rivers. The crabs with soft shells are tied with string and then steamed in bamboo steamers with their shells on and with ginger and vinegar added in. Did you know that the locals will fuss around at a Shanghai Restaurant about the days when only male crabs or the female ones should be eaten?

The Chinese translation reads 'big sluice crab' and the Xinguang Jiu Jia restaurant is the best to try it. This seasonal dish costs CNY 300 to 400/person. Contact Xinguang Jiu Jia which is located at 512, Tianjin Lu close to Guangxi Bei Lu.

The name is misleading as the Peking duck or Beijing roast duck is, in reality, a Shanghai- cuisine special Shanghai Restaurant dish. Shanghai has numerous places where you can try out this favorite and flavorful dish with its typical Benang style crispy red skin and tender on the inside. It is roasted after being marinated in Cantonese style on an open fire. It is to be eaten with the special bean-paste, steamed pancakes, and scallions. Also called kaow-yaa or 'roast duck' it costs around CNY 300 for the whole duck. Try it at the Da Dong Roast Duck which is inside the IAPM Mall on 999 Huaihai Middle Road.

Shanghai can boast about its food since it has almost 1,800 snack stalls serving a huge variety of Shanghai popular snacks and foods. For breakfast, one can choose from pastries and dumplings of 300 varieties! Typically soy milk, deep-fried dough-sticks, glutinous-rice, fried cakes with scallions, toppings based noodles, fried or steamed buns and soupy dumplings with thick-red sweetish sauce is used as a breakfast.

Shanghai Restaurant snacks have strange shapes, unique fillings and varied aromas and flavors like the date-paste cake, eyebrow-shaped shortcake, sweet-Osmanthus steamed cake, and shredded-turnip cake. Hugely popular among the street foods of Shanghai these and the meat-filled steamed dumpling can be found on every street corner. Choose to be vegetarian or non-vegetarian with your choice of buns. The nan xing steamed buns, Niangao New Year cake, vegetarian stuffed buns, large soup buns, and crab-shell cake are also very popular as snacks in Shanghai. The fillings are generally of spinach, red-bean paste, fresh vegetables, pork, crab-meat, etc. Try them at the snack restaurants of Yuyuan marketplace and at those near People's Square intersection of Yan'an Road and Tibet Road.

This top dish at many a Shanghai Chinese Restaurant is Croaker fish-based and consists of noodles and the fish soup. It is found in plenty in the Yellow Sea of China and hence called the Yellow Croakers. Nothing is ever wasted and the soup is actually a soup made from low-heat boiling of fish-bones. The meat of the croaker fish is tender, delicate and blends well into dishes, soups, dumplings et all. Also called shung-hi hwung-yoo myen you should try it at the Ding Te Le located at 22, Lane-494 of Huaihai Middle Road. Your dish will cost you just CNY 50/person.

Most of the Shanghai restaurants cater to the equally large number of authentic styles called for to cater to the diversity of the cuisines and cultures of the extremely large area of Shanghai. Let us quickly help you with some places where you can get the most authentic foods in the style of cooking that is briefly discussed below.

Is a Shanghainese style restaurant part of your food agenda? It’s not unique as a style per se but the food has been adapted to bring out the best in flavors from local ingredients that have been tweaked to suit the Chinese palate. It is a blend of the Zhejiang and Jiangsu with elements of interest twisted in depending on the chef.

If you want to try the Shanghainese dinner, then Jesse is the best Shanghai Chinese Restaurant to go to. It is warm and cozy, crowded and noisy too at the Jesse restaurant which is located near the Bund and bang-in-the-center of the area of French Concession. It has aged gracefully and has a cult following built up over decades of serving quality and authentic Shanghainese food. Try the xiefen potato soup, Shaoxing wine-marinated crab and the braised fish head. The Jianguo 328 and Fu 1088 in Jing’An district are also exceptionally good with this style of food and located closeby to Jesse and the rip-offs of these old restaurants. Jesse is located at #41 Tianping Road. Call 86*21*6282*9260 for reservations. The Jianguo 328 has its address as #328 Jian Guo W Road, Xuhui District, and number 86*21*6471*3819. Fu 1088 is located at #375 Zhenning Lu and needs a reservation on 86*21*5239*7878.

Since Northern China gets real cold in winters and the population is mainly Muslim the food and cuisine at a Shanghai Chinese Restaurant serving such food is typically Halal and uses beef instead of pork. Beef dishes are good with salt replacement and high-calories which is important to the food in this style. The food is oilier, with scallions and garlic and has a strong spicy flavor to it. Northern food also depends on its origin and is called the Inner Mongolian style, Shandong or Beijing styles. The whole roasted lamb is to die for. Try this variety at the Yu Ren Wan Restaurant. Their location is departure hall Terminal 1 of the Pudong International Airport. The restaurant which started in 2010 is highly ranked for its authentic Haal food and is also called the Fisher's Cove Restaurant. They are open from 11 am to 8 pm and can be reached by the Airport lines #1 through to #6.

The Cantonese style at a Shanghai Chinese Restaurant is typical of the emigrants to the Western world, especially from the Guangdong area. Try their cuisine at the Chaoman Restaurant located on the 3rd floor of Metro City. You must revel in the taste of their dim sums, roasted crispy pork and mustard sauce, and the XO sauced turnip cake which is as close to Cantonese style food that you will get anywhere in China or globally. Do make a reservation well ahead to avoid being disappointed. Their number is 6487 2001 and you can reach them using the Xujiahui, Lines #1, #9 or #11. They are open 10 to 10 every day and a normal meal here could cost CNY 104/person.

