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A little preparation. A much better adventure.Independent travel advice · Made for China
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A taste of Shanghai

Lan Xin (Jinxian Road)

兰心餐厅（进贤路）

A converted front room on Jinxian Road serving benbang cai, the home-style Shanghai cooking of soy, sugar, rice wine and slow braising. Nine tables, laminated surfaces, a queue down the pavement most evenings, and the single best-value introduction to the city's own food. This is what Shanghainese people mean when they talk about eating at home.

¥80–150 per person≈ US$12Michelin Bib Gourmand 2026Huangpu, 130 Jinxian Road, between South Shaanxi Road and Maoming Road
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Why come here

A place worth making time for

Michelin Bib Gourmand 2026 (Shanghai) for Shanghainese cooking, at the lowest price tier, after repeated Bib listings in earlier editions.

The house favourites

What to order

Point at the Chinese. Staff will understand it even where the menu has no English at all.

  • Red-braised pork belly (红烧肉)
  • Braised duck in brown sauce (红烧鸭)
  • Yellow croaker in sweet vinegar sauce (糖醋黄鱼)
  • Braised pork with salted pork and bamboo shoot (腌笃鲜, in spring)

What it actually tastes like

Benbang cooking is unapologetically sweet. The red-braised pork is a sugar-and-soy lacquer over soft fat, and the sweet vinegar croaker is closer to a dessert glaze than most visitors expect. The fish comes whole with bones in. Dishes arrive as they are ready, not in courses.

Allergens in this kitchen

soygluten/wheatfishshellfishsesame

This is the kitchen, not one dish. Woks, fryers, blanching water and utensils are shared in almost every Chinese restaurant, so for a serious allergy treat the whole premises as the unit rather than ordering around it.

Get to know the menu

Local specialities to try here

Red-braised pork belly 红烧肉Sweet-salty, glossy, very rich; the Shanghai version is noticeably sweeter than elsewhere in ChinaBamboo shoot, pork and salt-pork soup 腌笃鲜Clean, savoury, salty-sweet with a strong cured-ham depth