Shanghai Restaurant Guide — Chef Sui Po's Personal Picks

This guide features restaurants that Chef Sui Po — former executive chef at Hilton and InterContinental hotels and a disciple of state-banquet master Chef Zheng Xiusheng — personally visited and explicitly recommended. Restaurants are listed from lowest to highest price point, making it easy for international visitors to choose based on their budget.

Information is based on Chef Sui Po's publicly available restaurant visits from 2025 to 2026. Please check with each restaurant directly for current hours and pricing.

One: Sisters Restaurant

Price per person: 60–80 yuan | Location: Linyi Road, Pudong New Area | Style: Shanghai home cooking

A neighborhood restaurant that has been running in Shanghai for over twenty years, with a single auntie doing all the cooking — everything stir-fried to order. After his visit, Chef Sui gave the restaurant a perfect score, and it went on to top the Pudong popularity charts. The signature salted-egg-yolk chicken wings are crispy outside and tender within; the red-braised beef brisket is meltingly soft and deeply savory, with potato pieces that have absorbed every drop of the braising liquid — the dish's quiet highlight; the sauce-fried pork liver is flash-cooked over high heat, silky and free of any off-flavors. The setting is plain, and the queue can stretch to hours, but the prices are near-miraculous for Shanghai — this is the everyday home cooking that locals have eaten since childhood. Weekday visits with an early arrival to grab a number are strongly recommended; avoid if you are short on time.

Chef Sui's comment: "All praise, all delicious — this is what real Shanghainese home cooking tastes like."

Two: Maosheng Eatery

Price per person: 50–80 yuan | Location: A local Shanghai neighborhood | Style: Rich, deeply sauced Shanghai cuisine

A well-regarded old-school neighborhood restaurant recommended by Shanghainese locals, specializing in the classic rich, deeply sauced style of traditional Shanghai cooking. Chef Sui paid particular attention to the red-braised pork, large-intestine clay pot, and sauce-fried pork liver — praising the heat control, the freshness of the ingredients, and the authentic character of everyday Shanghai flavors. The shop itself is understated and the prices are friendly; it suits visitors who want to experience the most genuine side of Shanghai's neighborhood food culture. The flavor profile leans toward sweet and rich — hallmarks of traditional Shanghai cuisine.

Chef Sui's comment: "A hidden gem recommended by locals — authentic Shanghai flavors in an unpretentious setting."

Three: Dakuaitou Da Pai Dang

Price per person: 100–150 yuan | Location: Central Shanghai | Style: Late-night street-food stall, Shanghai stir-fries

Chef Sui has called this the "ceiling of Shanghai late-night dining." An open-air stall that operates through the night, with a menu of bold, wok-charged Shanghai stir-fries — pork kidney and sea cucumber over rice among other hearty dishes, all made with solid ingredients and generous portions. The atmosphere is entirely unpretentious, and it is the ideal place to experience how Shanghainese locals eat after dark. Chef Sui praised the freshness of the produce and the precision of the heat control; while the price is not exactly cheap, he considered it good value. An evening visit is recommended for the full late-night Shanghai atmosphere.

Chef Sui's comment: "Shanghai's ultimate late-night food spot — bold flavors and generous portions."

Four: Shi Lu

Price per person: 270–350 yuan | Location: Multiple locations (Kerry Centre, Grand Gateway, Jing'an Kerry Centre, and others) | Style: Contemporary Huaiyang cuisine, Black Pearl one-diamond

The restaurant Chef Sui has received the most fan messages about — and a Black Pearl one-diamond restaurant. The signature Dragon Whisker Prosperity Fish (398 yuan) is cooked tableside by the chef; the fish is tender with powerful wok fragrance. The salty soy-milk puffer fish (268 yuan) pairs salted soy milk with stock, giving the puffer fish a springy, bouncing texture. The cabbage-leaf lion's head meatball wraps the meatball in a cabbage leaf before steaming — both inventive and genuinely delicious. Chef Sui rated the overall standard as high and the prices as justified. Well suited to visitors looking for refined contemporary Shanghai cooking at a higher price point.

Chef Sui's comment: "This restaurant truly delivers — creative dishes that justify both the price and the hype."

Five: Fu 1088

Price per person: 800–1,200 yuan | Location: Jing'an District, Shanghai | Style: High-end Shanghai cuisine, historic villa dining

A high-end Shanghai restaurant housed in a century-old garden villa. Chef Sui's assessment: "Worth the price even at 1,000 yuan per person." The signature fragrant red-braised pork (198 yuan) is braised until meltingly soft, with a perfect lean-to-fat ratio; the crispy eel with honey glaze (108 yuan) is crunchy outside and tender within, with a balanced sweet-and-sour finish; the stir-fried crab roe and meat with toast (398 yuan) uses pure crab meat and roe for an intensely sweet, savory richness. The environment is elegant and refined. Suited to visitors who want to experience top-tier Shanghai cuisine inside a historic villa setting. Advance reservation strongly recommended.

Chef Sui's comment: "Even at 1,000 yuan per person, this place delivers genuine value — a rare combination of setting and substance."

Six: Meet the Bund

Price per person: 800–1,500 yuan | Location: Xintiandi and BFC Bund Finance Center, Huangpu District | Style: High-end Fujian cuisine, Michelin one-star, Asia's 50 Best

Ranked among Asia's finest, holding a Michelin star and the Black Pearl's highest honor — Meet the Bund has brought Fujian cooking onto the international culinary stage. Chef Sui made a special visit to experience what he called "the finest restaurant on the Chinese mainland," praising the kitchen's ability to reinterpret the flavors of southern Fujian through high-end technique. The interior weaves together the stone-gated lane architecture of old Shanghai with the traditional courtyard houses of southern Fujian. The restaurant operates from two prime locations: Xintiandi and the Bund. Suited to visitors seeking a pinnacle-level Chinese dining experience paired with Bund night views. Reservations more than a week in advance are essential.

Chef Sui's comment: "The highest-ranked Chinese restaurant on the continent — worth a special journey for its refined Fujian cuisine."

Chef Sui Po's Approach

Chef Sui Po is known for the principle that "there is no right or wrong in food, but there should always be a standard." He is generous with praise for small neighborhood restaurants — as his perfect-score verdict on Sisters Restaurant shows — and equally blunt about famous establishments that disappoint. His benchmarks are always the same: fresh ingredients, precise heat control, honest flavor, and value for money.

All information above is compiled from publicly available restaurant visits. Please confirm current pricing and hours with each restaurant directly.