Places to eat in Shanghai Shi

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There are many Xiao Nan Guo Restaurant in Shanghai, as it is a chain restaurant. The one I went was located in a very quiet and old hotel - Ruo Jing Hotel. The hotel building is European style. Be sure you pick this one for dinner. I have few local shanghaiese dishes and they are all good. See more pics for dishes.

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This place is REALLY popular. Unfortunately, my best picture shows a bunch of non-Chinese at the service window. What it didn't show were the 100s of people lined up off to the right waiting to get the order in.

In trying to figure out how long I'd have to wait in line, I noticed a stair way behind the stall that, when followed, led to the "on the floor" part of the restaurant. By waiting for 10 minutes, I got to sit down at a full service restaurant serving the same steamed buns as the stall on the ground floor. I also figured out (too late) that you could request a window seat overlooking the pond at the center of the bazaar... something to keep in mind next time I visit.

Regardless of the table location, you want to order at least 2 different baskets per person at a table. The Chinese tend to order a lot of different items to share and this seems like the best way to go. At this particular restaurant, each basket runs between 60 and 140 RMB ($9 to $20). If this seems a bit expensive, remember that this really is a famous and very popular place for Shanghai dumplings. This restaurant's menus include English translations for each entry though that isn't necessarily much help (things like "Glorious opening leaf bun" didn't tell me much). But it's all an adventure and, at this location, it's a tasty one was well.

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The name of the restaurant means "Eight Fairies Hall". Whether there're fairies here or not remains to be seen, but the Shanghainese food here is certainly very authentic and tasty! Locals say that this is one of the best restaurants in Zhujiajiao, and after eating here, I'd agree.
The restaurant entrance is unassuming (you'll have to recognise the Chinese characters, or ask for directions). Once you enter, the 1st floor is a long corridor leading to the kitchen area. Just before the kitchen door, go up the stairs to your right and you'll find a dining room with about 6-8 tables.
The menu is only in Chinese and I believe the staff might also only speak Chinese, so hopefully you have someone with you who understands the lingo!
Tea and hot water are provided for free, a lifesaver on a cold winter evening. Dinnertime starts at around 1630, we were the earliest diners on that evening.
Portions are quite generous and certainly much more value-for-money compared to other home-style Shanghainese restaurants in town. That said, the long trek out here makes it perhaps not worth the savings unless you're coming here to visit Zhujiajiao water village as well.

Favorite Dish: We had sauced duck (jia1 xiang1 jiang4 ya1, 25 RMB) as a cold appetiser, red-braised pork (hong2 shao1 rou4, 35 RMB) and also deep-fried little fish with salt and pepper (jiao1 yan2 xiao3 yu2, 10 RMB). The 1st two were exceptionally good, but the last item wasn't as good as what I'd tasted before in Xitang water village. The sauce for the sauced duck and red-braised pork is the typical Shanghainese kind, very thick, traditional and a bit on the sweet side. I would recommend that you order a bowl of rice to eat along with the sauce, it's THAT good.
Other good recommendations to try would be the oil-fried freshwater shrimp (you2 bao4 xia1, 25 RMB) and red-braised river eel (hong2 shao1 he2 man4, seasonal price). The shrimp comes unshelled, but you shouldn't need to peel them (they're crispy enough), just eat them altogether.

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There're so many Granny's Dumplings in Zhujiajiao, you'll be spoilt for choice. This traditional snack has become a tourist commodity -- everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and saying that theirs is the oldest, tastiest, most traditional, most famous... whatever!
Anywhere you look, there'll be the namesake "granny" sitting prominently in the storefront, making her dumplings while chit-chatting away with the staff and any other people who happen to be in the vicinity. Almost every store will have the obligatory photos plastered all over the place, proudly announcing that they were interviewed by some TV programme or magazine, etc. Or perhaps they just did some nifty Photoshopping... ;)
This particular one that I've picked out is the tastiest one going by what locals say. Don't get sidetracked by all the fancy packaging on the various stores, just remember the address and street number.
Dumplings in many parts of China are triangular-shaped but the ones here are somewhat cylindrical and pillow-shaped. Each dumpling is bound by 4 separate pieces of straw (some say to increase the fragrance) rather than the usual string, before being steamed to tasty perfection.
Another local specialty sold here is the zha1 rou4 -- literally "bound-up pork". This is pork which has both lean and fatty parts, which's simply bound up in the same leaves as the dumplings (but without the glutinous rice) and then cooked in the local sauce. Priced at only 1 RMB per piece, this is an inexpensive little snack.
The food can be vacuum-packed for free, so no worries about bringing them back home.

Favorite Dish: There're various kinds of filling for the dumplings: pork, pork with chestnut, pork with salted egg yolk, red bean paste, plain etc. Price ranges from 1 RMB for the plain and non-meat fillings, to 2.5 RMB for pork, 3.5 RMB for pork with chestnut, and 4 RMB for pork with salted egg yolk. The best is said to be the pork with salted egg yolk, so that's the one to buy if you're only hungry enough for one.
Don't forget to get the zha1 rou4 as well!

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Countless restaurants, all serving the local specialty of Nanxiang xiaolongbao (little steamer dumplings), line the street outside the south gate of Guyi Garden. I didn't find any that particularly stood out. Restaurants were typically local (no English signs or menus), simple and down-to-earth. Many restaurants also have a takeaway gift option. Prices are cheap especially when compared to downtown Shanghai.

