Hai Lights is your shortcut through the chaos. Shanghai's PACKED with choices – restaurants, bars, galleries, bike routes, football clubs, hot pot joints, pizza spots, pasta dens, weird little shops selling weirder little things. We cut through the noise to curate only the best. Each list hits a theme – Spanish restaurants that don't suck, places to pretend you're into cycling, clubs where people actually play football (not just wear the jerseys), and whatever else makes this city tick.

No fluff, no filler. Just the places that matter, the ones worth your time – and ours.

The collective experience that is Korean BBQ is more of a beloved pastime than it is just a meal.

Charred, flame-licked meat is the star of the show, with Korean staples serving as supporting actors – endless plates of banchan, bubbling bowls of kimchi stew, steaming hot stone bibimbap and seafood fried pancakes, plus bottle after bottle of soju.

These elements complement and provide balance to the waves of marinated bulgogi and galbi coming off the grill, a true interactive performance that takes eating to a whole new level.

It's food for the Seoul.

Shanghai is no stranger to the Korean BBQ experience, offering up a range to choose from, from Koreatown to the Bund, from budget to baller, from dreadful to delicious.

While this list is in no way exhaustive, it does cover a smattering of the standouts while skipping over a few we dare not dine in again.

1. Shan Cha Hua Hanguo Jiating Liaoli 山茶花韩国家庭料理

Famed Korean BBQ resto Shan Cha Hua Hanguo Jiating Liaoli opened its flagship location in the basement of the Shanghai Arch Building (connected underground to Apita Mall) in Gubei in 2014, later adding two sister locations (called She Lang Bang by Shan Cha Hua (舍廊邦by山茶花) to the group in 2021 and 2023.

This always busy, classic KBBQ joint pumps out traditional fare – marinated galbi beef shortribs, thick cut pork belly, bulgogi, beef brisket, and more – plus some of the city's most bangin' kimchi.

The spacious layout fits more than 200 people, yet within minutes of opening each day, the venue is instantly packed, with a growing line out the door. And this is owed to what we have dubbed the requisite KBBQ trifecta – stellar quality meat, standout banchan sides, and efficient service.

Arguably the most important aspect of the three, the meat, begins with the top-ordered Karubi Plato (68 yuan /180 grams) – thin strips of marinated beef brisket, akin to curling ribbons of beefy bacon that crisps on the edges with that essential Maillard char, a chemical reaction that occurs when cooking meat at high temperatures, resulting in that sear that seals in all of the meat's juicy flavor.

Paired with lettuce and shiso for wrapping, the ideal combination consists of side leaves and beef, plus a slather of doenjang soybean paste, a scoop of kimchi, and a pickled perilla leaf – culminating in the ultimate Korean BBQ bite.

Other compulsory orders traverse House-Marinated Beef Ribs (138 yuan/250 grams) crosshatched like an accordian for increased grilling surface area...

...unctuous Pork Belly (55 yuan /180 grams) that puckers and sizzles, the fat at once bubbling and melting, Pork Jowl (50 yuan /150 grams), and Thick Beef Tongue (80 yuan /100 grams).

The menu also includes Hot Stone Bibimbap (35 yuan), a Seafood Pancake (55 yuan), Stir-Fried Mix Vegetables (28 yuan), Fried Chicken (88 yuan), and many other quintessential Korean BBQ eats.

The textbook sides rotate daily, including a traditional assortment of textbook kimchi (a flawless balance of spice, funk, sauce, and crunch), pickled perilla leaves, daikon strands, fresh kimchi, mashed potatoes, velvety pumpkin rice porridge, marinated zucchini, bean sprout salad, and more.

If you go...

Shan Cha Hua Hanguo Jiating Liaoli,

LG2, 2006-2007, Shanghai Arch Building (near Apita Mall)

179 Maotai Rd 茅台路179号 金虹桥商场LG2楼2006-2007室

2. Zhonglu Shanghui Yuanjia 钟路商会缘家

If you commit to making the jaunt out to Koreatown (which is always worth the trek), end your day on a high note with a Korean BBQ feast at Zhonglu Shanghui Yuanjia.

