FOOD & DRINK

WHERE TO FIND THE BEST

GREAT FOOD IN SHANGHAI

SHANGHAI CUISINE

开心食堂(湖南路店)
Shanghainese restaurant in a small house, a bit different to the shopping mall restaurants. Food is great, but booking can be a bit disorganized and may need to wait a bit even with booking. Like many local places, this place doesn’t open late. Aim to eat around 6-7pm.

287 Hunan Road, Xuhui District
徐汇区湖南路 287 弄甲 1
Phone: 13818186686

Shanghai Club
We like this place inside Taikoo Hui mall. It is quite upscale with tablecloths and nice wines, but if you avoid the expensive dishes, it is quite reasonable. Although it is a Shanghai restaurant, they do very good Beijing Roast Duck which I recommend as well as a nice 狮子头 (famous Shanghai pork meatball).

288 Shimen Yi Road, Jingan District
静安区石门一路288号

Old Jesse
An old favourite for Shanghai food with all the Shanghai classics including braised pork belly, sweet and sour pork ribs and scallion noodles.

41 Tianping Road, Xuhui District
徐汇区天平路41号

Jia Jia Tang Bao 佳家汤包（黄河路店)
Established in 1986 according to the sign, they have multiple locations across the city, but this is their flagship store and is always busy, which means the ingredients will always be fresh. This location is quite central (People’s Square, close to People's Park) and is on a street with a lot of other food places, so you can walk around and see what you fancy. Go for whatever variant you like, but make sure you also try one portion of the signature pork variety (鲜肉汤包). Also worth trying are the scallion noodles (葱油拌面) which are plain noodles with, well, scallions - a very simple dish, but very tasty nonetheless.

127 Huang He Road, Huangpu District
黄浦区黄河路127号

OTHER CHINESE

Imperial Treasure
Fantastic Cantonese dim sum, Michelin star restaurant. Not cheap, but if you go at lunch and just have dim sum, it’s still not that expensive. For dessert, I love their 样子甘露豆腐花. Good for a Saturday or Sunday lunch.

99 Beijing Road East, 4th Floor
北京东路99号

Jade Garden
This Hong Kong chain has several locations and serves very good quality, authentic Cantonese style dim sum in the afternoons. In the evening, the focus is on more substantial dishes, both in size and price bracket.

IAPM Shopping Mall, 999 Huaihai Middle Road, 3rd Floor
环贸广场淮海中路999号三楼

Han Lin Xuan
This place serves very authentic Cantonese dim sum on the 5th floor of Times Square on Huaihai Road. A bit more traditional than some of the other recommended places, with less of the modern takes on classic dishes, but a solid choice nonetheless.

Times Square, 5th Floor, 99 Huaihai Middle Road, Huangpu District
黄浦区时代广场淮海中路99号三楼

BRITISH

The Guinness Social
The Guinness Social is a godsend for Brits in Shanghai who miss home comfort foods like fish and chips, a full English breakfast or even a deep fried Mars Bar. They also do a Sunday roast every Sunday that comes with meats, Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese, carrots, cabbage, mashed potato, roast potato and peas. It can be tricky to find in the maze that is Tianzifang - try to enter from Taikang Road exit number 1 and walk for about 150 meters - but if all else fails, just wander around and you will eventually stumble across it.

Address:
Lane 210, Taikang Road
黄浦区泰康路210弄7号

INDIAN

Klay
Klay isn't a traditional Indian restaurant, more modern in style of dishes but easily one of my favourite restaurants to go to. At the helm is British Indian chef, Hardeep, who has created some amazing dishes. They also have a fully stocked bar and a wide range of wines, beers and cocktails to go with the food, making this a great destination for a boozy brunch or just a great night out with friends.

1124 Beijing Road West, Jing'an District
静安区北京西路1124号
Telephone：021-5278 8175

Vedas
Vedas is a much more traditional Indian restaurant that has been around for over 20 years, although it has changed locations a few times. All your classic dishes are here: Mutton Rogan Josh, Aloo Gobi, Tadka Daal to name just a few.

83 Changshu Road, Jingan District
静安区常熟路83号
Telephone: 021-6445 8100

ITALIAN

Bottega
Incredibly popular casual dining restaurant and bar, originally from Beijing and now with two locations in Shanghai. A lot more lively than some of the other more traditional Italian eateries mentioned here, probably partly because they have a DJ later at night and a very impressive-looking bar and wine room. They don't take bookings so you have to wait for a table at busy times, but they have a dedicated waiting area and you can enjoy some pre-dinner drinks while you wait. The pizzas have won various awards and they pride themselves on using authentic, imported ingredients for their pizzas and the dough is fermented for 24 hours. They also have pastas and other dishes. I was pleasantly surprised to see Brussels sprouts as a side dish which was delicious.