Favorite Dish: Xiaolongbao is THE thing to eat here. The xiaolongbao have a paper-thin skin made of white flour, filled with tender pork filling (I prefer the ones mixed with crabmeat and/or crab roe) and fragrant soup.
Make sure you don't waste the steaming soup inside the xiaolongbao. "Up-end" the xiaolongbao using the chopsticks and push it onto the spoon. Dip it in the ginger and vinegar/soy sauce if you so prefer. Bite a small hole to let the soup cool a bit before you suck the soup out, not unlike French-kissing! (The xiaolongbao is in the spoon to avoid losing soup due to spillage.) Beware, hot hot hot! After you suck the soup out and the xiaolongbao cools down somewhat, you can eat it "normally".

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On the 10th floor of Super Brand Mall in Pudong with a view of the Bund. Good food and adequate service. Minimum expenditure 200 RMB/person, not including drinks and alcohol.

Favorite Dish: - Beef cooked with stones in hot oil (jiang1 shi2 gun3 fei2 niu2)
- Spicy prawns (hu2 la4 xia1)
- Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish (song1 shu3 gui4 yu2)
- Spicy chicken pieces (ge1 le4 shan1 la4 zi ji1, the best I've tasted for this dish)

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Shanghai's namesake xiaolongbao are the main draw of this famous old restaurant. However other Shanghainese dimsum are also very popular and most importantly, yummy!
There're 4 sections to the restaurant, listed here as no.1 to 4, from cheapest to most expensive.
No.1 is the takeaway window downstairs beside the 9-Zigzag Bridge, which ALWAYS has a long queue snaking from it -- the only differences I've seen would be the length of the queue! The only things available here are the most basic pork xiaolongbao.
Go up the staircase and you'll find the next section on your left. No.2 is basically the same fare as no.1, but with some extras eg a seat at a table. Be prepared to breathe down someone's neck in order to get a seat. Don't be shy, there'll be other customers doing the same to you once you get a seat. I think the xiaolongbao here cost about 15 RMB for 8.
From the same staircase, turn right and that's no.3. This section has a minimum expenditure of 30 RMB/person. There're "set meals" for about 50 or 70 RMB/person. The stuff here is a little limited though, so I usually go for the last section...
... Which is no.4. Walk through no.3 to get to the innermost and most expensive section of the restaurant, minimum expenditure 60 RMB/person. There're at least 4 "set meals" available at varying prices. The full range of offerings is available at this section, including small appetisers. This section opens at around 1045 or so, be here promptly so that you don't have to wait for a seat!
There's hot soup inside the xiaolongbao, so make sure you don't waste that. "Up-end" the xiaolongbao using the chopsticks and push it onto the spoon. Dip it in the ginger and vinegar/soy sauce if you so prefer. Bite a small hole to let the soup cool a bit before you suck the soup out, not unlike French-kissing! (The xiaolongbao is in the spoon to avoid losing soup due to spillage.) Beware, hot hot hot! After you suck the soup out and the xiaolongbao cools down somewhat, you can eat it "normally".

Favorite Dish: I think the absolute best has to be the crab meat xiaolongbao (xie fen xiao long). These cost 20 RMB in no.3 and 30 RMB in no.4, for a steamer of 6. The pork xiaolongbao (xian rou xiao long) cost the same and don't taste as good, so don't bother with those.
The mushroom xiaolongbao (jun gu xiao long) also cost the same, and they're unique and very yummy, you'll be pleasantly surprised! Vegetarians, you'll be happy that you can eat this one.
If you feel like splurging, in no.4 there're also crab roe xiaolongbao (xie huang xiao long) for 50 RMB/steamer, xiaolongbao with special mushroom filling (song rong xiao long) and xiaolongbao with shark's fin and pork filling (yu chi xiao long) for 88 RMB/steamer. Each steamer has 6 xiaolongbao.
The big steamed buns with straws (for you to drink the soup inside) for 20 RMB/each are unique and you should definitely try this for the fun experience. Beware, HOT! Apart from the soup, you can also "rip open" the dumpling and eat the crab roe and crab meat inside.
White jade rolls (bai yu juan) are samosas with soft white beancurd and crab roe inside.
Deep-fried prawn balls (xia qiu) are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Beware, these ALSO have hot soup (and crab roe) on the inside!
Flaky pastries with cashew nuts filling (yao guo su bing), or red bean paste inside (xi sha su bing) are good for dessert. I personally prefer the former.
Curry puffs (ga li rou jiao) have a different taste from the bulk of the other offerings, so it's good getting this for some variety.
For vegetarians, apart from the mushroom xiaolongbao mentioned above, there're also veggie steamed buns (cai bao) that you can eat. Otherwise I think that's about it.
Don't bother with the set meals, I don't go for those since you might not be interested in some of the offerings and then it's a waste of money paying for the entire meal when you could order a la carte and enjoy all that you order.

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This little cafe-like restaurant has only about 4 tables -- actually, I hardly ever see any more than 2-3 tables occupied at any one time. Since the food is really good, I can only imagine that they're doing a roaring delivery business, especially since they're located a stone's throw away from Fudan University's international student dorms.
In any case, this is a wonderful choice if you're looking for a cosy spot to chat with friends.

Favorite Dish: The mainstays here are pizza and pasta.
Pizza comes in 3 sizes: 10, 12 and 14 inches. I usually get the 12-inch pizza for 48 RMB (this will feed 2, or 3 if you're not very hungry), and can be split into 2 toppings with no extra charge. As for the crust, you can get the usual pan pizza crust or the crispy thin crust, of which I prefer the former. For toppings, I like pepperoni, Korean bulgogi and spicy chicken.
Pastas also come in 3 varieties (cream, tomato and olive oil) with various ingredients, price ranging from 20 to 35 RMB. My personal favourite is the cream chicken.