Ren He Guan

Ren He Guan is a Shanghainese restaurant on Zhaojiabang Road in Xuhui that holds one star in the 2026 Michelin Guide Shanghai. The city government's food guide describes it as representing one of the older lineages of Shanghai cuisine, with a history it traces back more than 200 years. Unlike many starred restaurants, it is known for good cooking at moderate prices, and it draws steady crowds.

The dining room leans into nostalgia, with dim yellow lighting and memorabilia from 1930s Shanghai. Performers in qipao sing golden oldies, giving dinner the feel of an old Shanghai evening. The food is the real reason to come, though. The menu centres on fish, and the owner raises crab on his own farm. The standout is crabmeat and roe spooned over rice. Fried shredded eel with water bamboo is another favourite, praised for its contrast of textures.

The restaurant's red-braised pork is served in individual portions, often with half a braised egg, the meat cut into neat cubes and finished in a moderately sweet sauce. It is a useful contrast to the darker, stickier versions served elsewhere in the city. A table of three or four can share a crab dish, the eel, the pork and a vegetable for a full introduction to the cuisine.

Ren He Guan is family friendly and suits groups, couples and anyone who enjoys a bit of theatre with dinner. The restaurant manages its own bookings, so call ahead, especially at weekends. The city's food guide lists opening hours of 11am to 9.30pm. There is a terrace, wheelchair access and a car park, and credit cards are accepted.

The Zhaojiabang Road branch opened in 2014 and is the busier of two, with a second near Jing'an Temple since late 2021. A Shanghai food writer's 2026 update describes Art Deco stained glass, old-style booths and a stage modelled on the Paramount ballroom, with singing usually starting around 5.30pm. She advises booking about a week ahead by phone or the Dianping app, and pre-paying for the red-braised pork through the restaurant's WeChat account, as it often sells out. Other dishes worth ordering include squirrel-cut mandarin fish, Shanghai smoked fish, kaofu wheat gluten and crab shengjian. Most tables seat two or four, and two private rooms take groups of eight to ten.

Taxi or ride-hailing with the street address is the easiest way to arrive. The restaurant makes a good contrast with the older-style Lao Zheng Xing if you want to compare two Michelin-starred takes on Shanghainese food.