[Hai Lights] 6 Restaurants That Do 'Nouveau Chinese,' Only in Shanghai

In recent years, there has been a seismic shift in Chinese cuisine. A new, "modern" era of Chinese food is blossoming, and Shanghai happens to be the place, where some of the most exciting developments are happening. Supply chain challenges that have happened on and off over the last few years, have forced many Chinese restaurants to look inward, with regard to sourcing, high-quality, premium ingredients in China.

During this period, there has also been a notable shift in seeing many more young Chinese chefs take center stage. Some take some of their training which they received abroad, and shine a spotlight on the flavors they grew up with, while others build upon the traditional techniques they learned here, and expand them.

What evolved from this time has set Shanghai on a trajectory toward the rise of a "nouveau Chinese cuisine." This contemporary Chinese dining movement is all about honoring local products over imported ones, and the melding of legacy Chinese heritage dishes coupled with international influence – a culinary movement that epitomizes Shanghai's unparalleled gastronomic landscape.

The focus of these venues is not to be another "modern Chinese" restaurant, where the aim is to make food more appealing to Western palates, insinuating that Chinese cuisine – as is – isn't good enough. It's the opposite – showcasing how memorable and distinct authentic regional Chinese cooking is while probing undervalued local tastes that are equally diverse and promising as those that get "exported" outside of the country.

We commend these restaurants for exploring what Chinese cuisine can be. The teams aren't trying to reinvent or alter what Chinese gastronomy, at its core, is; instead, they are serving up a plate of nostalgia in a way that is most appealing to the Shanghai masses.

In Part I of this series, we take a look at seven fine dining establishments leading the charge, while Part II will dive deeper into the rise of bistro and casualization of this same culinary crusade. Many of these establishments have earned international accolades, some of which include Michelin recognition. To see the full list of Michelin-rated restaurants in Shanghai, click here. Starting us off...

1) Yong Fu 甬府

High-end Ningbo cuisine is reimagined at Yong Fu, particularly focusing on fresh-caught, wild seafood from the East China Sea. This one-Michelin-starred venue, which also holds three diamonds on Black Pearl, opened in 2021, but is part of an Asia-wide restaurant group dating back to 2011, made up of nearly 50 total restaurants.

Executive chef and Ningbo native Xu Kunlei perfected his craft in prestigious establishments across the Yangtze River Delta before introducing Chinese cuisine at the China embassy in Oman in 2000. Drawing on his deep understanding of Ningbo cuisine, his culinary ethos centers around preserving and innovating traditional Ningbo dishes, contributing to Yong Fu's reputation as one of Shanghai's most acclaimed Ningbo cuisine restaurants.

The restaurant's focus, shipped-in-daily seafood from Ningbo, is fastidiously prepared to accentuate its natural flavors while showcasing seasonality at its finest. Think swimmer crab marinated in aged Shaoxing wine with ginger and soy sauce, beef tripe in fiery chili oil, smoked stone frog legs, pan-seared Zhangzidao scallops with local fermented soybean paste, and fried Wagyu beef with aged tangerine peel and tart raspberries.

Recognized for its impeccable white-gloved service, Yong Fu stands as the poster child for elegantly reinterpreting Ningbo gastronomic traditions.

Venue: 56/F, East Tower, Raffles City North Bund 北外滩来福士东楼56楼

Address: 1089 Dongdaming Rd 东大名路1089号

2) Ling Long 凌珑

Humble and soft-spoken, executive chef and partner Jason Liu has more than 10 years of culinary experience under his belt. After cutting his teeth at Taipei's Café Bellini Dunnan, Paris 1930, and at Bistro 3 as the chef and owner, he opened Ling Long Beijing in 2019 and eventually Ling Long Shanghai in March 2023.

At Ling Long Shanghai, there are white tablecloths, avant-garde Chinese art-decorated walls in crimson and onyx hues, and gloved service, yet it diverges from the modern Chinese fine dining trend in that the meal follows a whimsical path, leading guests further down the (white) rabbit hole. The level of tongue-in-cheek eccentricities builds throughout, resulting in each course more imaginative than the last.

The ever-changing set menu orbits the concept of umami – or xian (鲜) in Chinese. The aim is to recreate a cross-China journey over the multi-course meal, pulling inspiration from regional tastes.

A cohesively designed experience that is at once nostalgic and ingenious, the menu weaves through more-ish morsels like slow-cooked winter melon surrounded by a moat of unctuous chicken broth (made of an entire blended chicken – bones, skin, fat and all – speckled with bottarga; fermented black garlic purée anchoring plump Huzhou duck breast to the plate puffed with chicharron-like skin; and a Michelin-quality burger with Shandong Wagyu, chef Liu's signature fermented oyster sauce, and lotus root nestled inside a plush polished rice and soy milk bun, a riff on his recent collaboration with Shake Shack.

Address: 2 Zhongshan Rd E1 中山东一路2号

3) Meet the Bund 遇外滩

In both venue aesthetic and menu design, Meet the Bund's concept hones in on the idea of concurrently upholding tradition while striving for innovation. This translates to a modern interpretation of customary Fujian elements – be it anything from signature plates rooted in archetypal regional dishes to brick red decor representing the indigenous Minnan houses of southern Fujian juxtaposed against a sprawling view across Shanghai's iconic skyline.