Situated in a mall, it is a fairly unassuming spot at first glance. But, with a whopping 22,000+ reviews on Dianping, there is an hour-plus wait on any given evening.

That's because the service is solid (the staff cooks the meat tableside for you, ensuring correct doneness), the food is high-quality, and the overall experience is true value for a not-so-hefty price tag.

We suggest ordering the BBQ Set (298 yuan) for 2-3, plus some sides and extra meat if you feel so inclined.

The set comes with pork belly, beef tongue, ribs, seasoned beef and more, plus all-you-can-eat banchan – including some pretty damn creamy mashed potatoes topped with a sweet mayo and cheesy corn.

Purely indulgent fillers that we aren't ashamed to admit to devouring.

Other recommended sides include Spicy Cold Noodles (30 yuan), Cheese Kimchi Fried Rice (30 yuan), Seafood Pancake (45 yuan) and Korean-style Raw Beef (68 yuan).

If the long line is a turn-off, the same building has quite a few other Korean BBQ spots that, based on equally busy patronage, we would guess are correspondingly satisfying.

Or, move a few blocks away from the busy K-Town heart to Chonghakol 青鹤谷, another stellar BBQ option with loads of meat to choose from and an overflowing plate of fresh veggies, sauces and sides.

Plus, their Hot Stone Bibimbap (49 yuan) and Kimchi Stew (39 yuan) are ace.

If you go...

Zhonglu Shanghui Yuanjia,

1078 Hongquan Rd by Jinhui Rd S. 虹泉路1078号, 近金汇南路

3. Jeju Canteen by Zhonglu Shanghui 济州食堂 by 钟路商会

Our favorite venue on this list, Jeju Canteen by the institution that is Zhonglu Shanghui, is, in our humble opinion, better than its predecessor.

Yes, we said it.

The younger, fresher location opened up originally in the summer of 2022 in the same K-Town mall, offering the most rewarding kuai-to-calorie conversion imaginable. Since then, it has expanded with an additional three locations nearer to downtown.

This is the place to go for big groups, as many of their sets are accompanied by build-your-own stews from a buffet-like setup where you can throw in as many add-ins as you like – fish balls, rice cakes, mini hot dogs, mushrooms, veggies, cabbage and more – all simmered in a thick gochujang-laced Rice Cake Broth (99 yuan).

Plus, the banchan spread is – in a word – epic.

And the epic word has gotten out; as the queues at each location now rival that of the original. But have no fear, it moves quickly and the space seats over 100.

This might be because BBQ Sets (398 yuan) of pork belly, pork ribs, seasoned beef ribs, beef tongue and seafood soup plus sides can feed at least 3-5 people.

Or it might be because the food tastes like something you'd find in Seoul, with fast service and a boisterous vibe to match, as any good Korean BBQ should be.

Another reason to bring friends is because the side dish setup is expansive, to say the least.

You will want to try everything – from Hot Stone Bibimbap (35 yuan) topped with a runny egg, seaweed and marinated galbi, to fried-egg topped UFO Kimchi Rice (35 yuan) perched on a puddle of cheese oozing to the edge of an iron plate.

And you can wash down Live Octopus (38 yuan) with every kind of soju and Korean beverage under the sun.

If you go...

Jeju Canteen

1078 Hongquan Rd, by Jinhui Rd S. 虹泉路1078号, 近金汇南路.

4. Sanbao Nilu Huokao Manyu 三宝泥炉·活烤鳗鱼

A Chinese-Korean BBQ joint focused mostly around live eel, Sanbao Nilu Hukoao Manyu is recognized for its large eel tanks flanking both sides of the entrance. Located in north Jing'an, diners flock to sample the tastiest eel around – one that involves tank-to-grilltop in a matter of minutes.

