While many city restaurants offer the crustacean on their menus throughout the year, there is really only one season to feast on the freshly caught and roe-filled dazha xie (大闸蟹) – the best and heavier hairy crabs – and we’re in it.
So, grab your chopsticks and a few red bills and take a tour of the city’s best hairy crab locales.
Ling Long Ge 凌泷阁
The users of Shanghai’s major dining listing website, are pretty confident in their choice for one of the best places to grab hairy crabs, and Ling Long Ge in Gubei ranks up there for good reason.
Hand selecting your own crab is great and so is gorging on their mini crab sandwiches made from RMB380 worth of sautéed meat.
Price doesn’t mean everything though. Ling Long Ge’s best hairy crab dish is actually a small bite: bean curd stuffed with crab meat (凌泷鸳鸯酥). Although small, the chunks of meat are generous and the flavors delightful.
Add: 2/F 951 Hongxu Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu
Opening hours: 11:00 – 14:00, 17:00 – 22:00
Phone: 021 3207 1177
Fu 1088 福1088
Although the price tag is hefty, the crab at Fu 1088 is worth it. And if you stick to ordering this delicacy, you won’t have a problem reaching their RMB300 per person minimum. The steamed egg white custard with sautéed hairy crab meat (蟹粉炖蛋白) is among the restaurant’s specialties.
Housed in a renovated villa, this place is classic 1930s Shanghai, though they’ve renovated the venue and prices since then as well.
Add: 375 Zhening Lu, near Yuyuan Lu
Opening hours: 11:00 – 14:00, 17:30 – 23:00
Phone: 021 5239 7878
Jesse 吉士酒家
There is no question Jesse is a Shanghai institution. They do everything well here, and hairy crab is no exception.
“I just love Jesse’s crab meat with egg (蟹肉芙蓉蛋),” gushes Ms. Chen, a frequent diner here.
Another highlight is the fried crab meat, served in a ceramic crab. It boasts enough of that desirable roe to satiate anyone’s need for orange eggs.
Add: 41 Tianping Lu near Huaihai Xi Lu
Opening hours: 11:00 – midnight
Phone: 021 6282 9260
Xin Guang Jiu Jia 新光酒家
If you can stand the price, this place is hairy crab paradise. Because the powers in Xin Guang know many people hate cracking their own shells and picking all the tiny pieces of meat out, they do the heavy lifting for you.
“This place is incredible,” says Mike Hagerty, an advertising exec who usually brings guests to impress here. “There is crab in every single dish on the tasting menu. My favorite is the lightly sautéed leg meat with garlic shoots (清蒸蟹钳).”
Add: 512 Tianjin Lu, near Guangxi Bei Lu
Opening hours: 11:00 – 14:00, 17:00 – 21:30
Phone: 021 6322 3978
Wang Bao He 王宝和酒家
The best known place in Shanghai for hairy crab is Wang Bao He, which has reportedly been around for 100 years. Just not in the same location, we assume.
At first, this restaurant specialized in chicken, but over time, it evolved into an institution for hairy crab lovers. There is a ton of dishes on this menu, and almost all of them include quite generous portions of hairy crab, which makes Wang Bao He the popular (and most established) choice with locals.
Add: 603 Fuzhou Lu, near Zhejiang Zhong Lu
Phone: 021 6322 3673
Opening hours: 11:00 – 13:00, 17:00 – 20:30
Cheng Long Hang Xie Wang Fu 成隆行蟹王府
This Shanghai institution makes its living off crab dishes year-round, but is truly bustling during hairy crab season. Diners can be found cracking shells in a range of small semiprivate rooms and alcoves surrounding a faux inner courtyard in this venue set in a historic area near the Bund.
In addition to a wide selection of steamed, pre-shelled crabs on offer (大闸蟹), Cheng Long serves up a great version of crab roe soup dumplings (蟹粉小笼包). Encased in a delicately thin, almost translucent wrapper, the broth is imbued with the roe’s rich flavors, making for a lovely change from the traditional pork variety commonly found around town.
Add: 216 Jiujiang Lu, near Henan Zhong Lu
Phone: 021 6321 2010
Opening hours: 11:00 – 14:00, 17:00 – 23:00