Every shanghainese spot we've listed in Shanghai — with the Chinese name you can copy straight into Amap or Didi, and what locals actually order.
Six tables only
Near Mid-block on Jinxián Road; smallest door, longest queue
Metro Line 13, Middle Huaihai Road Station, Exit 3, ~540m walk
The 红烧肉 (red-braised pork) here is the benchmark version — lacquered, sweet, falling apart. Order it with 草头 (stir-fried alfalfa greens) and 油爆虾 (flash-fried...
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The mooncake queue
Near Street-front on Middle Huaihai Road; the permanent mooncake queue is the landmark
Metro Line 13, Middle Huaihai Road Station, Exit 1, ~320m walk
Two different reasons to come. The street window sells 鲜肉月饼 (fresh pork mooncakes) — eat one immediately, paper bag and all. Upstairs is a proper benbang din...
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Since 1921
Near Beside the South Yunnan Road food street, near Dashijie
Metro Line 8, Dashijie Station, Exit 1, ~20m walk
One dish made this shop famous: 排骨年糕 — a fried pork chop on chewy rice cakes, doused in sweet-and-sour sauce. Eat it with a bowl of 单档汤 (tofu- skin and glute...
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White-cut chicken since 1943
Near On the South Yunnan Road food street
Metro Line 14, Dashijie Station, Exit 5, ~100m walk
Shanghai's benchmark 白斩鸡 (poached chicken served cold) — order by weight, 三黄鸡 is the cleaner-tasting bird. Dip in the soy-ginger sauce and wash it down with ...
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Benbang since 1875
Near Inside the Yu Garden / City God Temple area
Metro Line 14, Yu Garden Station, Exit 7, ~420m walk
A proper benbang dining room for the classics: 八宝鸭 (eight-treasure duck), 油爆虾 (flash-fried river shrimp) and 清炒鳝糊 (stir-fried eel). Book ahead for dinner; th...
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State-banquet dim sum
Near Beside the Zigzag Bridge inside Yu Garden
Metro Line 14, Yu Garden Station, Exit 7, ~680m walk
Famous for hosting world leaders over dim sum — go upstairs for the view of the Zigzag Bridge. Order the 桂花拉糕 (osmanthus rice cake) and 蟹粉小笼 (crab- and-pork ...
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Since 1862
Near On Fuzhou Road near Zhejiang Middle Road
Metro Line 1, People's Square Station, ~470m walk
One of the oldest benbang kitchens in the city. Come for 响油鳝糊 (sizzling eel with hot oil) and 草头圈子 (pork intestine with alfalfa). It is an old- fashioned din...
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Nanjing-style duck
Near On Shanxi South Road near Nanjing East Road
Metro Line 2/10, Nanjing East Road Station, Exit 1, ~160m walk
Nanjing-style 盐水鸭 (salted duck), served cold — buy it cut and eat it with 老鸭粉丝汤 (duck-broth vermicelli). It is a hole-in-the-wall order-at-the- counter kind ...
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Sichuan-Shanghai since 1938
Near Off Nanjing West Road, by Westgate Mall
Metro Line 12, West Nanjing Road Station, Exit 14, ~440m walk
A 1938 institution that blends Shanghainese and Sichuan cooking. Order 生爆鳝背 (flash-fried eel) and 干烧明虾 (dry-braised prawns), and finish with 豆沙锅饼 (red-bean p...
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Top-rated benbang
Near Near Tianzifang and Jianyeli
Metro Line 9, Jiashan Road Station, Exit 5, ~220m walk
One of the highest-rated benbang rooms in the city. The 招牌红烧肉 (braised pork belly) and 蟹粉捞饭 (crab-roe rice) are the reasons to book — it fills up, so reserve...
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Home-style benbang
Near On Xinle Road near Xiangyang Park
Metro Line 1/10/12, South Shaanxi Road Station, Exit 10, ~480m walk
Home-style benbang done with care — the 特色红烧肉 (braised pork) and 本帮熏鲳鱼 (smoked pomfret) are the orders. A relaxed, modern room rather than an old state dinin...
