Restaurant in Shanghai, China
Serious Fujian cooking, back-to-back Michelin recognition.
Hokkien Huay Kuan is Shanghai's most credentialled Fujian restaurant, holding a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 plus a 2025 Black Pearl Diamond. At ¥¥¥, it delivers a cuisine almost absent from the city's mainstream dining scene. Book it for a special occasion or business dinner when you want something beyond the Cantonese and Shanghainese standard.
If you are looking for serious Fujian cooking in Shanghai with back-to-back award recognition, Hokkien Huay Kuan at 83 Wending Road in Xuhui District is the booking to make. A Michelin Plate holder in both 2024 and 2025, and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond recipient for 2025, this is one of the few Shanghai restaurants where the cuisine of Fujian Province gets the attention it deserves at a mid-to-upper price point. Book it for a special occasion dinner, a business meal where the food needs to carry the conversation, or any night when you want something genuinely different from Shanghai's crowded Cantonese and Shanghainese mainstream.
Fujian cuisine is among the least represented major Chinese regional traditions in Shanghai's restaurant scene, which makes Hokkien Huay Kuan a specific and purposeful destination rather than a default dinner option. The cuisine is built around clear broths, seafood, and a restrained use of spice relative to Sichuan or Hunan cooking — it rewards diners who appreciate technique and subtlety over theatrical heat. The kitchen at Hokkien Huay Kuan has held its Michelin Plate status across two consecutive years and added a Black Pearl Diamond in 2025, signalling consistent execution rather than a one-year anomaly. For a special occasion where the cuisine itself is part of the occasion, that track record matters.
The address on Wending Road puts the restaurant in Xuhui, one of Shanghai's more characterful residential and dining districts, away from the tourist density of the Bund or the corporate corridors of Jing'an. If you are visiting from out of town and using the evening as a chance to see a quieter side of the city, the neighbourhood adds to the experience. Xuhui's tree-lined streets and mix of art deco and contemporary architecture give the area a pace that suits a dinner where you are not rushing.
For sensory framing: Fujian kitchens are known for their aromatics, particularly the use of Shaoxing rice wine, dried seafood, and fermented ingredients that produce a layered, savoury base scent quite different from the wok-smoke intensity of Cantonese or the chilli-oil heat of Sichuan kitchens. If you are walking in expecting bold, punchy aromas, adjust your expectations toward something more restrained and complex. That distinction is a feature, not a gap.
Weekday evenings are the practical choice here. Shanghai's mid-tier award restaurants fill quickly on Friday and Saturday nights, and Hokkien Huay Kuan's relatively modest Google review count of 4.1 across 34 reviews suggests it attracts a regular, knowledgeable crowd rather than a tourist surge — meaning it stays manageable on weeknights when comparable venues get noisy and rushed. For a late dinner or a meal that extends past standard Shanghai dinner hours, Xuhui's dining culture runs later than the city average, giving you more flexibility on timing than you would have in a purely residential neighbourhood. If your schedule allows, Tuesday through Thursday evenings offer the leading combination of attentive service and a room that is full without being overwhelmed.
In terms of time of year, Shanghai's spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) seasons are the most comfortable for the walk from a cab or metro to the restaurant, and for lingering in the area before or after dinner. Summer heat and humidity in Shanghai can make any outdoor component of the evening uncomfortable, so plan accordingly.
Hokkien Huay Kuan works particularly well for the kind of dinner where the table is the event: a birthday, a business host dinner, or a first proper meal with someone you want to impress without the performance of a tasting menu. The cuisine's emphasis on shared plates and communal seafood dishes suits groups of four to eight well. Fujian cooking's comparative rarity in Shanghai also gives you a ready conversation: if your guests are food-curious, this is a cuisine that generates questions and discussion in a way that a reliable Shanghainese or Cantonese room does not. For solo diners or couples, the same applies , the food is specific enough to make the meal feel considered rather than convenient.
Comparable award-recognised Fujian dining in mainland China includes Hokkien Cuisine in Chengdu and Hokklo in Xiamen, where the cuisine is more deeply embedded in the local food culture. If you want to understand Fujian food in its native context, Xiamen is the reference point. But for Shanghai, Hokkien Huay Kuan is the most credentialled option in the city, and that counts for a great deal when you are choosing where to take a table.
