1
SO GOOD BISTRO
(蛮好小酒馆)
📍 1465 Fuxing Middle Road, Xuhui
☎️ 189-2192-7285
⏰ Daily, 11 AM - 2 PM; 5 PM - Midnight
“I love going to ‘little wine taverns’ aka xiaojiuguan (小酒馆) — in the past year, cozy eateries in this style, with ace small plates and wines, have popped up.
One of my favourites is SO GOOD Bistro (蛮好小酒馆), which serves dishes inspired by Wenzhou cuisine — seafood, fishcakes, and the fluffiest stir-fried mifen (vermicelli noodles). I especially love the sweet cauliflower stem pickles, wok-fired eggplant and braised tofu.
The owner, a lady, is a well-known food blogger. You’ll see her here most nights. You’ll also definitely see Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Monica and Chandler, as a projector beams episodes of Friends, on silent, onto the exposed brick wall at the back — it’s oddly mesmerising, and very comforting.
Up at the front desk, they’ve got a utility bucket filled with ice and by-the-glass wines to try and buy. It’s open until 1 AM, too.”
— Jamie Pea, cook, writer and vegetable "librarian"
About the chef
A cook, writer and recipe developer who travels wide and far to learn from China's vast regional cuisines and techniques. You might recognise her from her Shanghai stints at Egg and Tai’an Table, or from her most excellent bite-sized content on Instagram at
@jamie.pea.recipe.
2
Anar Kawap
(石榴烤肉)
📍758 Julu Road, Jing’an
☎️ 133-7028-7283 / 186-2176-0089
⏰ Daily, 11 AM - 2 AM
“After the last customer has left Bastard, we are lucky that one of the best lamb shao kao (烧烤) places, Anar Kawap, is on our way home. Abdul gets his lamb directly from Xinjiang; it travels by air, so you’re always guaranteed of the freshest meat.
Their other location called Abdul 好朋友 has more of a street vibe, and that’s where we tended to go before. At the moment though, because of the convenience factor, this is the spot where you’ll find us munching on freshly grilled pieces of lamb and snacking on raw pyaz (onions). They serve killer lamb kidneys — that runs out quickly, so if you see it, you should snatch it.
We meet friends here very often too, whether they are coming or heading to All Club or Lucky Mart or just hanging out. I always end up here between midnight to 2 AM.”
— Michael Janczewski, head chef at BASTARD and Juke
About the chef
Michael Janczewski might be Polish, but he has the palate of a Chinese person. The tastemaker behind Shanghai’s mod-Chinese eatery BASTARD has over 12 years of culinary experience spanning from Modern Polish and Contemporary Chinese to French and Mediterranean.
3
MOUNTAINS MUTTON SHOP
(山里人羊肉店)
📍280 Yanping Road, Jing’an
☎️ 178-2126-6696 / 136-2195-1398
⏰ Open 24/7
“We close at 9:30 PM, so it’s pretty easy for me to find a place to eat! However, if I visit any of my friends who work nearby, the night usually ends pretty late. In that case, I would definitely recommend 山里人羊肉店 on Yanping Lu. It’s a 24 hour noodle shop specialising in lamb.
I find the quality of the lamb soup really nice, and the price is super reasonable at 25 RMB per set. The staff are chill, and it’s close to Little Catch.
I usually get the white cuts of lamb in broth (羊肉汤) paired with soy dry noodles (拌面). The broth is incredibly clear and flavourful, with plenty of fresh leeks and herbs, and lots of sliced tender lamb, and the noodles are springy and umami. I’ve also tried the lamb soup fen (粉), which is the same broth — that one is good too!
If you ask the chef where his dishes are from, he’ll say, “Nowhere.” They’re just a mix of his own taste plus Shanghai-style noodles.
All their decoration praises the benefits of eating lamb through all the seasons!”
— Jiayi Huang, chef-proprietor of Little Catch
About the chef
Practically the face of poke in Shanghai, Jiayi transformed her fishmonger into a chain of poke shops (Little Catch Poke) in 2014, and as they say, the rest is history. The Ferrandi culinary school graduate has worked at highbrow eateries in Hong Kong and Paris, and is also a pretty darned good baker.
4
TOFU VILLAGE
(豆腐村)
📍3rd floor, Building 1, Binqi Square, 66 Yinting Road, Hongqiao
☎️ 021-3468-7988
⏰ Daily, 11 AM - 11 PM
“I live near my restaurants (in the former French Concession), but I love to get out of the city centre. For late night eats, if I don’t grab a quick bite inside the wet market itself, I go to Tofu Village and get tofu, a lot of steamed tofu…
Normally I’m not into meat-free dishes, buuut this tofu is madness, especially the steamed tofu swimming in a chilli sauce.”
— Gabo, head chef at 8 by Anarkia and Eat by Diner
About the chef
Born Gabriel Rodriguez but more likely to respond to Gabo (“my hunting name,” he calls it), the Venezuelan chef behind 8 by Anarkia and Diner is Shanghai-based but not bound; the larger-than-life personality with an unlimited storage of energy is presently working on projects in both Taipei and Japan. While in Shanghai, however, he is likely to be found haunting the wet markets of Minhang like a restless sprite.
