Jia Jia Tang Bao

Jia Jia Tang Bao is a small, no-frills soup dumpling shop founded in 1986, and its branch at 127 Huanghe Road, just north of People's Square, is the one most people mean when they mention it. It has since grown into a multi-branch chain, but the Huanghe Road shop remains the popular original stop. The city government's food guide singles it out as a place locals visit, often combining it with a stop at the nearby Park Hotel to buy palmier pastries.

The draw is the xiaolongbao, or tangbao as the shop's name has it. These are the classic Shanghai soup dumplings, with a thin wrapper around a pork filling and a burst of hot broth inside. The dish itself was developed in Nanxiang in 1871, when a pastry shop owner folded meat jelly into the filling so that it melted into soup in the steamer. Eat them the local way: lift a dumpling onto a spoon, bite a small opening, sip the soup and then finish with black vinegar and ginger.

Prices are low, which is part of the appeal. In autumn, look out for crab roe versions, which the city guide notes are at their peak when hairy crabs are in season.

Opening hours listed by the city's food guide run from 7.30am to 8.30pm, which makes it a good breakfast or early lunch before a museum morning. Weekends and lunchtimes are busiest, so arrive early or mid-afternoon for a shorter wait. It suits budget travellers, solo visitors and anyone wanting a quick, authentic snack rather than a long meal.

Fillings for xiaolongbao follow the seasons across Shanghai, with wild malantou greens in spring, lighter vegetable versions in summer and winter bamboo shoots in the colder months, so it is worth asking what is on offer. The Park Hotel palmiers the city guide mentions are a Shanghai speciality in their own right, a French-style pastry adopted as a local favourite.

The shop is a short walk from People's Square station on Lines 1, 2 and 8. Yang's Fry-Dumpling, a well-known shengjian shop, is also on Huanghe Road, so it is easy to compare Shanghai's two most famous dumplings on one street. The Shanghai Museum and East Nanjing Road are both within walking distance.