Kwah Centre, 108 Xiangyang Bei Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu
嘉华中心1楼, 襄阳北路108号, 近淮海中路

Da Marco
One of the oldest Italian establishments in Shanghai, I first started dining here in 1999 when it was one of only a few Italian options. We often has to wait even with reservations, but it didn't matter because they would provide free Prosecco while you waited. Now there are so many other choices and long waits for tables are rare (but booking is still advised), but Da Marco remains one of my favourites and is still very popular with both expats and locals. Admittedly, part of the appeal is its proximity to my apartment and the familiarity of being regulars means we always get complimentary Prosecco on arrival and an apple juice for my son. But the vibe here is also great, the food is good and prices are very reasonable. You can still occasionally see the original chef / owner Marco Barbieri who has been in Shanghai since the mid 1990s.

Address:
1/F, Golden Bridge Garden, 103 Dong Zhu'anbang Lu, near Jiangsu Lu, Changning District
东渚安浜路103号1楼, 近江苏路

JAPANESE

High Yaki
High Yaki is one of my favourite restaurants in town and is often my choice for special occasions. It's not a traditional Japanese restaurant, but they do offer many Japanese dishes including Yakitori skewers, Sashimi-based dishes and a big focus on Yakiniku - barbecued dry aged beef - with many different cuts available to choose from. My son loves the thinly cut A5 Wagyu ribeye beef, which is barely cooked for more than a few seconds and melts in the mouth, but a slice will set you back around 158 RMB, so go easy on this if you're not a high roller. But don't worry, the menu contains many other more affordable dishes and as long as you order a healthy mix of the premium cuts and more modest choices, you will not be summoned for a stern word from your bank manager the next morning. The white facade prevents you from looking inside, but don't be intimidated by this, trust me, once inside, you're in for a great experience. I highly recommend you book seats at the counter where you will be able to observe everything going on rather than being tucked away in a dark corner table, unless of course, you're with someone you shouldn't be with!

I wrote a blog post on High Yaki here in April 2025 if you'd like to read more on this venue.

481 Jianguo Xi Lu, near Yueyang Lu, Xuhui District
建国西路481号, 近岳阳路

Ochiyo
Ochiyo is a more traditional Japanese dining experience but equally, if not more pricey than High Yaki. The focus here is more on raw fish and the food is served Omakase style, meaning "I'll leave it up to you" in Japanese. You pay a fixed price and the chef will select the dishes for you based on what's fresh and in season. It is expensive but there is no doubting the quality or freshness of the fish or the knife skills of the chefs for that matter. They have recently moved to a new location so be careful not to use outdated location details from some of the platforms.

2nd Floor, 1398 Kaixuan Road, Changning District
长宁区凯旋路1398号2楼

NORTH AMERICAN

The Cheesecake Factory
My first experience with The Cheesecake Factory was at Walden Galleria, Buffalo, New York. I was surprised to find that it was a fully fledged restaurant with excellent food and not just a place for cheesecake. The Shanghai venues are no different. Located inside Taikoo Hui mall, a firm favourite with my son, this is a great place to have American style food. The portions are huge, so order carefully. Surprisingly, we rarely have any cheesecake because the food is so good we don't usually have any room left for dessert. Personal favourites include the Gumbo and the fish tacos. Food quality and service is always good here and it gets very busy at peak times. They have another location at Taikoo Li as well as the original location at Disney Town. In all locations, you may need to take a number and wait for a table at busy times.

3rd Floor, Taikoo Hui Mall, 288 Shimen Yi Road, Jingan District
静安区石门一路288号兴亚太古汇 3 楼

Cages
A huge sports bar with a decent selection of casual food (burgers, pizza, salads, pasta etc), countless screens to watch sports events live, lots of games like bowling, pool, pinball, basketball shooting hoops, darts and a lot more. Great for adults and kids. This may not seem like an obvious choice for Shanghai visitors, but I think it’s worth a trip to see how successful western style venues can be, even such a big venue like this. My pick of the food menu is the Jambalaya pasta - absolutely delicious with a slight chilli kick to it.

3rd Floor, 428 Jiangning Road, Jingan District
江宁路 428 号 3 楼

Lawry's The Prime Rib

The original location was opened in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles in 1938. It isn't cheap, so it is more suited for special occasions. Lawry's offers fantastic prime rib, which is basically what American's call roast beef. The beef is kept at the perfect temperature in special trolleys that also prevent the meat from drying out, so what you get is melt in the mouth, juicy cuts of tender beef. Opened in early 2024, this is Lawry's second attempt at conquering the Shanghai market after their failed first opening in Xintiandi. When that first location went dark, I used to fly to HK for my Lawry's fix (as well as Taipei), but now it's back, I can cross it off the Hong Kong to-do list whenever I visit. Don't waste time with their other options, just get the beef, ideally the Lawry's cut rather than some of the thinner cuts which just aren't the same. If you can't finish a Lawry's cut, just share with a friend. The beef is carved just before serving to your desired cut and comes with the famous spinning salad and Yorkshire puddings as well as mashed potatoes, which as a Brit, is the only negative I can think of here. For me, it has to be roasted potatoes, but I can overlook this faux pas because the beef is just so good.

B1, 168 Wuyi Road WYSH development, Changning District
武夷路168号B1, 近昭化路99号