Shanghai Evening Food Tour

Daily at 6:30pm / Duration 3.5 hours

$69 USD per adult / $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.

Includes

All food, local beer, and soft drinks at 4 sit-down, safe-to-eat restaurants, and one craft beer bar.

Group Size

Small groups of 2-12 people per tour.

Cancellation Policy

Reservations cancelled 48 hours or more before your tour start time are fully refundable.

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.

What You'll Do:

Meeting Location

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

Soup Dumplings

Xiaolongbao (local for soup dumplings) are probably Shanghai’s most famous export. Gain a literacy in how to read the quality of them at our favorite dumpling joint that can compete with the touristy Michelin star restaurants.​

Classic Shanghainese Dishes

Two words: Pork Belly. Shanghai’s favorite dish takes an entire day to prepare for a good reason. Enjoy this plus other Benbang dishes that celebrate high quality ingredients at this farm to table restaurant.

Shanghai’s French Concession

This walking tour will explore our favorite hidden spots in the quiet streets of Shanghai’s French Concession with your local guide…and a cold beer in hand.

Local Street Eats

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Fried Green Onion Noodles

Every Chinese city has their noodle dish, and this is Shanghai’s…but don’t get confused by the name! The noodles aren’t fried, they are garnished with a hearty amount of fried green onions and mixed with a secret blend of seasonings.

Local Brewery

End the night with a locally made craft beer and enjoy the new modern feel Shanghai is known for around the world. The brewery is located near to South Shaanxi Road Subway Station.

Plus More Surprises!

* This itinerary is subject to changes and adjustments based on daily vendor operations and availability, but it will always be awesome.

Book Online:

Click here to book by WeChat.

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 and tiny alleyways.

The clue even lies in the name: did you know that the word for old-Shanghai cuisine is “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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Featured In:

“Discovering 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.”

Customer Reviews:

5/5

“Really fantastic experience from start to finish. Delicious food we’d never have found on our own, great chat throughout the night (our guide Cora was brilliant company), and a charming walk around the French concession to boot! Food and vibes were very varied, from high end restaurants to curb-side snacks. Cora also kept bringing us new drinks to try, all of which were great. Couldn’t recommend this more. Thanks for a 10/10 evening!”

Phnom Penh Food Tour Review by Nicco

Jessica K

July 2023

5/5

“We booked this tour based on a recommendation and are very happy we did! Stopped at four restaurants and a brewery and tried seven dishes, including dessert, with local drinks. Our guide, Cora was amazing! She was knowledgeable about both the food and Shanghai and made us feel like visiting friends instead of tourists.”

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Review by Global

Global37

July 2023

5/5

“Our guide, Diana, was terrific. We enjoyed all of the dishes and food stops, all of the commentary about local history and culture, and came away agreeing that we all got a sense of the “living vibe” of the city in the evening and into the night. Heartily recommended.”

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Review by Andrew

Andrew B

June 2023

5/5

“Had a great time on our food and beer tour of Shanghai last night. Our guide, Cora, was super friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the city of Shanghai and its food culture. We had a wonderful experience sampling local food – everything from nice, sit-down restaurants to a late-night, side street dumpling stand where we ate superb wonton soup. This tour had everything, and everything was delicious! Even the Century Egg! I can’t recommend this tour highly enough!”

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Review by spmoraes

Spmoraes

May 2023

5/5

“This tour was a blast! We did this tour with a group of friends as a surprise birthday celebration. We all currently live in Shanghai but was fantastic visit some hidden gems! Cora was a brilliant tour guide and worked out our style pretty quick and took us to some local food experiences which were brilliant! This went for a few hours and well worth the money. “

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Reivew by 2travellingaussies

2TrravellingAussies

April 2023

5/5

“If you only have time for one tour in Shanghai, then definitely do this one! Brilliant small group evening food and walking tour. Our guide was really fun and informative, sharing not only her love of local cuisine but also her knowledge of history and experiences of living in Shanghai. We made about half a dozen restaurant stops along the way with several other quick stops for drinks and local snacks. First food tour I’ve ever done, and will definitely try some others with Lost Plate. Thank you!”

Shanghai Evening Food Tour Review by Jason

Jason D

April 2023

COVID Travel & Safety in China:

  • China is Open for Tourism: Effective March 2023, Chinese embassies around the world began re-issuing tourist visas for entry into China. Existing, valid, and unexpired visas, regardless of issue date, are also valid – as is visa-free transit in select cities. There are no quarantine or vaccination requirements in China.
  • 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 ask that any guide or guest showing symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath, not join the tour out of respect for other guests and our vendors.
  • Masks: Masks are not required during the tour, but you will occasionally see locals wearing one in public. Free free to wear a mask if you prefer.

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 dishes depending on group size and dietary requirements. Food is varied and plentify, and there’s also unlimited beers and soft drinks until we reach the brewery, where we’ll provide your first pint!

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. 

Our tours have been designed to accommodate as many diets as possible, including vegetarian, while still remaining stupid delicious. Just keep in mind that there will be dishes that don’t have a direct substitute – many of the places we visit specialize in one type of cuisine/dish, and therefore don’t always provide a lot of alternatives. 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.

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 brewery 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 group, just contact us and we’ll take care of you.

We have many happy customers who do more than one of our tours 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 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:

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