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Evelyn Chen

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shanghai has emerged as the most exciting destination in China to experience the full breadth of the country’s regional cuisines.
No longer merely a gateway for international dining brands and top-tier French fare, the city now brims with Taizhou and Ningbo cuisine as well as Teochew, Fujian, Yunnan and Sichuan flavours at provincial restaurants sure to impress even the most seasoned gourmands.
This transformation, however, did not happen overnight. Institutions such as Xin Rong Ji, which introduced Taizhou cuisine to Shanghai in 2010, and Yong Fu, which opened with a focus on Ningbo cuisine in 2011, laid early groundwork.
For years, their presence remained the city’s best-kept secret, savoured by local insiders but largely overlooked by international epicureans.

The turning point came with the arrival of culinary accolades.
Shanghai was anointed with mainland China’s first Michelin Guide in 2017, signalling a new era of recognition for Chinese chefs.
This was swiftly followed by the introduction of China’s own Black Pearl Restaurant Guide in 2018. The Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list has also played a part, although the restaurants and their rankings change annually.
These guides gradually steered the spotlight towards local talents. For chefs and restaurateurs, the potential for critical acclaim became a powerful incentive to elevate standards, invest in provenance and refine techniques.
“Both the Michelin and Black Pearl guides have had significant influence in the evolution of Shanghai’s dining scene, particularly in pushing its overall quality,” says Liu Xin, founder and culinary director of Hong 0871, a pioneering Michelin Plate restaurant known for its elevated Yunnan cuisine.

Chen Zhiping, executive chef of the one-Michelin-star Fujian fine-dining restaurant Meet the Bund, agrees.
“The Michelin Guide and Asia’s 50 Best have helped raise the awareness of Chinese cuisine restaurants in Shanghai,” says Chen, who was awarded the Michelin Shanghai Young Chef Award in 2021.
Earlier this year, Meet the Bund went from 50th to 14th position on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, earning the Fujian restaurant the title of “Best Restaurant in Mainland China”.
In mainland China’s most cosmopolitan metropolis, chefs such as Liu and Chen are reimagining and refining provincial dishes.

Nowhere else in China can you enjoy an Anhui hairy tofu lunch, a Ningbo seafood banquet, and a delicately brewed Buddha Jumps Over the Wall from Fujian in a single day.
Here are five Shanghai restaurants showcasing regional Chinese cuisine at its best.
1. Selection by Du

Selection by Du has been awarded three diamonds – the highest rating – by the Black Pearl Guide, and this accolade is well earned.
The restaurant’s founder and chef-owner Du Jianqing was born in Puning, Guangdong province, and has more than three decades of experience in Cantonese and Chaoshan kitchens.
A favourite dish among regulars is the Teochew-style braised fish maw made from black spotted croaker, but in summer, we recommend the three-head butterfly fish maw, served in the restaurant’s rich stock of pork, chicken and prawn, and paired with Yunnan chanterelles and a knoll of rice.

Other stand-out dishes are the Chaoshan-style flat rice noodles, elevated here with a generous blanket of in-season sea melon seed clams, and pork neck from Chaoshan stir-fried with Yunnan’s prized porcini in light chilli oil.
56F, West Tower, Raffles City North Bund, No. 168 Gongping Road, Shanghai
2. Yong Fu
With 14 years of experience presenting Ningbo cuisine in Shanghai, the Yong Fu Group now oversees more than 40 restaurants across China.
At its helm is chef-founder Weng Yongjun, who has been instrumental in bringing Ningbo seafood to the forefront of China’s fine-dining scene.

The group’s most refined outlet remains its namesake, Yong Fu, which, like Selection by Du, has a three-diamond rating in the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide.
There are three Yong Fu outlets in Shanghai, the newest and most opulent being in Hongkou. This expansive, marble-clad space overhung with chandeliers is located on the 56th floor of Raffles City The Bund’s East Tower.
Yong Fu champions wild-caught Ningbo seafood, which it flies in daily from the East China Sea. Stand-out dishes include raw Zhoushan red crab dressed with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, yellow wine and vinegar; and pickled wax gourd brined with salt and amaranth sauce – Weng’s restrained take on a Ningbo staple served simply in sesame oil.

Do not miss the restaurant’s abalone dishes – South African Yoshihama dried abalone bathed in a rich sauce perfumed with spicy bean paste is a stand-out.
56F, East Tower, Raffles City The Bund, 1089 Dongdaming Road, Hongkou, Shanghai
3. Meet the Bund Skyline
Located on the 56th floor of Raffles City The Bund’s West Tower, Meet the Bund Skyline is the jewel in the crown of Xiamen-based restaurateur Wu Rong and his Meet the Bund group.
Executive chef Chen Zhiping presents refined Fujian cuisine crafted through a modern lens.

His Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is a study in control. Abalone, fish maw and bird’s nest are double-boiled with Shaoxing wine in a porcelain vat filled with house-made stock.
Lipu taro, reinterpreted from braised pork rib with yam, is made by melting taro in a velvety meat sauce finished with shallot oil. Sea snails from Xiamen are braised Wuyi Mountain-style with red and green chillies, with an added infusion of Yongtai tea oil.
We also recommend the drunken clams from Ningde steeped in aged Fujian yellow wine. The broth makes licking the plate clean tempting. Sweeping Bund views round out the experience.
56F, West Tower, Raffles City North Bund, No. 168 Gongping Road, Shanghai
4. Nan Xing Yuan

Nan Xing Yuan is a stand-out for refined Sichuan fare in Shanghai.
Chengdu-born chef Deng Huadong – who has been cooking for nearly 50 years and is also the owner of Deng Ji Sichuan Cuisine in Hong Kong – opened Nan Xing Yuan in the city’s Xuhui district in 2019, serving Nan Tang Sichuan cuisine, a distinctive style that weaves together the bold, complex flavours of Sichuan with the refined influences of Jiangsu and Zhejiang cooking.
The result is a menu of intricate dishes that showcase the 24 flavour profiles of Sichuan cuisine, all executed with solid wok mastery and confident knife work.
Think suanni bairou – thinly sliced pork smothered in a soy sauce dressing speckled with pounded garlic and red chilli oil – and a fascinating chicken soup delicately flavoured with rice wine lees and served with fish maw, scallop chunks and cuttlefish roe.


To finish, try tian shao bai, the Sichuan sweet-and-savoury dessert you never knew existed, consisting of steamed pork belly with glutinous rice embedded with red bean paste.
Building 12, 1728 Middle Huaihai Road, Xuhui, Shanghai
5. Hong 0871

Named in reference to Kunming’s dialling code, Hong 0871 is the brainchild of Liu Xin, a native of the city in Yunnan who champions the province’s emerging cuisine with ingredients from its mountainous terroir.
Since the restaurant group’s debut in Beijing in 2018, it has grown to four outlets across mainland China, including the Shanghai flagship, which opened in 2021.
Diners can enjoy prized Nuodeng ham from Dali – made from black-haired mountain pig and dry-aged for three years using 2000-year-old Nuodeng salt.
There is also rushan, a cow’s milk cheese handcrafted by the Bai people, sun-dried into ribbons and lightly grilled for a chewy, aromatic finish.
Another signature dish is qi guo chicken soup, for which chicken is steamed without added water in a Yunnan clay pot sealed with a tapered lid.

From June to October, wild fungi take the spotlight – this summer, Liu’s curation features ji cong (termite mushrooms), ganba (Thelephora ganbajun), and pine mushrooms, also known as matsutake, among others.
Drink picks range from prized wine labels to yu gan zi, a Yunnan olive varietal pressed into an astringent, mineral-rich jus.
5F, Rainbow North, Auxiliary Building of Chengtou Holding Building, No.130 Wusong Road, Hongkou District


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Food and Drinks

Why Shanghai has become China’s best place to experience its regional cuisines

Selection by Du’s three-head butterfly fish maw served in a stock of pork, chicken and prawn and paired with Yunnan chanterelles and rice. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Raw Zhoushan red crab dressed with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, yellow wine and vinegar at Yong Fu, a Shanghai restaurant specialising in seafood dishes from Ningbo province. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Prized Nuodeng ham, which is dry-aged for three years, at Hong 0871 in Shanghai, which champions Yunnan cuisine. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Chef Liu Xin of Hong 0871. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Chen Zhiping is executive chef of Meet the Bund Skyline. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Chaoshan-style flat rice noodles with sea melon seed clams at Selection by Du. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Pickled wax gourd brined with salt and amaranth sauce at Yong Fu. Photo: Evelyn Chen

An abalone dish at Yong Fu. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Drunken clams steeped in aged Fujian yellow wine at Meet the Bund Skyline. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Suanni bairou, thinly sliced pork smothered in a soy sauce dressing speckled with pounded garlic and red chilli oil, at Nan Xing Yuan. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Chef Deng Huadong opened Nan Xing Yuan in Shanghai in 2019. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Chicken soup delicately flavoured with rice wine lees, with fish maw, scallop chunks and cuttlefish roe at Nan Xing Yuan. Photo: Evelyn Chen

Hong 0871 serves wild fungi from Yunnan between June and October. Photo: Evelyn Chen

