10 Best Restaurants in Shanghai

A Michelin star must-visit, Ren He Guan restaurant is renowned for its ambient golden lighting and nostalgic décor that dates back to Shanghai’s Art Deco heyday. The menu here showcases sumptuous Shanghainese classics like sweet plum shrimp, crabmeat and roe on rice, finless eel with water bamboo and hong shao rou (red braised pork belly).

This atmospheric culinary institution also hosts afternoon mahjong playoffs (a tile-based game that flourished throughout the 19th century and remains a staple of daily life). With its mint green walls, checkerboard flooring and chanteuses wearing qipao dresses, Ren He Guan promises an unforgettable dining experience that’s reminiscent of the old-world.

With its ruby red interior, lantern illuminations, dark mahogany furniture and ornate Asian motifs, Lost Heaven is a visually-enticing restaurant that’s elevated to loftier heights with its delectable food menu. Here, the focus is on hearty cuisine from China’s Yunnan province (think big, bold flavours and plenty of spices).

Dine in Lost Heaven’s atmospheric interior before enjoying a drink on its glamorous roof terrace for dazzling views of the surrounding skyscrapers. Sample the Burmese tea leaf salad, crispy fried crab cakes, braised chayote in coconut and the stir-fried pork with chive flowers.

The recipient of one Michelin star, Yongfoo Elite in Shanghai’s Xuhui District offers a memorable dining experience in its chandelier-lit interior, as well as on its airy balcony. Located in a 1930s villa that used to be home to the British Consulate, this gastronomic talking point recalls the heady days of old Shanghai with its Chinese antiques and Art Deco furniture.

The restaurant’s à la carte menu showcases enticing dishes such as tea smoked cod with fennel root and corn juice, and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall: a combo of braised fish lips, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin and dried scallops. Finish your meal with a classic Chinese sweet like Wuliangye ice cream, jujube pastry cake or rose wolfberry trifle.

Housed in a former police station dating back to 1910, The Commune Social is one of Shanghai’s most surprising gastronomic ambitions. This classy tapas and cocktail bar serves imaginative Spanish fusion cuisine in a minimalist, industrial interior. Helmed by Gordon Ramsay protegee Jason Atherton, diners are rewarded for selecting the venue’s envelope-pushing dishes like tongue and cheek beef empanada, gooey blue cheese croquettes and the Ibérico pork and foie gras burger.

Its imperative that you save room for dessert because The Commune Social is famed for its sweets. Our top picks include the banoffee banana cake with candied pecans, zesty lemon meringue with basil sorbet and coffee panna cotta with mascarpone and chocolate brownie.

Launched in 1999 by Australian restaurateur Michelle Garnaut, M on the Bund has made a name for itself internationally with its award-winning menu of European and Middle Eastern cuisine. Located on the 7th floor of the 1920s Nissin Building, this A-list enclave offers the most spectacular views of the Shanghai skyline from its expansive al fresco terrace.

When you’re not sampling decadent dishes like crab souffle in flaky filo pastry and slow-baked leg of lamb, you can indulge in M on the Bund’s ritzy afternoon tea. This quintessential British pastime includes pavlova, chocolate cake and lemon meringue tart accompanied by homemade scones and finger sandwiches.

The exciting cornerstone of Shanghai’s culinary scene, Jesse Restaurant (or ‘Old Jesse’) specialises in tantalising Haipai fare, a marriage of Chinese and Western-style cooking that’s totally unique to the city. Reserve a table here to avoid disappointment (trust us, it’s busy).

Order plates loaded with xintailuan (red dates stuffed with glutinous rice), hexia (sauteed river prawns) and tangcu paigu (sweet and sour pork). If you’re feeling brave, à la Anthony Bourdain, try the crispy baked cod head covered with shredded spring onions, or the jellyfish drizzled with scallion oil.

A single-table concept, Shanghai’s Ultraviolet is the brainchild of Paul Pairet, a French chef that’s famed for his avant-garde cuisine. Hailed as the first multi-sensory restaurant in the world, the venue utilises sight, smell and sound to enhance the dining experience via a carefully curated menu and hyper-controlled atmosphere.

Recipient of three Michelin stars, Ultraviolet serves a 20+ course dinner for ten guests in an unadorned interior that’s suddenly transformed with state-of-the-art technology like UV lighting, 360-degree wall projection and a multichannel speaker system. While your mind (and every other sense) is bending, sample dishes such as soft-shell scallops, Foie Gras ‘En Vessie’, BiBi-Baba French Toast and grapefruit with lychees.

Fu 1039 is a one-star Michelin restaurant that’s situated in a 1920s French heritage mansion in Shanghai’s residential Changning District. Inside, its 19th century furniture transports diners back to the city’s Belle Époque which makes for an atmospheric culinary experience.

Enjoy home-style Shanghainese cooking like black fungus with sour chili, pan-fried goose liver with blueberry sauce and steamed “Shi” fish with aromatic rice wine. The venue’s complimentary fruit plates act as a refreshing palate cleanser between dishes (we love the cherries served on mountains of shaved ice).

Mr & Mrs Bund serves upscale international cuisine in a former Shanghainese bank building that dates back to 1922. Helmed by avant-garde French chef Paul Pairet (the mastermind behind the high-tech Ultraviolet), MMB sticks to classic dishes but reimagines their execution with unbridled creativity.

In an interior ornamented with 18th century-style furniture, you’ll feast on seafood towers stacked with oysters, shucked clams and poached whelks, as well as plates of Boston lobster, duck foie-gras and Entrecôte ribeye Wagyu. Finish off the affair with a sublime serving of Grand Marnier souffle, strawberries with Chantilly cream, zesty lemon tart or rich chocolate mousse.

Jia Jia Tang Bao is a Huangpu District hole-in-the-wall that’s famous city-wide for its xiaolongbao (steamed soup dumplings). Prepare to wait in long queues for your chance to sample these unbelievably tasty baubles. When the eatery sells out, the whole place closes.

Years-old Formica tables, pen-written menus, and simple metal chairs pepper the interior of this spartan culinary gem. Order bamboo steamer baskets filled with handmade dumplings and feast until your belly is full. Our picks are the pork and crab roe or the simple egg.