That being said, the BBQ Eel Set (98 yuan /two people) is a must-order, cooked by the well-trained staff in front of diners' eyes in about 20 minutes flat. The roughly 350-gram portion is sliced into a dozen pieces, each succulent morsel warping and curving as the tender flesh is simultaneously roasted and smoked.

The skin puffs and crackles, pulled taut by the heat into a shattering crust, best enjoyed dunked in a gochujang dipping sauce, a cumin-spiced powder, a sweet soy glaze, or wrapped in seaweed with shiso and pickled daikon.

Aside from the eel, there's the customary meat selection, like Lean-cut Beef (32 yuan), Pork Belly (58 yuan), Top Blade (49 yuan) and Pork Sausage (38 yuan), but their real bread and butter is just the eel. We will leave it at that, and let you read between the meaty lines.

As for sides, there's Cold Noodles (38 yuan) made from buckwheat, and topped with beef, julienned pear, and copious amounts of boldly fermented (read borderline musky), sweet-leaning kimchi that is also available as an entire plateful of Kimchi (28 yuan). And there's Bibimbap (38 yuan).

A not-so-traditional Korean dessert, Fried Nian Gao (28 yuan) – or rice cakes – are puffed like pillows and doused in condensed milk, akin to Sichuanese hongtang ciba (红糖糍粑), sans the brown sugar syrup.

And there's free flow banchan as part of the mandatory 12 yuan per person dining costs, which includes mashed potatoes to sprouts salad, from daikon pickles to a seaweed strip and garlic side dish. Guests can also make their own dipping sauce, hotpot style.

If you go...

Sanbao Nilu Huokao Manyu

945 Jiazohou Rd by Xinhui Rd, 胶州路945号, 近新会路

5. Gin Pork 金猪

Based on the blaring rap and hip hop-centric playlist, one would think Gin Pork 金猪 – Jing'an's northernmost Korean BBQ venue that first opened on the increasingly popular Anyuan Rd – is named after the American rapper and personality Snoop Dogg's 1993 hit Gin & Juice.

However, a quick glance at the Chinese characters in the name – 金猪 – reveals that it's really just a poor phonetic transliteration of jinzhu, meaning the golden pig, arguably a better name for a place serving pork-heavy BBQ.

To visit, snag a number, roll down the street, and be sippin' on soju and smoke before you know it.

It's BBQ so – no surprise here – it's all about the meat.

The pork is Iberian Black Pig, known for having a superior taste and quality compared to its other swine counterparts. You'll find everything from Pork Belly (128 yuan /200 grams) to Pork Ribs (128 yuan /230 grams) to Pork Pluma (128 yuan/200 grams), among others.

As much as this non-kosher Jew is trying to push pork on you, there's also beef, like Australian Angus Beef Rib (118 yuan /130 grams) or Angus Thick Cut Back Brisket (48 yuan /130 grams).

In true Dianping fashion, there are many meat sets to fall back on if you just want a variety.

Plus, there's other non-grilled-to-order pork dishes like the Iberian Pork Belly Roll (68 yuan) – a thinly sliced outer layer of pork, encasing steamed egg and cabbage atop spicy kimchi and peppered with coconut shreds – an unlikely combination of flavors that actually works.

The gochujang-laced Beef TATA (88 yuan) is proof positive that gochujang makes everything better.

FACTS.

Final remarks: don't ignore the kimchi banchan; it's significantly bolder in flavor than that found at your average downtown Shanghai Korean BBQ spot, and enhances pretty much anything you order here.

Gin Pork has expanded with a second location on Wanhangdu Rd.

If you go

Gin Pork

526 Anyuan Rd, by Jiaozhou Rd 安远路526号, 近胶州路

6. Botong Sikdang 普通食堂

Unconventional, modern Korean is what you'll find at Botong Sikdang 普通食堂, an always busy BBQ joint with two locations in Shanghai – People's Square and by Jing'an Kerry Center. The venue is owned by the group behind Professor Lee and Belloco.

From the outside, you may not even realize the mundane, tiled white outside-facing walls conceal a restaurant. Yet, once the door opens for your table number to be called, you enter into a dimly lit, slightly smoky, energized hub of controlled chaos.

The room is filled with sizzling grills, boiling stews, clinking chopsticks, and servers weaving in and out of tightly packed tables dropping off another round of kimchi, a bottle of Cass, an order of pork or a steaming stone pot that you only just caught a whiff of...but already know you need at your table.

Diners begin by ordering the Sliced Black Pork Belly (68-88 yuan /person), machine-cut from a behemoth Iberico pork leg-sized chunk of Korean Black Pig. Choose between thick (5mm) or thin (3.5mm) slices; we suggest thick for extra melty fat perfection.

The meat is cooked on square, aluminum-foil topped table grills, along with a variety of banchan (or side dishes) like sliced mushrooms, string beans, kimchi, pickled cabbage and sprouts.

As much as Korean BBQ is all about the meat, at Botong Sikdang, the side dishes are just as impressive.

A fluffy whipped egg concoction is smothered in an ocean of gooey cheese as the aptly named Volcano Cheese Egg (48 yuan), then dusted with gamtae, a type of kelp seaweed powder unique to Korea, and a drizzle of sriracha.

An upgraded alternative to the traditional tteokpoki, Grandma's Spicy Tteokpoki (48 yuan) is a brimming bowl of tangy gochujang soup with over 31 ingredients, served with a tubular slab of sticky rice cake and fish cakes, all clipped tableside into bite-sized slices in the bubbling broth.

The vibe is busy. It's pumping inside. Always.

The numerous staff welcome each new guest that walks in the door; they grill the pork tableside; they open soju bottles (using a gimmicky spin and pop technique – you gotta check it out); and they offer advice on how and what to eat in which order to create unexpected flavor combinations.

The experience is just as substantial as the food.

If you go...

Botong Sikdang (普通食堂)

L114 Tongren Rd, 铜仁路88号L1层L114

7. Early Morning BBQ 清晨家烤肉

The Bund and rambunctious soju-fueled Korean BBQ don't typically go together, but Early Morning BBQ in the BFC is here to change that misconception. Despite the curious name choice, this upscale Korean BBQ venue is only open for lunch and dinner, closing by 9pm, a time that most KBBQ restaurants are just heating up.

But the shortened hours are quickly made up for in the quality of meat (some of the best on this list, we may add) served a la carte or in sets with sides for two people (498-688 yuan /lunch, 698-988 yuan /dinner), plus never-ending banchan.

While ssamjang – the universal Korean BBQ dipping sauce made from doenjang (soybean paste), gochujang (chili paste), toasted sesame seeds, fresh garlic and scallions – is present on the table, Early Morning BBQ's specialty is a nose-tingling wasabi-laden onion concoction with soy sauce, vinegar and a hint of sesame oil.

The Seasoned Beef Diaphragm 调味横膈肿腊膜 (268 yuan /150 grams) is a must, as tender morsels of marinated meat are seared on the open flame, best enjoyed wrapped in lettuce with fresh garlic, chilies and saucy kimchi.

And for the true carnivores, there's the Sirloin Steak 雪花西冷牛排 (318 yuan/200 grams), seasoned humbly with sea salt and black pepper. As the meat's fat caramelizes and pools over each juicy bite, diners are left with glistening lips and happy tummies.

KBBQ necessities, like Seafood Pancakes (88 yuan) fried with whole shrimp and clams, warming Seafood and Tofu Kimchi Stew (88 yuan), accompanied by fluffy white rice and perfectly crunchy-tipped rice Stone Pot Bibimbap (88 yuan), round out the extensive spread.

Early Morning BBQ has four locations – the BFC, Moho Mall, IFC and Lujiazui.

If you go...

Early Morning BBQ

4/F, BFC, Zhongshan Rd E2, by Dongmen Rd, 中山东二路四楼,近东门路.

Copy Editor's Note: We know, we know, we probably missed your favorite Korean place. There are soooo many. But because we love a good recommendation, drop your favorite place in the comments, and why its special (or if they have a particular must try dish).