One of the oldest restaurants in Shanghai, opened in 1862 and serving the traditional sweet, dark, oily benbang cai — Shanghainese home cooking. Order the red-braised pork belly (hong shao rou), drunken crab marinated in Shaoxing wine (in season, autumn), eel fried with garlic, and the scallion oil noodles. Prices are reasonable, the room is brightly lit and noisy in the proper Chinese style, and the staff have largely forgotten that anyone might want a menu in English. Use a translation app.
Several branches around the city — this Fuzhou Road location is the original.