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Old-lane atmosphere
Near Opposite the Jinjiang Hotel, upstairs on the 2nd floor
Metro Line 13, Middle Huaihai Road Station, Exit 3, ~50m walk
A second-floor room styled like an old lane house. Order 转角红烧肉 (house braised pork) and 响油鳝丝 (sizzling eel); the atmosphere is half the reason to come.
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Neighbourhood favourite
Near 3rd floor of Manle City, in the Shangnan area
Metro Near the Yunlian Road / Qihe Road junction
A neighbourhood benbang spot a metro ride from downtown, and the trade-off is quality without the tourist markup. The 响油鳝丝 and 熟醉大头虾 (drunken prawns) are the...
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The Bund view
Near 2F of Bund 22, facing the river and the Pudong skyline
Metro Line 14, Yu Garden Station, Exit 7, ~430m walk
A benbang dining room with a river view — 桂花红烧肉 (osmanthus braised pork) and 松鼠鲈鱼 (sweet-and-sour perch) are the showpieces. Come for the view as much as the...
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Shanghai Western since 1897
Near On Nanjing West Road near Tibet Middle Road
Metro Line 1/2/8, People's Square Station, Exit 11, ~370m walk
'Shanghai Western' food — the local interpretation of European cooking, developed since 1897. Order 罗宋汤 (borscht) and 炸猪排 (fried pork chop), the canonical ol...
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Mall benbang
Near 4F of Shimao Plaza East, on Nanjing East Road
Metro Line 1/2/8, People's Square Station, Exit 14, ~320m walk
Convenient benbang inside a mall on Nanjing East Road. The 响油鳝丝 and 红烧肉配菜饭 are the orders; the menu is broad and easier for groups than the old dining rooms.
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Near Wukang Mansion
Near On Middle Huaihai Road near the Wukang Mansion
Metro Line 10, Shanghai Library Station, Exit 3, ~510m walk
A casual benbang eatery a few steps from the Wukang Mansion. The 排骨年糕 and 本帮辣肉面 are the quick orders; useful while you're doing the Huaihai Road photo walk.
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Chicken and noodles
Near On Xinzha Road near Xikang Road
Metro Line 7, Changping Road Station, Exit 2, ~920m walk
A 白斩鸡 (white-cut chicken) chain that also does 鸡汤面 (chicken-broth noodles). Order 三黄鸡 with the soy-ginger dip and a bowl of noodles for a filling, cheap meal.
Read the entry →The long version — what to eat, when to go, and how to order it.
Food
The Bund's own restaurants speak fluent English and take every card. Walk fifteen minutes inland and you're in a different Shanghai: older, cheaper, better. A walking loop with five stops and a total budget under ¥150.
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Food
Nothing at an old-school Shanghai shop is sold by "a portion". Noodles come in liang, buns come in liang, dumplings come in long, pancakes come in zhang. The unit system nobody translates — decoded.
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Food
Hard noodles or soft. Soup on the side or in the bowl. Scallions held back or doubled. The words that change what arrives at your table — and the ones that just get you fed.
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Food
Not the ten fanciest, not the ten most famous — the ten places where the food is genuinely good, the price is genuinely small, and the experience is genuinely Shanghai. Ranked, mapped, and ordered in Chinese.
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Food
Yu Garden Bazaar is where the invention of the soup dumpling is genuinely worth seeing — and where the worst meal of your trip is genuinely possible to buy. Telling the two apart requires exactly one rule: look at who is eating.
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How-to
You don't need to speak Chinese. You need to copy, paste and point. The exact five moves that get food in front of you — plus the sentences that fix things when it goes wrong.
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Food
One bursts with scalding soup. One has almost none. Locals have been arguing about which is correct for a century — and most visitors only ever meet the wrong one.
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Food
Four breakfasts, four street windows you would walk straight past. What locals eat before nine, what it costs, and the Chinese words that get it in front of you.
Read the guide →Copyable Chinese names, address cards, and what to order — downloadable to your phone.
