Restaurants in Shanghai

The fine menu changes frequently to take advantage of fresh local ingredients, but signature dishes include the slow-baked leg of lamb and the exquisitely sublime Pavlova dessert. Increased competition from the neighboring Bund restaurants has forced service to improve in recent years after a dropoff.

Cuisine: CONTINENTAL

Offering Shanghai cuisine (with a touch of East/West fusion cooking) that's neither too greasy nor too sweet, this chic, tastefully decorated restaurant has a large and endearingly loyal following in the expatriate and business community.

Cuisine: Shanghai / Chinese

Happily, traces of old Shanghai remain -- wall posters of the 1930s, tiny intimate tables, and waitresses clothed in traditional qipao dresses (high collar, side slits) -- making this a still-pleasant spot to drop in for a Shanghai lunch, a light dinner, or late-night drinks.

Cuisine: Shanghai

Expats love the reasonably priced food and pleasant atmosphere at this restaurant. Attached to the boutique hotel Old House Inn, A Future Perfect has an airy white decor with large splashes of lime green, and some of the coziest garden dining in town.

Cuisine: Fusion

It's Matisse meets Shanghai when you dine in this cozy, somewhat ramshackle art salon lodged in a French Concession storefront. Paintings and art works by contemporary Chinese artists adorn the colorful walls, while mismatched traditional Chinese chairs and tables cram every available nook and cranny, but no matter, the overall effect is one of idiosyncratic charm.

Cuisine: Shanghai

Start your evening with the fuqi feipian appetizer (cold beef and tongue doused in chili oil and peanuts), then graduate to lazi jiding (chicken nuggets in a sea of red chili peppers), huiguo rou (twice-cooked pork with chili and scallions), and the delicious shuizhu yu (fish slices and vegetables in a flaming spicy broth), closing with dandan mian (noodles in spicy peanut sauce).

Cusine: Sichuan

The food is fairly authentic, rated above average though falling short of a rave. Tasty choices include otak-otak (grilled fish cake), chicken satay, king prawns with vermicelli and lemon grass, and stir-fried mushrooms with herbs and vegetables.

Cuisine: INDONESIAN

The extensive menu features many local favorites given a slight twist, including huiguo rou jiabing (twice-cooked lamb wrapped in pancakes), songshu luyu (sweet-and-sour fried fish), xiefen hui zhenjun (braised mushroom with crabmeat), and the sinfully fatty but absolutely delicious hong shaorou (braised pork belly).

Cuisine: SHANGHAI

Tables under big umbrellas are partitioned off with bamboo fencing, red lanterns are hung out, and the twinkling lights are fired up every night. The dim sum and other Shanghai and Chinese dishes (of average quality) are served until dawn.

Cuisine: CANTONESE, DIM SUM

Located in the Yu Yuan commercial complex but slightly away from its jam-packed center, this restaurant dating to 1910 serves traditional vegetarian food (lots of imitation meat and stewed foods made of tofu and soy products), noodles, and dumplings at reasonable prices.

Cuisine: VEGETARIAN

Located in a lovely old colonial mansion, Shanghai's longest-standing Vietnamese restaurant presents reasonably authentic Indochinese fare with a Shanghai twist.

Cuisine: Vietnamese

The fairly exotic menu at this lively and popular Cantonese eatery, complete with murals and photographs of Hong Kong pop stars and actors, proves that there's no part of a pig that can't be eaten.

Cuisine: CANTONESE

Da Jiang Hu is one of the longest standing and most reliable. For CNY200 ($25) per person, you can have unlimited amounts of raw fish, broiled meats, grilled vegetables, and noodles in a pleasant, relaxed setting.

Cuisine: JAPANESE 

Service is highly attentive, and the waitstaff unerringly seems to know when to replenish the ciabatta bread that has gone cold. The menu, which changes every few months, features all manner of excellent pesci and carni.

Cuisine: ITALIAN

Rivaling Sichuan cuisine in spiciness (though relying more on straight chilies and less on the mind-numbing, tongue-lashing peppercorn), the lesser-known cooking of Hunan Province can be tried at this delightful restaurant atop a flight of rickety wooden stairs inside a small French concession storefront.

Cuisine: HUNAN / Chinese

Long regarded as one of Shanghai's top Cantonese restaurants, Dynasty boasts the same chefs (many from Hong Kong) who routinely cater dinners for visiting heads of state at special banquets and luncheons.

