Dividing the world this way lumps together a lot of disparate restaurant scenes: hundreds of Japanese restaurants catering to residents of western Shanghai; dozen of Korean restaurants in Koreatown; the fine dining temples on the Bund; the stoner-friendly delivery sandwich contingent; neighborhood pizzerias; authentic taco shops; dependable Element Fresh . The options here are extremely varied and hard to sum up, but let’s try. At the more affordable end of the spectrum, there are the popular cafes, restaurants and bakery chains like Baker & Spice , Wagas (who own Baker & Spice, natch), and Element Fresh serving sandwiches, salads, smoothies and the like. These are everyday options. Slightly above that, there are a host of neighborhood restaurants that don’t get much press but still pack them in year after year, like the Italian joints Da Marco and Bella Napoli , French restaurant Le Saleya , and the Mediterranean Mr. Willis . And then you have fine dining. More on that below.

9th Generation Crab, 2018

THE JAPANESE AND KOREAN WORLDS

Shanghai has a vibrant community of Japanese and Korean expats that numbers in the tens of thousands, and there is an entire ecosystem of restaurants that cater to them, from Korean tofu joints to Japanese okonomiyaki houses, and everything in between. This world is not covered very well in English media (except SmartShanghai, plug!) and is one of the best places to go exploring for new and unknown restaurants. For Japanese food, the restaurants in Gubei, and particularly along Xianxia Lu, are worth heading to, while Koreatown is centered on Hongquan Lu. Both are about half an hour from People’s Square in a taxi. Closer to downtown, Ben Jia is often considered the best Korean BBQ, while longtime champion Sushi Oyama ($$$!!!) is the best place for raw fish and rice. Read this for a deeper dive into Korean options. Other Japanese options include Ajiya, for grilled beef of all persuasions done at your table, Toriyasu for grilled chicken skewers and cold beer, and Butao for ramen (all three of these places are downtown).

SOUTHEAST ASIAN

The weird thing about Southeast Asian food in China is that it exists at all. Unlike Hong Kong, the Southeast Asian restaurants in Shanghai are not catering to expatriate populations of people from Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam, but are instead focused on the Chinese consumer, many of whom have traveled to Southeast Asia as their first step out of the country and want a reminder of that experience. That goes a long way towards explaining why Southeast Asian food is often so disappointing to those who have been to the region and remember its bold, sharp flavors, only to find them dulled and sweetened here in Shanghai. Nonetheless, once in a while a newcomer will pop up and set things right again for at least a little while. Saigon Mama, a budding Vietnamese chain, and Home Thai, in a mall, are currently the best of the bunch.