 Hong 0871’s qi guo chicken soup. Photo: Evelyn Chen

How China’s Yun-Gui cuisine, which shows the best of 2 provinces, is soaring in popularity

A tofu dish at Gen Bistro, a restaurant in Shanghai that serves Yun-Gui cuisine from southwest China’s Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Photo: Gen Bistro

A hotpot-style dish at Gen Bistro in Shanghai, which offers tapas-style dishes made with ingredients native to China’s southwest. Photo: Gen Bistro

Miao women wear traditional clothes in Xijiang Qianhu Miao village, in Guizhou province, China. Photo: Shutterstock

Chef Yin Jie prepares food in the kitchen at Gen Bistro. Photo: Gen Bistro

Chef Yin puts some finishing touches on dishes at Gen Bistro in Shanghai. Photo: Gen Bistro

Various Yun-Gui dishes, including beef stir-fry with velvet mushroom, roasted Chinese Silkie chicken and Yunnan rice noodles with litsea pepper, at Ameigo. Photo: Zhou Zisen

Ameigo is a Yun-Gui chain that counts more than 20 locations across cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen and Nanjing. Photo: Zhou Zisen

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Firecracker shrimp from The Happy Crane in San Francisco. Photo: Jeremy Chiu

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Char siu pork jowl at The Happy Crane in San Francisco. Photo: Jeremy Chiu

The interior of The Happy Crane. Photo: Jeremy Chiu

Modern Cantonese dishes at The Happy Crane. Photo: Jeremy Chiu

Peking duck at The Happy Crane. Parry learned about Chinese-style roast meats at Palette Teahouse in San Francisco. Photo: Jeremy Chiu

Korean chef Corey Lee of Benu. Photo: Robert Beck

Sorbet at The Happy Crane in San Francisco. Photo: Jeremy Chiu

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A bottle of McDougall’s award-winning wine, the EJ McDougall McLaren Vale Old Vine Grenache 2023. Photo: EJ McDougall

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EJ McDougall wines.

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Bartenders at Chandu create drinks with a narrative that are loosely based on history. Photo: The Robertson House by the Crest Collection

A bartender mixes a drink at Chandu, one of our picks of six of the best hidden speakeasy bars in Singapore. Photo: The Robertson House by the Crest Collection

The Mizuwari whisky highball at Live Twice uses Hokkaido soft water rather than soda to accentuate the malt notes of the Japanese Nikka whiskies. Photo: Instagram/@livetwicesg

Chandu is inspired by Singapore’s colonial era, when opium dens flourished in the city state. Photo: The Robertson House by The Crest Collection

Chandu’s Mata Hari cocktail is named after a Dutch dancer and courtesan. Photo: Facebook/Chandu

Oriental Elixir, located in a Peranakan rowhouse, is a dimly lit watering hole for nonconformist cocktails. Photo: Philipp Meier

Oriental Elixir’s Malabar Tamarind cocktail combines the sour ingredient with roasted cherry tomato gin, dry vermouth. Photo: Instagram/@oriental.elixir

Junior the Pocket Bar is a small, 25-seater speakeasy that tasks itself with changing the menu completely every few months. Photo: Philipp Meier

A cocktail titled Sesame from the Korea-inspired menu at Junior the Pocket Bar. Photo: Junior the Pocket Bar

Jade Harbour is part of The Bund menu currently offered at Junior the Pocket Bar, inspired by the Shanghai district. Credit: Junior the Pocket Bar

For its Korean Joseon dynasty-inspired menu, the interiors of Junior the Pocket Bar featured dragons. Photo: Philipp Meier

Roxy is a hip-hop-inspired speakeasy hidden inside the Miss Fitz restaurant in Singapore’s Marina Bay. Photo: Facebook/Roxy

The drinks at Roxy are based on classics, but are given their own spin. Photo: Facebook/Roxy

Last Word has finessed tipples that were invented in the 1920s. Photo: Philipp Meier

Last Word’s eponymous cocktail is a classic, blending gin, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse and lime. Photo: Instagram/@lastwordsg

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

From Sichuan and Yunnan cuisines to Taizhou, Ningbo and Fujian, Shanghai is brimming with restaurants highlighting the country’s flavours


From Sichuan and Yunnan cuisines to Taizhou, Ningbo and Fujian, Shanghai is brimming with restaurants highlighting the country’s flavours.


Why Shanghai has become China’s best place to experience its regional cuisines

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Sichuan and Yunnan cuisines to Taizhou, Ningbo and Fujian, Shanghai is brimming with restaurants highlighting the country’s flavours

From Sichuan and Yunnan cuisines to Taizhou, Ningbo and Fujian, Shanghai is brimming with restaurants highlighting the country’s flavours