Shanghai eats: favorite food spots in Shanghai
I will caveat this post with the fact that I was only in Shanghai for about 3 days, and we kept our exploration radius quite small just so we weren’t spending too much time traveling, so I definitely missed a lot of great places both on my list and not.
But! If you’re looking for some yummy places to try, these were some of the favorites that I did get to try!
Ahma Handmade
I already talked about this in my boba blog post where I shared all the boba places I was able to try during our short trip to Shanghai, but it bears mentioning again because it was SO GOOD.
The drinks were delicious, the ingredients were so fresh, and everything about their drinks is near perfection! I enjoyed it so much, this was the only place we went to more than once even in such a short amount of time! I also still think about their drinks today…
Wei Xiang Zhai
Dare I say, these are the best sesame noodles I’ve ever had - and especially given the price point! It’s also on the Michelin guide (with good reason!) but is so unassuming!
They’re known for their sesame noodles but have other dishes as well. Since we were just trying to have a taste of different foods, we only ordered one plate of sesame noodles to share, which came out to 14 RMB, which was about $2 USD!
There are several locations around the city, so you can find it in several different areas. The shop we visited was very small and compact, and quite busy. Employees and guests are bustling all around you and the tables are all shared, so if you’re a smaller party you’ll likely be sitting with another small party even at the tiniest of tables!
Ordering is done at the front of the shop before you find an open seat, and the food comes out super quick. We actually got our food before we were able to find a place to sit, but the workers helped us quickly find a spot.
The portion is decent, especially for the price, but I definitely wish we had each gotten our own. The noodles had a great texture and the sesame sauce was perfectly flavored and clung so well to the noodles! They had a very savory flavor along with the sesame and had a slight spicy kick to it that made it so delicious.
If the dining experience wasn’t so pressure-packed I would have loved this spot even more, but the food was so good, I’d still brave the anxiety to have this again.
Lai Lai Xiaolongbao
This is one of the most popular xiaolongbao places that I as a tourist was came across when looking into places to eat. I’m sure there are fantastic hole-in-the-wall places as well, but with the limited time and limited access to food spots (I don’t understand Chinese, so I couldn’t use any Chinese-native food apps), we gave Lai Lai a try.
I had seen online that this place could get busy, so we were prepared to wait, but for whatever reason when we decided to visit there was zero line! I even thought we went to the wrong place at first, or that they weren’t open! But by the time we left, the lines were zigzagging down the street, so somehow we just got lucky!
Lai Lai is known for the crab xialongbao, and they were sooo flavorful and delicious! The bao skin was also very thin and the broth inside was so packed with flavor! We tried the crab and crab roe xiaolongbao and both were so good, I only wish we had ordered more!
Zhongyaotang
If you’re interested in unique-flavored ice creams, definitely check this spot out!
The shop is themed like a traditional Chinese medicine shop and the flavors are all TCM/herbal ingredient based. The flavors are so creative and also delicious!
The workers are also very kind and even though we couldn’t fully understand each other, the worker let us try as many flavors as we wanted before we decided. I didn’t try too many, but the ones that I did were so good!
My personal favorites were the black sesame tangyuan and the kumquat lime flavor. The kumquat lime was super refreshing and the black sesame tangyuan was very rich and tasted just like the dessert! They even had rice cake pieces in it.
One thing I wasn’t aware of when I visited, but only found out after, was that they also sell TCM ingredient plushies! And they even have this whole certiificate and purchasing experience similar to if you were to buy actual ingredients at a TCM shop. (Kind of reminds me of a jelly cat experience!). I’m so sad I noticed the plushies and thought they were so cute, but didn’t know they were actually things you could buy! I totally would have tried this out if I had known!
I also expected this spot to be very packed, but when we visited on a Friday afternoon there was no line. We were there right when they opened and also spent about 30 minutes there and there was still no line, so if you’re visiting earlier in the day the wait may not be too long. (Not sure what weekend crowds are like though)
Ren He Guan
Ren He Guan is a super popular restaurant that’s definitely worth a try if you have the time for it!
They’re known for their crab roe rice. We primarily came for this, though we did try another pork dish that was also very good!
We came for dinner, which started at 5PM, but they open for seat reservations starting around 3:30PM, so if you don’t want to wait forever, come early to get a return ticket. If you’re coming for lunch, you also have to come earlier than their stated opening time to get a ticket.
By 5PM, the crowds of people waiting to be seated were quite large and I don’t even know how long the waitlist was, but we got a ticket right at 3:30PM so we didn’t have to wait too long to be called.
The crab roe rice was sooo delicious and did not disappoint. The crab flavor was so strong and flavorful. Of course, you do have to enjoy crab in order to like this. It perfectly coats the rice after it’s fully mixed and it’s so good! We ordered a small for two people, but honestly we probably could have shared a regular and been satisfied.
Shanghai is a city FULL of delicious food, creative coffees, and of course great boba. There’s no way I would have been able to try everything I wanted in such a short time, but it just makes going back for another visit in the future all the more exciting!
Have you been to Shanghai before? Let me know in the comments if I missed any of your favorite spots so I know where to go next time!
