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

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

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