A brief look at the top 10 restaurants in Shanghai reveals cuisine to suit all tastes across the price spectrum
Shanghai is a gourmet's paradise, and over the past decade the city has undergone a veritable culinary renaissance.
Gone are the days when eating out meant a tedious choice between rice, noodles and whatever meat happened to be available. Shanghai now ranks up there with New York, Hong Kong and - dare we say it - Paris, as a city where anyone with a passion for cuisine can be satisfied.
There are many driving forces behind the culinary resurgence. Of all of China's cities, Shanghai has most enthusiastically allowed itself to be influenced by the best aspects of foreign cultures embracing these divergent elements as its own. And this accounts for the popularity of fusion restaurants that offer a melange of cuisines from opposite ends of China - and the world.
Then there is the natural tendency of the Shanghainese to be ahead of the cultural curve, which makes its chefs more willing to experiment with new concepts than they might be in a city with more traditional tastes.
The dish most closely associated with the Pearl of the Orient is hairy freshwater crabs that come into season next month.
Compiling a list of Shanghai's 10 best restaurants is a daunting task. We have tried to offer a good balance between the traditional and new, between native fare and fusion, and we trust no readers will go hungry for want of a good restaurant during their stay.