I was looking for something easy and local on my first evening back in Shanghai and decided to give Ren He Guan a try after all the rave reviews.

Ren He Guan人和馆 is an excellent Chinese restaurant that doesShanghainese classics.It’s also aMichelin one-star restaurant, but dinner would only set you back around ¥250 per person.



The restaurant is decked out in nostalgic 1930s fashion with old-timey booths and art deco stained glass panels. There’s even a stage in the style of 百乐门, the famed Paramount theatre and entertainment destination.
And every evening a beautiful lady cladded in a fitting cheongsam will come and serenade you with 20s-30s Chinese music, while you eat your meal.

The dark lights, nostalgic decorations, waiters in the period costumes of the 20’s, and the resident singer’s old Shanghai ballades make one believes that one has stepped back in time.
Our Dinner Menu
糟鉢鬥(毛豆、鳳爪、豬肚、鴨胗)秘制糟鹵 Braised Pork Haslet in Rice Wine Sauce

Zaohuo 糟货 or food marinated in wine lees has been a technique that has been handed down generations in the Jiangnan area. It reflects the thriftiness of the people, the reluctance to throw away even the lesser parts of the livestocks. The origins were mainly offals. These days, prawns and poultry have all been “soaked”. This is a very traditional rendition of the zaohuo.

Next up, one of my favourite wine marinated food – drunken crabs 醉蟹. All the Chinese mitten crabs used for the drunken crabs are raised in Taihu 太湖 in hatcheries and farms owned by the boss of Ren He.
熟醉蟹 Cooked Liquor Saturated Crab

Due to the scare of parasites in these crabs, there had been two remedies to pacify by the crab-loving public of Shanghai, one was to raise the crabs in controlled environment and the other was to serve them cooked. Cooked crabs are soaked in yellow wine, usually Shaoxing wine, and let time takes over in concentrating the flavours of crab and wine together.

These crabs were harvested at the peak of their spawning season – 「九雌十雄」”September Female, October Male” was the rule of thumb. With modern day refrigeration, they can be kept at optimal taste until April. 熟醉蟹 Cooked Liquor Saturated Crab was nice, but still would not compare to the next one, 生醉蟹 Raw Liquor Saturated Crab.
生醉蟹 Raw Liquor Saturated Crab

生醉蟹 Raw Liquor Saturated Crab takes the live versions of the crabs and “drown” them in yellow wine. Because of the hepatitis scare in the 90s, Shanghai stopped serving these raw marinated seafood and shellfish. Some specialist shops like Ren He would still take the risk of offering it for a limited time and amount, making this an even more sought after delicacy.

The old Teochew in me loves all raw seafoods marinated. Called 生腌 or live marinade, it requires the freshest (or live) crustaceans and shellfish to be drowned in wine and sauce. The crabs were marinated in Shaoxing wine and the lovely sweet sherry-like wine had penetrated every crevice in the small female crab.
金牌紅燒肉 Superfine Braised Pork in Brown Sauce

The braised pork was served as individual portions, which is genius because it’s just enough to satisfy your craving, but not too much that you become queasy. Melt-in-your-mouth porky goodness with half a braised egg to accompany.
本幫燻魚 Shanghai-style Smoked Fish

The classic Shanghainese cold appetiser. It’s usually carp, first fried then braised with soy sauce, cooking wine, aromatics and spices. The smoked fish was amazing. The outer shell was crispy and the sweet sauce, which is the essence of this dish, was just the right sweetness. It was the best I have tasted so far in Shanghai, and that’s something.
蟹粉撈飯 Crab Meat with Rice

It came with 2 serving size with the small one said to be good for 2. The casserole pot filled with the golden, creamy sauce-like mixture of crab meat, roes and paste – and came sizzling hot before it’s slowly poured onto a bowl of rice to serve.

There’s nothing I wanted more during this prime crab season for a spoonful of this to go just about everything (and I ended up having this a few times more during the week in a few other places) for the salivating, addictive umami flavour highlighted with a touch of dark vinegar.
石库门弄堂菜 or Shikumen Food are classic Shanghai dishes that originated from these iconic houses that once were inhabited by the local wealthy and powerful. From their kitchens, Shanghainese cuisine as a genre was pretty much defined, and one of these classics was sautéed freshwater eel with shredded bamboo.
青浦練塘茭白炒鱔絲 Fried Shredded Finless Eel with Water Bamboo

The braised eel was similar to the ones I have tried elsewhere but came with generous portion with julienned water bamboo strips. The eel was process very well, no muddy taste. The sauce was just right, not too sweet.
清炒時蔬 Stir-fried Seasonal Vegetables

Tender seasonal veggies sautéed with chicken fat. The vegetable used was baby kailan raised in local greenhouses.


While there are many good Shanghainese restaurants in this city, not many can stake the claim of quality, taste and CP value in the same sentence. Service was undeniably fantastic in a city with differing service standard. At this price point (of around ¥500 per person), there aren’t many others that can challenge Ren He. Hopefully the standards do not drop after all the expansion they are going through right now.
Ren He Guan 人和馆
407 Zhaojiabang Rd, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China 徐汇区肇嘉浜路407号
Tel : +86 21 6403 0731
Visited Mar 2024
Michelin Shanghai Guide 1 Star 2021-2024