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Shanghai Evening Food Tour

Shanghai Evening Food Tour

Daily at 6:30pm

Duration 3.5 hours

460 RMB / $69 USD per adult

360 RMB / $55 USD per child

Approx. 2km walking

The Essentials:

In 1936, half of Shanghai was controlled by foreign powers. For decades, its had a negative birth rate and millions of immigrants, meaning the inheritance of the true cuisine of old Shanghai is limited to select insiders. On this tour, you’ll try at least 10 dishes and enjoy unlimited beers and soft drinks on your journey through the clandestine cuisine of old Shanghai, hiding in plain sight in the French Concession.

Stops

4 sit-down, safe-to-eat restaurants, and one craft beer & cocktail bar.

Group Size

Small groups of 2-12 people per tour.

Start & End Location

This tour starts at Jing’an Temple Subway Station in the heart of the French Concession and ends near South Shaanxi Road Subway Station. An email will be sent with detailed meeting location details immediately after booking.

Dietary Requirements

We are happy to welcome vegetarians, but please let us know prior to your tour date as same day requests cannot be guaranteed. This tour is not recommended for gluten free, vegan, or other special diets. Please message us prior to booking if you have any questions.

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WeChat ID: Lostplate

About This Tour:

Shanghai is a mind-bendingly huge modern metropolis, carved up by foreign occupiers since the 19th century and modernized at lightning speed over the last 3 decades. Through it all, there’s been a subculture of resistance and the preservation of Chinese tradition; totally hidden behind modern facades or tiny alleyways.

The clue even lies in the name: did you know that the word for old-Shanghai cuisine is now “Benbang” meaning local? Local, as opposed to outsider. Think about that, a food culture that’s chosen its name and identity in relation to foreigners in their own homeland. And when you walk around, there’s plenty of outsider food on display – but where do the insiders eat? (Hint: With us. It’s with us.) Characterized by meticulous presentation, delicateness, and a refined use of quality ingredients, this insider’s cuisine is truly an art form you don’t want to miss.

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What You'll Do:

Shanghai Evening Food Tour French Concession

Explore the hidden, quiet streets of Shanghai's French Concession with your local guide.

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Soup Dumplings

Soup dumplings are probably Shanghai’s most famous export; gain a literacy in how to read the quality of them in a hidden eatery that can compete with the touristy Michelin star restaurants.

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Pork Belly

Two words: Pork Belly. Shanghai’s favorite dish takes an entire day to prepare for a good reason; come learn why. Or don’t learn maybe, it’s hard to focus on anything else while you’re eating it.

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Farm to Table

Benbang cuisine celebrates high quality ingredients with complex condiments; eat at a farm-to-table restaurant that serves produce picked that day.

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Dessert

Try “The Goddess of Mercy” dessert at a restaurant that’s the epitome of a hole in the wall; it’s so secret it’s only open a few hours at night and only accessible through a tiny window.

Beijing Craft Brewery Tour 4 Breweries

End the night with a locally made craft beer and enjoy the new modern feel Shanghai is known for around the world.

Featured In:

Discovering Anthony Bourdain's Lost Shanghai

In a tiny shop just off the main shopping street noodles come topped with caramelised green onions harboring a tiny piece of pork which are then mixed. The experience is all about the food, Bourdain would have loved it.

"If you go to Shanghai, you have to do it."

A must. If you go to Shanghai, you have to do it. We were a group of perhaps 12 people and we visited five or six places. Restaurants I would never have found myself. And a great guide who introduced us to the Chinese cuisine. Do you know how to eat soup dumplings? I do now.

Watch:

YouTube

Take a close look at our Flavors of China Restaurant Tour in Beijing and what you’ll experience in our own Lost Plate produced video.

YouTube

Watch the Fung Bro’s video about our “Very Traditional Chinese Breakfast Food Tour in Beijing, China.”

Customer Reviews:

5/5

“Abby provided a well curated food trip of Shanghai incorporating pieces of ‘Old Shanghai’ (yummy noodles in a shop that has been around for something like 30 years and crossing generations) with new (delicious lotus root and pork wonton soup!). She was very knowledgeable and kind, and a pleasure to stroll the streets of the French Concession with. I have done a number of Lost Plate tours and always highly rate my experience. Thank you!”

