Tips on Eating in Shanghai
 

Do You know some great restaurants in Shanghai? Cheap, medium or Expensive doesn't matter.<BR><BR>How good is M on the Bund??

Personally, I highly recommend Lu Bo Lang in Yuyuan. It's a local Shanghai restaurant (at high end of local standard). Cost 200-300 yuan for a great dinner for two. Bill Clinton also visited there in his last trip to China a few years ago.

I second the recommendation for Lu Bo Lang. I went to the one in Pudong but the original is one is located near Yu Yuan. Try the hairy crab if it is season. I also liked China Moon and Tandoor. And I highly recommend checking out the options at the Grand Hyatt. Even if you aren't staying in the Pudong area, it's only a quick subway ride away. We tried the Grill (steak & seafood) and Club Jin Mao (Shanghai cuisine). They also have Japanese, Cantonese, and Italian restaurants. After dinner, visit the Cloud 9 bar/Sky Lounge on the top 2 floors. The view is to die for!

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt, and ate at the Grill. My steak was good, but my wife was not happy with the shrimp dinner she had. For the price, the meal was not "great", and the only tables with a view of the Bundt (the view "to die for") were in the smoking area, near the bar (not my choice for ambiance).<BR>The hotel itself is amazing, not to be missed. Our room overlooked the Bundt, and it was difficult to justify going to the lounge for the same view.<BR>But if you're just visiting for the view, rather than dinner, the lobby coffee shop should do the trick.

There are numerous restaurants along the Singapore River. It seemed like a pretty popular destination.<BR><BR>We picked the one that seemed to be the most popular, i.e crowded, figuring the locals had a clue.

M on the Bund has decent food and perhaps the best view in Shanghai ... it's overpriced for the food (I'm comparing it to the CA Bay Area) but probably worth it just for the experience and atmosphere.<BR><BR>Another good place for a high-end Western meal is the Ashanti Dome (your hotel will know where it is), in a former Russian orthodox church near Fuxing Park. The food is actually very good here. Sit on the second floor for a view of the dome murals. The neighborhood is a great place to wander around. <BR><BR>Le Garcon Chinois on a small alley off of Huashan Road (heading south from Huaihai Road the alley will be on your left, look for a sign that says "Yang's Kitchen" and go down that alley -- on the same block as Sasha's) is in a very nicely restored old alleyway house. The food is just OK (western) but it's a nice place for a drink. <BR><BR>For Chinese food -- Club 7 on Donghu Road (next to the Donghu Hotel) is in a beautifully and accurately restored villa in a garden. As of July they were serving Cantonese (good food) but the manager was talking about switching to a Shanghai menu soon. <BR><BR>My favorite for absolutely authentic and delicious Shanghai food is Henry's on Xinle Lu (road) near Shaanxi Lu, walking distance of the Hilton. They have an extensive English menu that includes usually everything on the Chinese menu. Shanghai is especially known for its small cold dishes (appetizers). Try Shaoxing wine chicken, jellyfish (tastes much better than it sounds), liangban huanggua (cucumber), xiangcai gansi (coriander with tofu shreds) ... anything from the first course/appetizer/cold dish list. Typical local main courses include yuxiang rousi ("fish-taste" pork shreds --- delicious and not fishy!), fanqie chao jidan (tomatoes with eggs), and if it's in season, doumaio (pea greens) --- Shanghainese go nuts for them! We lived in Shanghai for 3 years and this place has the real goods, we visited many times on a trip in July. Not fancy (but not grubby).

Les,<BR>I wasn't necessarily referring to the view from the restaurants. Some of them don't have very good views if any at all. But we did enjoy going up to Cloud 9 in the evenings for dessert even though we had the same view from our room. Starting at 9:00pm, they have strolling entertainers in the lounge making local crafts like paper cuttings and dough dolls. I guess I was recommending the Hyatt more as an overall evening experience since there are so many after dinner options too, rather than a single restaurant choice. For live music and dancing, check out Pu J's on the bottom level.