Love the spice and heat of Chinese dishes? Try the Hunan cuisine at a Shanghai Chinese Restaurant with red-hot flavors and a slightly lesser sourness and numbing of the mouth. For authentic Hunan food which is also the hot and sour or hot and sweet varieties, you must taste the food at the West Lake Building Restaurant. The food costs CNY 90/person which is reasonable and their location is near Provincial Broadcast Center at Kimmar Food City at the Hongshan Tourist Region of Kaifu District. Beware the crowds and reserve your seating early.

The Sichuan province’s cuisine is full of pepper and popular globally. Known for the hot and spicy flavors each dish is unique with its own unique flavour and no two dishes ever taste alike! Try this style at any Shanghai Chinese Restaurant in Chongqing or Chengdu for authenticity. The Chen Mapo at 8-10 Qinghua Street, Qingyang District, and the Huang Cheng Lao Ma at 20 Qintai Rd, Qingyang District is among the best places to try this style of cooking. Shanghai has many restaurants in the food district that offer authentic Sichuan cuisine which is very popular. Dishes like the Mapo Tofu, Kung Pao Chicken, Fuqi Fei Pian lung slices, the Sichuan Hot Pot, and Dandan Noodles are just a few of the must-try dishes in Shanghai for the authentic Sichuan flavors be it at a classy restaurant or the street food option.

This Shanghai Chinese Restaurant cuisine is different since it uses lamb primarily and caters to the Muslims who eat only Halal food and avoid pork. It is completely different tasting and integrates a variety of pulled noodles, dried fruits and local ingredients in its cooking styles whether in a pot, gill or stir-fried. Try this variety at the Spice Bazaar located at 29 Dongping Lu, near Hengshan Lu for a lunch costing CNY 100/ person and reachable using the Hengshan Rd, Line #1. You could also try Xibo located near Julu Lu on the third floor of #83 Changshu Lu.

Why do couples go dating to a luxury Shanghai Restaurant in Shanghai, you may ask? And did you know the waiters can always tell when a couple is dating? How? The answer is that both of you need some alone-time with each other to discover the tastes and traits of the other in an atmosphere that is not intimidating or gets taken to the next level, too fast! For the men out there and the ladies too, here are some signs that the other person is more than curious about you, and enjoys your company. Firstly, you get an invite to dinner for two and not with the gang. Secondly, the lady in the couple offers a sip of the aperitif or offers to share the bill and ride back. Then there’s the casual elbow-touch or forearm touch that feels good and appropriate when they laugh at your stupid jokes and frivolous talk. And yes you get invited to these restaurants where the dating ambiance is just right!

Did the name sound French? Yes, the Commune Social is located in Shanghai’s French-at-one-time area and is the place to take your date to. Run and started by the Englishman Jason Atherton who believes a Shanghai Chinese Restaurant and restaurateurs must follow the “no service charge and no reservations’ policy the formal and yet laid-back casual atmosphere will impress. The food is meant of sharing and scoring too as it is served in the tapas-style. Try the crushed salt and Sichuan peppercorn squid or the roasted beef cheek and bone marrow. Indulge in some small-talk and cooing as the chef precisely executes his dish which may be English, Spanish or Shanghai styled in the open kitchen viewable from the tables with complete with the bar-style. You can also choose the open-courtyard or a tucked-away table for a little intimacy over food and the gastronomic experience you can talk about in the years to come.

Drop-in at 511, Jiangning Road, Jingan Qu Shanghai Shi.

Sounds formal and serious enough for a date? The luxury Sir Elly's Terrace will provide your date with the extra frill of a 270-degree view filled evening on the shores of the River Huangpu, the Pudong skyline and the Suzhou Creek. Dine among the famous at this Shanghai Chinese Restaurant and enjoy their chilled wines, signature cocktails or aperitif-selected rare whiskey with the best light stylish dishes at eventide or until early morning. From Sunday to every Thursday the service runs till 12 midnight for the drinks while the weekend of Fridays and Saturdays enjoy the extended hours of 1 am! Dress smart and casual and choose whether you want to sit on the terrace or huddle together at the Rooftop bar.

Tired of the typical molten-lava-cake or a candlelight dinner at a typical Shanghai Chinese Restaurant? Head to Lost Heaven at #38, Gao You Lu, Xuhui Qu, in the French Quarter near the Bund. The super Yunnanese restaurant has two branches now that never fail the dating experience. The Bund restaurant offers you a cozy and different ambiance with the red and gold electrifying designs as you feast on the dishes from Yunnan. Their Beijing branch took off in 2012 when the 2006-opened Bund restaurant became immensely popular in Shanghai. Try their spiced mushrooms and dishes garnered with edible Yunnanese flowers and cheese to make that first dining experience just right.

Call 86*21*6433*5126 for reservations and information.

We hope that, as we take leave of you, we have been able to correctly guide you on the gastronome’s experience of the best of foods, a Shanghai Restaurant with the authentic style of foods, and a fine-dining experience par excellence in Shanghai. Well, reading does not really taste the food at a Shanghai Chinese Restaurant and if your palate is already longing for Shanghai’s best foods, plan your vacation at the earliest. We hope to see you soon in Shanghai gorging on the foods we just described above. Welcome to Shanghai Chinese Restaurant’s food at any time of the year!