Cuisine: Cantonese, DIM SUM

Even for a city as international and modern as Shanghai, finding a reasonably priced, delicious fresh salad on a consistent basis is not as easy as you might imagine.

Cuisine: AMERICAN

With sweeping floor-to-ceiling views of the Bund across the river, and elegant decor, this renowned Hong Kong Cantonese restaurant in the Pudong Shangri-La serves up some of the finest haute Cantonese cuisine in Shanghai. Chefs and ingredients are from Hong Kong.

Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum

Shanghai's most well-known vegetarian restaurant has over half a century of experience and has grown a bit stodgy -- not to mention greasy -- in its old age.

Cuisine: VEGETARIAN

Offering spicy Hunan in a more elegant if less interesting environment than Di Shui Dong, the cramped and therefore perennially packed Gu Yi caters to a better dressed crowd that tries to hold off breaking a sweat for as long as possible, to no avail in the end, of course.

Cuisine: HUNAN / Chinese

There are a variety of Korean standards, but opt for the barbecue, which is hand-grilled for you by friendly waitstaff decked out in Korean attire.

Cuisine: KOREAN

Lai Fu Lou offers some of the most elegant hot pot dining in town. Decor is sleek with soft gray chairs and dark brown wooden tables spaced far apart, affording diners some welcome privacy.

Cuisine: Hot Pot

A glass-enclosed kitchen allows you see Indian chefs whipping up nan and dosas, and skewering the tandoori chicken you'll soon be eating.

Cuisine: Indian

This branch of a small chain in Shanghai is intimate and stylish, and offers some of the most reliable and straightforward Japanese food in town. Menu bulges with all the Japanese staples you'd expect, like noodles, tempura, and more.

Cuisine: Japanese

This small, cozy restaurant atop the Old Manhattan Bar serves some of the more reliably authentic North Indian grub in town. The place is wonderfully atmospheric, with Indian furnishings, tapestries hanging on the maroon walls, and lilting background music (crucial for countering the din from below).

Cuisine: INDIAN

Diners come to this Taiwanese hot pot chain not for its decor (unremarkable at best), but for its spicy soup bases and its fresh homemade dumplings.

Cuisine: Hot Pot

Though this restaurant in the Somerset Grand service apartments has found itself eclipsed by the recent arrival of brand name French restaurants, it's still popular with those seeking tasty but reasonably priced snails and pate.

Cuisine: French

Located on the western edge of Xujiahui Park in a 1921 red brick mansion that was once the original EMI Recording Studios, this trendy restaurant evokes a wonderfully dreamy bygone era with its dark wood paneling, grand staircases, antique wallpaper, large glass windows, and traditional recording instruments.

Cuisine: CONTINENTAL, FUSION

One of Shanghai's trendiest restaurant complexes since 1997, now comprises four outlets. Baci Italian Cuisine is justifiably known for its fresh pasta dishes and very thin-crusted pizzas, but its most popular offering is its weekend brunch.

Cuisine: INTERNATIONAL

This popular Thai restaurant is located on the second floor of a beautiful colonial mansion (the "Face" building) on the north end of the Ruijin Hotel estate. Carved Thai wall panels hang on blue walls and the tables overlook the estate and courtyard below.

Cuisine: Thai

Miao minority cuisine from Southwestern China's Guizhou Province can be found in Shanghai in this boisterous second-floor restaurant tucked away just east of the Crowne Plaza hotel.

Cuisine: GUIZHOU / Chinese

Spanish food is served on the first floor, in an elegant environment of dark wood wall paneling, white tablecloths, and low candlelight. And light Vietnamese food is proffered on the second floor in equally elegant surroundings.

Cuisine: Spanish, Vietnamese

Housed in a three-story traditional Chinese pavilion just south of Yu Yuan and Jiu Qu Qiao (Bridge of Nine Turnings), this restaurant has become a de rigueur stop on the average tourist itinerary strictly on the basis of its celebrity guest list (Queen Elizabeth II, Fidel Castro, President Bill Clinton, et. al.).

Cuisine: Shanghai / Chinese

Originally part of a chain from Canada (opened in 1994), Malone's is a popular sports bar and restaurant in the American image, complete with wooden floors, dartboards, a pool table, a small stage, and a dance floor.

Cuisine: American

Established in 1938, Meilongzhen is a Shanghai institution that still draws the crowds after all these years. Its cuisine has evolved over time from strictly regional fare to one incorporating the spices, vinegars, and chilies of Sichuan cooking.