BHBeijing

May 2021

5/5

“We recently went on the Shanghai Food tour. Our guide Abby was very knowledgable, giving us lots of insights into the making of traditional food. One of our group was vegetarian and was given alternatives at all venues. We would highly recommend this tour!”

traveller123WA

February 2021

5/5

“This is my third Lost plate food tour. They are a must do now when i travel. Every tour gives me a better understanding of the history and culture tied to the regional cuisine and the restaurants and food carts are always places I never would have found on my own . The guides are friendly and knowledgeable. Highly highly recommend this experience!”

Julie

October 2020

5/5

“Relaxed and entertaining walking and eating food tour of the French Concession area of Shanghai. Our guide Abbey was amazing and always had a story to tell whilst we were chowing down on dumplings, noodle soup, pork, stir fry and local beers and finished off with an amazing backstreet “broom cupboard” dessert restaurant that served outrageously good mango. Highly recommend this tour”

Lee

February 2020

5/5

“Since they have been doing this a long time, they’ve established some great relationships with various food vendors and owners all over the city. That allows them to extend unique experiences to their guests when on the food tour. For example, not only could we eat some of the best xiao long bao in Shanghai, we also got to go into the kitchen and get a first-hand lesson from the chef on how to wrap them! (Spoiler: it’s harder than it looks) Their connections also allowed us to eat at a few places that were normally closed during the time we went, which meant we had the whole place to ourselves. Since many of these small places only have seating for about four people and most crowds have to eat while standing, this made a huge difference.”

Landon P

January 2020

5/5

Lost Plate never disappoints! I made sure to book the Shanghai tours (I did both the breakfast and the dinner tours) after having such a great experience with Lost Plate in Beijing. Hard to cover this much food on your own especially when traveling solo. It’s also a great way to connect with a local and other travelers. Wen was our guide and was wonderful! Knowledgeable, fun and engaging. Wen went above and beyond to give us a great tour and even sent me restaurant recommendations for the rest of my stay.”

Rde88

January 2020

5/5

We had a fantastic time with our guide Abby and the time absolutely flew by. She was full of energy and very knowledgable about where to find the best authentic local food, off the beaten track. We would never have known where to start. The food was excellent in fact and she also introduced us to some interesting alcohol. She answered all our questions and some we’d not even thought of asking. Her English was fantastic. We were also lucky to be in a great group of people from all over the world, and we had a great laugh. By the end of the evening we both felt really at home in Shanghai.

Don’t even hesitate, book this tour.”

salscho

November 2019

5/5

“After arriving in shanghai on 7am flight with zero sleep we very nearly skipped this tour. Sooo glad we didn’t! Absolutely the best tour we had in 6 weeks traveling. Delightful and knowledgeable guide, Daphne took us to tiny tucked away restaurants that only a local would know as well as providing great  historical background and current overview of the local area. Highly recommend this tour, in fact this is unmissable if you visit Shanghai.”

Lizspill

October 2019

COVID-19 Health & Safety.

  • Flexible Cancellation Policy: We have always offered one of the most flexible cancellation policies in the industry and that hasn’t changed. You are able to reschedule your tour or receive a 100% refund for all cancellations made at least 48 hours before the tour start time. Your reservations with Lost Plate are worry-free.
  • Symptom-Free: We require that all guides and guests are not ill when joining a tour. Guides or guests showing symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath, will be asked to not join the tour.
  • All restaurants that we visit follow local requirements. Temperature checks, personal registration, and/or health app screening are likely. It is the guest’s responsibility to meet requirements at each stop.
  • Masks: In general, there are no mask mandates in our destinations but we do recommend wearing one when in public. Additionally, the establishments we visit may require you to wear a face mask. Carry a face mask with you at all times.
  • Sanitization: Hand sanitizer or hand-washing facilities will be provided at each stop.
  • Your guide has the right to refuse service to anyone who does not cooperate with our health & safety requests. All Lost Plate tour guides are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you have any questions or concerns with any of these details, please contact us before your tour begins.

