Shanghai's most famous food isn't on the Bund. It's in breakfast stalls, dumpling shops and old benbang (本帮, "local") restaurants where locals have been going for decades. Here's what to eat, where locals go for it, and how to order and pay without stress.
Breakfast: the "four heavenly kings" (四大金刚)
Shanghai's traditional breakfast set is called the four heavenly kings:
- 大饼 (dà bǐng): a flaky sesame flatbread, sweet or salty.
- 油条 (yóutiáo): a long fried dough stick.
- 粢饭 (cífàn): sticky rice rolled tightly around a piece of youtiao.
- 豆浆 (dòujiāng): soy milk, sweet (甜) or salty (咸) with toppings.
You'll find them at small neighbourhood breakfast stalls in the early morning. Look for a queue of locals and a hot griddle. They're often sold out by mid-morning, so go early.
Xiaolongbao and shengjian
- Xiaolongbao (小笼包): thin-skinned soup dumplings. Bite a small hole, sip the soup, then eat. Jia Jia Tang Bao (佳家汤包) is a well-known locals' spot, popular with Shanghainese for its fillings and plain setting. Expect a queue and shared tables.
- Shengjian (生煎): pan-fried pork buns with a crispy base and a soupy filling. Yang's Fried Dumpling (小杨生煎) is the chain everyone knows, with branches across the city.
Both are pork-based by default. Not eating pork? Ask for crab-meat or vegetable fillings where offered, or read our vegetarian and no-pork guide. Want to learn to make them? Our xiaolongbao-making and food experience teaches you to fold your own.
Scallion oil noodles (葱油拌面)
This simple dish is very popular in Shanghai: noodles tossed in scallion oil (made by slowly frying spring onions until dark and crisp) and soy sauce. It's cheap and filling, and found in small noodle shops across the city. Locals often add a side of braised pork chop or a fried egg.
Benbang cuisine: old Shanghai home cooking
Benbang (本帮菜) is Shanghai's own style of cooking. It's sweet and savoury, with a lot of soy sauce and sugar, and it's often called "thick oil, red sauce" (浓油赤酱). Dishes to order:
- Red-braised pork (红烧肉, hóngshāo ròu), the signature dish.
- Smoked fish (熏鱼, xūn yú), served cold as a starter.
- Drunken chicken (醉鸡, zuì jī), chilled in rice wine.
- Oil-braised spring bamboo shoots (油焖笋) in spring, and hairy crab in autumn.
Lao Zheng Xing (老正兴) is one of the historic benbang names, around for well over a century. It's a good place to try the classic dishes properly.
Food streets and wet markets
- Huanghe Road (黄河路), near People's Square, is an old restaurant street that got famous again after the TV series Blossoms Shanghai (繁花). It has big family restaurants with seafood tanks and Shanghainese dishes, and it's busiest at dinner.
- Wet markets (菜市场) are where Shanghai's home cooks shop, and they're full of street snacks around the edges in the morning. Walking through one with someone who can explain what you're seeing is one of the best food experiences in the city. Our local street-food walk does exactly that.
- Going to Jing'an Temple? Our Jing'an Temple and local food half-day combines the temple with the food streets around it.
How ordering and paying works
- Pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay. Small shops may not handle change easily. Set up your app before you arrive. Our payment setup guide includes a ¥10 (less than $2) test payment.
- Scan-to-order menus: in many restaurants you scan a QR code on the table to order and pay. Alipay's built-in translation helps with the menu.
- Queues are a good sign. At breakfast stalls you usually order and pay first, then wait.
- Portions: dumplings are sold by the basket or by the piece (e.g. 4 shengjian). Order less, then add more.
Eat with a local
The quickest way to eat like a Shanghainese is with one. Our hosts run:
- Local street-food walk: wet markets, breakfast stalls and the snacks you'd never find on your own.
- Xiaolongbao making + food tasting: fold your own soup dumplings, then eat them.
- Home kitchen cooking: cook and eat Shanghai home-style dishes in a local kitchen.
Restaurant names here are long-established places that locals know, not paid placements. Shops move, renovate and close — check the listing in your map app on the day before you go. We don't list opening hours on purpose.