Cuisine SHANGHAI

This modern minimalist restaurant with stark walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, and an open kitchen serves up the comfort foods of home while making good use of fresh local ingredients.

Cuisine: CONTINENTAL

This two-story dumpling restaurant just west of the Bridge of Nine Turnings (Jiu Qu Qiao) would be the ideal place to take a load off and refortify with some of Shanghai's most famous snacks if it weren't always jammed to the rafters with scores of liked-minded tourists.

Cuisine: DUMPLINGS

Best known as one of Shanghai's top bars and music spots, O'Malley's also sports a menu of Irish, English, and American favorites that range from bangers and mash to hearty helpings of mashed potatoes and flavorful steaks and burgers.

Cuisine: Irish

The in-house German-style brewery makes its own Munchner ale and lager, which goes down well with heaps of sauerkraut, sausages, cabbage, and bratwurst.

Cuisine: German

Located in the basement of the Hilton Hotel, this elegant, award-winning restaurant specializes in fresh seafood from Ningbo, in case the restaurant's blue hues, flowing water, glass bridge and tanks of fresh fish hadn't already alerted you.

Cuisine: Seafood

Located on the sixth floor of that other tony Bund establishment, Bund 18, this restaurant brings you cuisine by the French twins Jacques and Laurent Pourcel, famous for being the youngest chefs to be awarded three Michelin stars for their restaurant Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier (though the twins visit Shanghai only four times a year).

Cuisine: French

This restaurant's name literally means "jujube tree," but the three characters that greet visitors upon arrival also cleverly play on the pun zao chi su, advocating the early adoption of a vegetarian diet.

Cuisine: VEGETARIAN

While neighboring Lu Bo Lang has been getting all the attention, this classic restaurant has been quietly serving original (and better) Shanghai dishes since 1875.

Cuisine: SHANGHAI / Chinese

 This restaurant easily boasts one of the most atmospheric and nostalgic colonial settings in town. A mosaic-tiled corridor, lined with traditional lamps, antique gramophones, old photos, and even a painting of Jesus Christ, leads to a main dining hall where you can find the real novelty of this restaurant.

Cuisine: SHANGHAI / Chinese

If you only get to try one Shanghainese meal, let it be at this cavernous and brash red-themed restaurant in the basement of the Bund Center where old Shanghai favorites are given a modern makeover.

Cuisine: SHANGHAI / Chinese

Got lamb? Credible northwest Chinese cuisine can be found at this Uighur restaurant located in the southwest part of town. Amidst fake foliage and a miniature model of Xinjiang Province's Tian Shan (Heavenly Lake), patrons are treated to a fun, raucous, and hearty dining experience complete with whooping and dancing waiters.

Cuisine: UIGHUR / Chinese

This nouvelle Japanese restaurant in the western part of the French concession is the epitome of cool if you like dining in a cold and dystopian industrial bunker. A bamboo-lined concrete walkway and silent automatic sliding doors lead to the main dining pit, which features a long communal table in the center, and an all-chrome open kitchen in the back.

Cuisine: JAPANESE

This restaurant on the 39th floor of the Hilton Hotel has been serving quality Sichuan cuisine long before it became fashionable on China's Eastern seaboard and is today one of the most reliable, if more expensive, options in town.

Cuisine: SICHUAN / Chinese

This restaurant off trendy Hengshan Lu is a top choice with many Shanghai expatriates (Thais included) for unpretentious, authentic, and reasonably priced Thai food.

Cuisine: THAI

The restaurant's name may not be very inspired, its decor not terribly creative (wall posters of Singapore compete with red and green tinsel hanging from the ceiling), but happily, the food served at this restaurant tucked away on the south side of the Kerry Center is authentic and mouthwatering Singaporean and Malaysian fare, as evidenced by the mostly Sinagporean clientele.

Cuisine: Singaporean

This branch of one of the more highly regarded and popular Shanghai chain restaurants offers diners its signature local dishes as well as Hong Kong-style dim sum in a classy and refined setting. Unadorned glass panels, marble floors, cream-colored chairs, and muted lighting all take a back seat to the food here.

Cuisine: SHANGHAI / Chinese

Strictly prole dining by way of Southwest China, this small eatery in the Raffles City shopping complex offers typical Yunnan staples like guoqiao mixian (crossing-the-bridge noodles . The food is not the most authentic, but it seems to satisfy the Shanghainese curiosity about minority cuisine.

Cuisine: Yunnan / Chinese