Since Shanghai is a large, major city you can find great restaurants serving cuisine from all over the world. These are the top places we ate at while there, 2 are local cuisine and must eats and 2 are good examples of cuisine from around the world.
When in Shanghai do not leave without having Xiaolong Bao(soup dumplings). These are delicious steamed dumplings traditionally pork there are other flavours like crab. As the dumplings cook the juice from the meat inside creates a broth. You will probably burn your month on this hot liquid, I know I did, but it is worth it! After much research we found the best Xiaolong Bao in Shanghai. You know its good when you wait in a long line of all locals! Jia Jia Tang Bao at 90 Huanghe Rd. You may walk right by this place and not have a clue what it is, although the long line of people waiting outside may make you wonder. After you wait in line- don’t worry, it moved quickly- you will be presented with a large menu on the wall to choose your meat, good news there is English. They sell out quickly but we did get to try the pork and the crab dumplings. The pork is by far the best, be sure to get a lot because you will eat it all! This is a tiny place and they will seat you with strangers but the dumplings cook fast and you will devour these dumplings as soon as you get them.
The next must eat is scallion pancakes from the Scallion Pancake God of China. This guy is so famous you will wait in line from 1-4 hours to get these amazing little savoury pancakes at A Da Cong You Bing. We got there around 7am and waiting 1 hour but it was definitely worth the wait not only for the pancakes but for the experience. Again we were the only tourists in line! The cook is an older man who has perfected this recipe and cooking technique. He has been doing this since 1982. Only 10 pancakes are ready at a time and he will limit you as to how many 1 person can purchase. These scallion pancakes are crispy, flaky and full of delicious layers of dough, fat and scallions. This place is hard to find its on Jianguo Rd near Sinan Rd.
The other 2 restaurant recommendations are Garlic, Turkish, and Goga, Cali-Asian. The chef at Goga has a background in San Francisco, our home base, so there is a selection of great California wines. The food is top-notch, everything we had was absolutely delicious. Garlic is wonderful Turkish restaurant that is family style, great for groups!
There is tons of great food to be eaten in Shanghai so get out there and try it even the scary stuff because it might just be amazing!
Planning a trip to China? beside to check out my Shanghai China Blog.
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