As one of China's eight culinary traditions, Fujian cuisine accentuates rather than disguises the bona fide flavors of key proteins and produce. Famed for being simultaneously light yet layered in flavor, Meet the Bund aims to propel this coastal region's cultural heritage onto the world stage.

The venue's signature dish – Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙) – embodies the restaurant's ethos of "developing sustainably" by replacing the outdated use of shark's fin with a collagen-rich medley of fish maw and Australian sea cucumber to achieve the same coveted result – a soup as clear as tea yet as slickly viscous as the original.

Fujian-native head chef Chen Zhiping began his two-decade culinary career by studying under master Fujianese chef Wu Rong. He later joined the prestigious Yanyu kitche

n team in Xiamen, the only Fujianese restaurant group to receive a Michelin star in China. In 2019, he helped open Meet the Bund, the official debut of the first Fujianese fine dining restaurant in Shanghai.

Venue: 3/F, South Area, BFC 外滩金融中心南区3楼

Address: 600 Zhongshan Rd E2 中山东二路600号

4) Amazing Chinese Cuisine 菁禧薈

Specializing in refined Chaoshan (Teochew) fare, Amazing Chinese Cuisine was recently raised to two Michelin star status in the city's 2026 Michelin Guide awards.

Founded by Du Jianqing, a Chaoshan native himself, with decisions executed with precision by executive chef Chen Shaoxiong, Amazing Chinese Cuisine highlights niche ingredients from the region, like moringa sprouts, Chiu Chow marbled beef with temporal garlic shoots, and a local rendition of trembly braised fish maw swimming in an addictingly sticky dried seafood broth, drizzled tableside with aged balsamic vinegar.

Using Chaoshan cooking techniques, like poaching, steaming and braising, dishes are notably light and fresh, allowing the seafood's inherent sweetness, the produce's nuanced vegetal notes, and the beef's characteristic gaminess to shine.

Small details mirror chef Jianqing's meticulousness – server stations are heated so silverware arrives tableside warm to the touch; golden sea cucumber is methodically rehydrated via soaking, steaming, boiling and cleaning over four days before being served; and even juicy Yunnan-grown blueberries are assembled in a pleated pattern, precisely stacked one by one before serving.

While chef owner Du Jianqing masterminds four establishments, including Selection by Du, Blossom and a second location of Amazing Chinese Cuisine, the flagship in Changning District acts as the apex of his culinary philosophy.

Address: B5 Villa, 1665 Hongqiao Rd 虹桥路1665号B5幢别墅

5) Fabula

Named after the last words of the Roman emperor Augustus, "acta est fabula, plaudite" – meaning "the play is over, applaud," Fabula made a splash in Shanghai's dining scene, scoring a coveted Michelin star after less than a year of service – no easy feat.

Backed by Zee Zheng (previously of Tai'an Table and The Modern and Le Bernadin in New York) and Charles Tam (previously of Amber), Fabula serves a Chinese-meets-European menu, leaning into Zheng's Ningbo roots and Tam's Guangdong upbringing.

Worldly ingredients are woven together like a story with some of the most creative global methods – riceless congee as a nod to Tam's hometown in Guangdong, scored and seared luffa that mimics Shanghainese eel in appearance yet still boasts the freshness of summer; Shandong turbot in a sang de légumes (or vegetable blood sauce); and a crème fraiche stuffed brioche donut hole that explodes on impact, not unlike a xiaolongbao.

Taking a note from famed three-Michelin-starred Frantzén's book, Fabula is all about "performance cooking." Dishes come together tableside as an interactive show for diners, allowing for a more engaging dining experience.

From the personalized service to the show-like experience, visitors get a "peek behind the curtain" of fine dining, thus removing a lot of the pretension surrounding white tablecloth meals.

Address: 3/F, 720 Weihai Rd 威海路720号三楼

6) Fu He Hui 福和慧

Situated amongst the leafy plane tree-lined streets of the city center, Fu He Hui extends over three floors of earth-tone-hued private dining rooms. With its minimalistic Zen-like aesthetics, this premium vegetarian fine dining oasis is seemingly a world away from the hustle and bustle of one of the globe's most populated cities lying just outside its doorstep.

A crash course in the diversity of Chinese agriculture, the venue pays tribute to quality seasonal ingredients from across the country, serving meat-free creations by head chef Tony Lu.

Working with regional farming communities to source produce – such as Yunnan eggplant, Guangdong daikon and Jiangxi bamboo – chef Tony artistically presents each course, employing time-honored preparation methods dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

An unmissable bite, a type of pickled Chinese mustard green typically eaten with pork belly – called mei choy – is first dried, powdered and then pressed into sheets that encase the meat-mimicking roasted porcini mushrooms. Laden with housemade cheese and a sprinkling of pistachio dust, the springy fungus leads diners to forget the dish is fully grown, rather than raised, from the earth.

Address: 1037 Yuyuan Rd 愚园路1037号