Shanghai Renjia is a chain restaurant that has multiple locations throughout Shanghai. As the name might suggest, Shanghai Renjia specializes in Shanghai cuisine. Amanda and I didn’t really know much about local foods aside from soup dumplings so we ended up asking our waitress for her suggestions and favorites. What we ended up with was a nice (and somewhat large) meal that we hope is a good sampling of Shanghai food.
Amanda and I actually found this place on the tourist map that we picked up from Din Tai Fung. The location that we went to was close to Jing An Si which is a really brightly decorated temple that seems to be in the middle of a shopping district. The restaurant was really big and spacious and very well furnished. Everyone inside happened to be wearing suits and fancy clothes but I don’t think there’s any strict dress code so no need to feel intimidated.
One thing that I’ve noticed in China is that everyone orders in excess. It’s actually slightly wasteful… so just be prepared for the amount of food you’ll get if you ask for recommendations 
. Our waitress started us off with white cut chicken and Amanda and I wanted to try the soup dumplings. These soup dumplings were absolutely massive and they were literally a sack of soup. You eat this dish by poking a straw into the dumpling and drinking the soup which was made with pork spare ribs. The soup was extremely flavorful and the skin managed to keep some texture despite all the soup. The white cut chicken was very delicate and came with a vinegar dipping sauce that complemented it well.
The main portion of a Chinese meal will usually consist of one or two meat dishes, a vegetable dish, and a starch and our meal was no different. The main dish we had was a hairy crab dish that was cooked in some sort of garlic and black bean sauce, which the waitress told us was a specialty at the restaurant. The crab was very strong in flavor and honestly, a bit too difficult and messy to eat for us to really recommend it. The vegetable dish that accompanied the crab was Buddha’s Delight and in contrast to the crab, was very light and helped us balance the strong crab flavor. Our rice dish was fried rice with bacon and “xue cai” served in a sizzling clay pot.
Overall, we were pretty pleased with the amount of food that we got and the price (converted to USD ). In retrospect, it might make sense that the only people in the restaurant were the ones who were dressed nicely since the place might be considered a little too pricey for the locals to drop by on a consistent basis. There was a large section of the menu with abalone, shark fin, and other very expensive delicacies that Amanda and I didn’t try and I’ve also read that their dim sum is quite good. Plenty of excuses to come back for another visit!
[...] Shanghai Renjia [...]
You are right about the hairy crab being messy to eat since it has all that sauce. Most formal Chinese banquet will not serve crab. Instead, the Jiao Yen Shia (salty and spicy shrimp) and the Kao Fu (vegetarian marianated tofu, bamboo shoots, mushrooms) are regular meal items.
Photos are very inviting. The crab dish photo is very tempting.
Ohhh I know that dish! The shrimp is deep-fried so the shells are eatable and they’re cooked with sliced jalepenos and lots of salt! These hairy crabs were so much harder to eat than good ole’ Maryland Blue Crabs X( Like you said once, the man who first thought of eating crab must’ve been VERY hungry