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Restaurants in Shanghai

As with most things in Shanghai, the wonderfully eclectic food scene reflects Shanghai's tendency to looking beyond the city's limits for its inspiration. You'll find some fabulous Shanghainese food of course (which is generally sweeter than food from the rest of China), but local kitchens share the streets, avenues and food malls with restaurants specialising in food from other Chinese provinces and from abroad.

The Shanghai restaurants below have been grouped into three pricing categories:
Expensive (over ¥300)
Moderate (¥100 to ¥300)
Cheap (up to ¥100)

These prices are for an average three-course meal and for a bottle of house wine or cheapest equivalent. They do not include tax or tip unless stated otherwise.

Expensive

Jean Georges

Cuisine: French

Enfant terrible Jean-Georges Vongerichten has wowed diners from Chicago to Hong Kong with his upscale Vong brand. Now he has opened a sublimely designed, high-class restaurant in Shanghai, which serves French cuisine. The dining room is chic and sensual and the food is sensational.

Address: , Three on the Bund, 3 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu (entrance on Guangdong Lu), Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 6321 7733.
Website: http://www.threeonthebund.com

M on the Bund

Cuisine: French, Mediterranean.

Opened in the late 1990s, M on the Bund remains a Shanghai pioneer - and the first upscale restaurant located along the Bund. Australian-owned, and sister to Hong Kong's M at the Fringe, the cuisine melds Mediterranean and Australian styles. The stylish atmosphere, unbeatable terrace views and good wine menu make this Shanghai's number one venue to impress visitors.

Address: , 7th floor, 5 The Bund (corner of Guandong Lu), Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 6350 9988.
Website: http://www.m-restaurantgroup.com/mbund

Ultraviolet

Cuisine: French

Hidden in a secret location (diners meet at Mr and Mrs Bund, 18 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu), chef Paul Pairet’s Ultraviolet is as much about the sensory experience as it is the food. The epic tasting menu features 20 courses with matching art and sound installations. The food is French, but that’s only the half of it. Book early: the waiting list here is by the month rather than the minute and it has no phone number.

Address: , Waitan, Shanghai, 200000
Telephone:
Website: http://uvbypp.cc

Moderate

Baoluo Jiulou

Cuisine: Shanghainese

Gather up a boisterous bunch of friends for a fun-filled meal at this typically chaotic and cavernous Shanghai institution, which has lines out the door late into the night. Try the excellent lion’s head meatballs, lotus-leaf roasted duck or the baoluokaoman (baked eel).

Address: , 271 Fumin Road, Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 6279 2827.
Website: http://www.baoluojiulou.com

Element Fresh

Cuisine: Salads, Mediterranean.

This is a resident expat haven for great salads, pasta, juices and comfort food as well as one of the most popular Sunday brunches in Shanghai. Clean, spacious and with a nice terrace for summer eating, Element Fresh serves good-sized portions and the waiting staff are extremely attentive. Now expanding across the city, this small chain has plenty of other Shanghai branches.

Address: , Shanghai Centre, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu (by Xikang Lu), Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 6279 8682.
Website: http://www.elementfresh.com

Kommune

Cuisine: American, Western.

The smell of bacon, eggs and tomato frying on an open grill attracts punters to this Shanghai courtyard restaurant on Sundays when home-style breakfasts are served all day – hash browns included. The barbecue also fires up on Wednesday evenings. On sunny days it's best to get here early. Kommune also serves a hearty lunch menu including salads and ciabatta.

Address: , 7 The Yard, Lane 210, Taikang Lu, Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 6466 2416.
Website: http://www.kommune.me

Cheap

Guyi Hunan

Cuisine: Chinese

If you like your Chinese food scalding spicy, Guyi Hunan is a good bet. A vast menu and ubiquitous use of chilli make this one of the hottest regional restaurants in Shanghai. Most people opt for a personal hotpot and a gallon of lager. The food is well-prepared, good value and always tasty. Expect to queue without a reservation on the weekends.

Address: , 87 Fumin Lu (by Julu Lu), Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 6249 5628.

Southern Barbarian

Cuisine: Chinese

Hidden away in a little mall near the former French Concession, Southern Barbarian specialises in food from Yunnan province. The emphasis is on barbecue, with succulent meat cooked in flowers and spices. The range of craft beers available here is also impressive.

Address: , Ju'Rosin Life Arts Space, Floor 2 169 Jinxian Lu, Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 5157 5510.

Yang's Fry Dumpling (Wujiang branch)

Cuisine:

shengjian (fried dumplings) is a traditional street food in Shanghai, and this place is widely considered to be the city's 'most famous fried dumpings'. Be prepared to queue as tourists and locals all love these little parcels filled with a juicy meat centre. 

 

Address: , 269 Wujiang Road, Shanghai, 200000
Telephone: +86 21 6136 1391.
Website: http://www.xysjg.com/
A digital image at https://illuminoto.com

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Featured Hotels

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Quintet

In the heart of the French Concession, the spotless rooms, great service and attention to detail at Quintet has been winning over visitors. As the name suggests, there are just five rooms, each individually designed to a standard you’d expect from pricier stays. The staff are super friendly too, with a wealth of knowledge about the area.

The Waterhouse at South Bund

Once a dockyard factory, The Waterhouse is now one of Shanghai’s sharpest boutique hotels. Lavish furnishings and the odd nod to the city’s shipping heritage offset its industrial chic. There are just 19 rooms, 11 of which are suites. Thanks to its location, views across the river to Pudong are stunning whichever one you bed up in.

Magnolia Bed & Breakfast

This cosy little bed and breakfast located in a 1930s French Concession home has art deco features as well as modern comfort and design. There are only five rooms so book well in advance.

Fairmont Peace Hotel

After more than three years of renovations, Shanghai’s definitive art deco building reopened in 2010 under the direction of the Fairmont group. The main challenge in modernising the building was balancing out the architectural integrity of its history with the need to upgrade a building that was not originally designed to be a hotel. Connoisseurs of old Shanghai will be pleased to know that the famous antediluvian jazz band is back in action.

Mansion Hotel

Combining historic charm and modern luxury like no other Shanghai hotel, this truly exceptional stay is housed in a beautiful 1930s building and was originally the residence and office of a trio of Shanghai gangsters. The lobby, corridors and even the rooms are filled with 20th-century memorabilia, but there's exquisite luxury too with super-soft carpets, beautifully upholstered wood furniture, big-screen satellite TVs, Wi-Fi and private Jacuzzis.

Pudi Boutique Hotel

This exquisite 52-room boutique hotel in Shanghai has trendy, ultra-modern rooms, professional staff and an elite, but accessible, atmosphere. The interior is super stylish and alluringly dark hued, while rooms are beautifully attired and spacious.