Frequently Asked Questions:

We are not a tasting tour, we provide much more than a full meal’s worth of food so we recommend you come prepared to eat.

This menu features a minimum of 8 courses depending on group size and dietary requirements. Food is unlimited and there’s also unlimited beers and soft drinks until we reach the brewery, where we’ll get you the first pint!

Our tours have been designed to accommodate as many diets as possible, including vegetarian, while still remaining stupid delicious, but please let us know prior to your tour date as same day requests cannot be guaranteed. This tour is not recommended for gluten free or vegan diets.

When booking online, you’ll have the opportunity to let us know if you have any dietary restrictions or special requests. Please use this field to let us know about your requests and we will follow up if there are any problems or questions.

Vegetarian or No-Pork diets: Shanghai isn’t known for it’s vegetarian dinner cuisine, it is known for it’s love affair with pork. However we have made non-pork/ vegetarian options available at every stop. Vegetarians and those that don’t eat pork will get less options (though always leave full!) and won’t be able to try signature dishes such as soup dumplings or braised pork belly, but many vegetarians still enjoy coming on these tours to learn about culture, the city, and also eat hard-to-find Chinese vegetarian cuisine.

This is a walking tour; let’s just get that out of the way. This tour covers about 2 km/ 1.25 miles by foot, so we recommend leaving the heels at home. This distance is split up between 4-5 stops, so it’s roughly a 5-10 minute walk between each stop and a great chance to digest a bit before the next stop. We also find that exploring by foot is the best way to enjoy the sights of the French concession.

Our child pricing is valid for ages 4 through 15. Children ages 3 and under are free.

The tour starts at 6:30pm at Jing’an Temple subway station which services subway lines 2 and 7. You’ll get the exact address, directions, and transportation details immediately after booking.

The tour ends at a bar a short walk away from South Shaanxi Road subway station. Your guide will point you in the right direction for wherever you need to go next, or you are welcome to stay at the bar as long as you like!

Our minimum is 2 and maximum is 12. There’s no flag to follow, or megaphone, or tacky uniforms. It’s small enough to be intimate, but big enough to get away with trying several dishes at each stop. You’ll get plenty of face-time with the experts. Bottom line is, you’ll follow the guide through a super-local experience and make friends along the way.

The tours usually last about 3-4 hours, depending on everyone’s pace, tastes, and interests – we try to personalize each tour as much as possible to the group.

All of our tours are rain-or-shine, so we suggest you dress for the weather. In rare cases of extreme weather, your guide will cancel the tour and provide a full refund.

Yes we do! If you would like to book a special tour for your organization or group, just contact us and we’ll take care of you.

We have many happy customers who do more than one of our tours in Beijing and across China! We have designed our tours to focus only on food from each city. This means that each dish, story, and vibe is unique to each tour and there aren’t any repeats.

Most people are very surprised how much the cuisine changes as they travel throughout China, and our tours are a good way to discover those differences. We encourage you to pick the tours that best fit your itinerary and we offer a 10% discount if booking more than one tour.

We sure do! If you decide to do more than one tour with us we are happy to offer you a 10% discount off your total amount. It doesn’t matter if the tour is in the same city or a different city, we want to keep feeding you as long as you let us. Our online booking system will automatically deduct the discount from your total if booking online at the same time. If you decide to add more tours later, your original confirmation email will include a promo code to use on those bookings. Also, children ages 4-15 receive a discount on all tours (3 & under are free).

Bookings cancelled 2 days (48 hours) or more before your tour are fully refundable (100% refund). Bookings cancelled within 48 hours notice are not refundable. Cancellations must be communicated by email to info@lostplate.com or by phone. If you would like to reschedule your tour with less than 48 hours notice, we will need to charge 50% of your total since we are unable to fill your spots at short notice.

Ask us anything,
we love a good question.

Shanghai Evening Food Tour

5/5

$69 USD/person

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China is Open!
Save $5 On Our Food Tours.

After three years, China is now issuing tourist visas again! To welcome you back, we’re giving you $5 off your first food tour with us. Fill out the form below to get your promo code: