Food & Drinks
What to eat in Shanghai, and where to find it
Shanghai food is sweeter than you expect, cheaper than you fear, and ordered in a way nobody explains. Here is the short list that matters, plus how to actually get it.
First, the sugar
Shanghainese cooking — benbang cai, “local cuisine” — uses sugar the way other cuisines use salt. Braised pork is sweet. Noodles come with a sweet soy base. Even vegetables get a spoonful. This is not a mistake in the kitchen; it is the point.
Most visitors love it within two days. A minority find it too much and eat Sichuan or Cantonese instead, which Shanghai does extremely well. Either way, knowing this in advance stops the first meal from being a disappointment.
One practical thing
Bring an appetite for texture. Chinese food is judged as much on mouthfeel as flavour — slippery, chewy, gelatinous and crunchy are all deliberate. If something feels odd to you, it is usually working as intended, not badly cooked.
Ten things to eat before you leave
Not a bucket list. These are the dishes Shanghainese actually eat, in roughly the order you should try them.
Xiaolongbao ε°η¬Όε
Soup dumplings. Thin skin, pork and broth inside, eaten with a spoon so you do not lose the liquid. The technique: lift gently, bite a small hole, drink the soup, then eat. Biting straight through is how people burn the roof of their mouth on day one.
Where: any dumpling chain, or a proper local shop at breakfast
Shengjianbao ηη ε
The pan-fried cousin. Thicker dough, crispy bottom, same hot soup inside, sesame and spring onion on top. Cheaper than xiaolongbao and arguably better. Breakfast food, sold in batches from a giant iron pan, gone by mid-morning.
Where: street-level shops, especially before 10am
Hongshao rou ηΊ’η§θ
Pork belly braised in soy and rock sugar until it is dark, sticky and collapsing. The benchmark dish of the cuisine. If you only order one “real” Shanghai dish, order this with rice.
Where: local restaurants, family-style
Scallion oil noodles θ±ζ²Ήζι’
Noodles tossed in oil that has had spring onions fried slowly in it until they are almost black, plus soy and a little sugar. Three ingredients, and it tastes like far more. The best cheap lunch in the city.
Where: noodle shops, lunchtime
Hairy crab 倧ιΈθΉ
Seasonal, and the season is short: roughly October to December. Steamed, served with vinegar and ginger, eaten with your hands and a lot of patience. Locals treat this as an event rather than a meal. Out of season, skip it — it is not worth the price.
Where: specialist crab restaurants, autumn only
Yanduxian θ η¬ι²
Salt pork and fresh pork simmered with bamboo shoots. A spring dish, cloudy white broth, no sugar to speak of. If you want to understand why locals are nostalgic about food, this is the one that comes up.
Where: local restaurants, spring
Cifantuan η²’ι₯ε’
Sticky rice rolled around a strip of fried dough, pickles and pork floss, squeezed into a cylinder in a cloth. Heavy, portable, about the price of a coffee. The most useful breakfast in Shanghai if you are walking all day.
Where: breakfast stalls, morning only
Congyou bing θ±ζ²Ήι₯Ό
Scallion flatbread, fried until the layers separate into flakes. Eaten standing up, out of paper, on the street. If you see a queue of locals at a griddle, join it.
Where: street stalls, all day
Drunken chicken ιιΈ‘
Poached chicken chilled in Shaoxing wine. Cold, pale, surprisingly alcoholic, and one of the most elegant things on any Shanghai table. Order it as a starter and share.
Where: local restaurants, cold dish section
Soy milk breakfast set θ±ζ΅ζ²Ήζ‘
Hot soy milk, either sweet or savoury — this is a genuine local argument, not a preference — with fried dough sticks and a steamed bun. Costs almost nothing, eaten in ten minutes, and it is the most authentic meal you will have all week.
Where: neighbourhood breakfast shops, before 9am
Four kinds of place to eat
The mistake visitors make is eating only in the fourth category, then concluding Shanghai food is expensive and bland. It is neither.
1. Old-brand restaurants
Laozihao θεε·
Century-old names serving classic Shanghai dishes in rooms that have not changed much. Reliable for tradition, uneven in service, often crowded with tour groups at lunch. Go at an odd hour. These are where you eat hongshao rou and drunken chicken properly.
2. Neighbourhood shops
Xiao chi ε°ε
Small, cheap, no English, plastic stools. Noodle shops, dumpling shops, breakfast stalls. This is where the food is best and the prices are lowest. Pointing at what the next table has is a completely acceptable ordering method.
3. Regional restaurants
Sichuan, Cantonese, Xinjiang
Shanghai is a city of migrants and its regional food is outstanding. If Shanghainese sweetness is not for you, this is not a compromise — Sichuan hotpot, Cantonese dim sum and Xinjiang lamb are all better here than in most Western cities.
4. Malls and hotel restaurants
The easy option
English menus, card payment, air conditioning, three times the price. Genuinely useful when you are tired, with children, or on a first night. Just do not let this be your whole trip — the food is fine and the experience is not Shanghai.
How ordering actually works
You scan a QR code
At most restaurants, including cheap ones, you scan a code on the table and order from a phone menu in Chinese. This is now the default, not an exception. If you cannot read it, ask for a paper menu — most places still have one, and staff will usually help.
You pay before or after, and it matters
Noodle shops and canteens: pay at the counter first, then sit. Sit-down restaurants: pay at the end. If you are unsure, watch what the table next to you did.
Dishes arrive when they are ready
Not in courses. Cold dishes first, then whatever the kitchen finishes. Everything lands in the middle of the table and gets shared. Do not wait for yours to arrive before eating — it will go cold while you wait.
Tea is free, water is not always
Hot tea or hot water is usually poured without asking. Cold water is often not available at all, which surprises visitors. Ask for bing shui (ε°ζ°΄) and expect a puzzled look before someone finds you a glass.
Tipping is not a thing
Not in restaurants, not in taxis, not in hotels. Leaving change on the table is not rude, just unnecessary. Nobody will chase you for it.
The awkward questions
Is street food safe?
Generally yes, with two rules: eat where locals queue, and eat things cooked in front of you at high heat. The risk is not the street — it is a lukewarm item that has been sitting out. Skip pre-cut fruit and unrefrigerated cold dishes in summer.
Can I drink the tap water?
No. Nobody in Shanghai drinks tap water. Bottled water is cheap and everywhere, and restaurants will give you boiled water. This is not a delicate-stomach issue; it is what residents do too.
Vegetarian?
Workable but requires care. Chinese vegetable dishes are often cooked with meat stock or lard, and “vegetable” dishes may contain pork slivers. Buddhist restaurants are the reliable answer — they are genuinely vegetarian and there is usually one within reach in central Shanghai.
Halal?
Xinjiang and Hui restaurants serve halal food and are widespread and good, especially lamb skewers and hand-pulled noodles. Look for the Arabic script on the sign alongside Chinese.
Allergies?
This is the hardest one. Peanuts, sesame and shellfish appear in unexpected places, and cross-contamination is not treated as a concept in most kitchens. If you have a serious allergy, carry a written Chinese card naming the ingredient and use it every single time. Do not rely on spoken English.
Kids?
Easier than you would think. Dumplings, noodles and rice dishes are universally acceptable to children, high chairs are common in malls, and staff are consistently kind to families. Bring wipes and do not expect a kids’ menu.
Order lunch without pointing
Two hours of Survival Chinese, taught in a wet market and a noodle shop. Twenty sentences you will use for the rest of the trip. $80 per person, kids welcome.