Address: 83 Wending Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai. Price range: ¥¥¥ , expect a mid-to-upper spend per head, broadly in line with other Michelin Plate-level restaurants in the city. Awards: Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025; Black Pearl 1 Diamond 2025. Reservations: Booking is rated Easy , you do not need to plan weeks in advance, but calling or booking ahead for weekends and special occasions is sensible given the room size is not confirmed. Dress: No confirmed dress code, but the award-level positioning and Xuhui neighbourhood suggest smart casual is appropriate. Dietary restrictions: Contact the restaurant directly , Fujian cuisine relies heavily on seafood and fermented ingredients, so vegetarians and those with shellfish restrictions should confirm in advance. Phone and website: Not listed , check current booking platforms or third-party reservation tools for Shanghai.
For other strong options in Shanghai's Chinese dining scene, Meet the Bund, Chic 1699, Min He Nan Huan Xi, 102 House, and Fu He Hui are worth considering depending on your cuisine preference and budget. See our full Shanghai restaurants guide for the complete picture, and use our guides to Shanghai hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences to plan the full visit. For Fujian cooking benchmarks elsewhere in the region, Xin Rong Ji in Beijing, Xin Rong Ji in Chengdu, Ru Yuan in Hangzhou, Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau, Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou, and Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing provide useful regional context.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so you do not need to plan far in advance for a weeknight visit. For weekend evenings or a special occasion dinner, reserve two to three days ahead to be safe. The restaurant's award profile , Michelin Plate for two consecutive years and a 2025 Black Pearl Diamond , means it draws a repeat, informed crowd, so weekends can fill without much public notice.
Fujian cuisine is designed for shared dining, which makes Hokkien Huay Kuan a practical group choice. For parties of four to eight, the format works well. Seat count is not confirmed in available data, so for larger groups , say, ten or more , contact the restaurant directly to confirm capacity and whether a private or semi-private space is available. At the ¥¥¥ price point, it is a reasonable choice for a hosted business dinner in Shanghai.
Fujian cooking is seafood-heavy and uses fermented ingredients as a flavour base, which creates real constraints for strict vegetarians, vegans, and anyone with shellfish allergies. There is no confirmed information on how the kitchen handles substitutions. Contact the restaurant directly before booking if dietary restrictions apply , this is not a cuisine where you can assume flexibility without asking.
At ¥¥¥, Hokkien Huay Kuan sits at the same price tier as Ming Court and Royal China Club, but it delivers a cuisine category that has almost no other credentialled representation in Shanghai. The Michelin Plate (two consecutive years) and Black Pearl 1 Diamond for 2025 confirm the kitchen is performing at a level that justifies the spend. If you are weighing this against a Cantonese room at the same price, the differentiation alone tilts the value argument toward Hokkien Huay Kuan for any diner who wants to go beyond the city's standard dining options.
Fujian cuisine will likely be unfamiliar to most visitors from outside the region. It is not Cantonese, not Shanghainese, and not Sichuan , the flavour profile is lighter, with an emphasis on seafood, clear broths, and fermented condiments. Go in expecting subtlety and technique rather than bold heat. The restaurant holds a Michelin Plate and a Black Pearl Diamond, so the kitchen is operating to a recognised standard. Order broadly across the menu to get a proper read on the cuisine , this is not the place for a single dish and an early exit.
It is a workable solo option at the ¥¥¥ tier, particularly on a weeknight when the room is less group-oriented. Fujian cuisine does lean toward shared formats, so solo diners may find the menu skews toward larger portions , ask the kitchen or service staff for guidance on single-diner ordering. For solo diners wanting a full read on the cuisine, this is one of the few places in Shanghai where Fujian cooking is taken seriously, which makes it a purposeful choice rather than a default one.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkien Huay Kuan | ¥¥¥ | Easy | — |
| Fu He Hui | ¥¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Ming Court | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Polux | ¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Royal China Club | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Scarpetta | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Hokkien Huay Kuan measures up.
Book at least one week in advance for weekday tables; two weeks or more for Friday and Saturday evenings. Hokkien Huay Kuan holds both a 2025 Michelin Plate and a 2025 Black Pearl 1 Diamond, which puts it in the bracket of Shanghai restaurants that fill quickly on weekends. Weekday evenings offer the most reliable availability at the ¥¥¥ price point.
Yes, and it is a practical choice for group dinners. The Fujian banquet-style format suits shared dining, making it well suited to birthday dinners, business hosting, or celebratory occasions. For larger parties, check the venue's official channels to confirm room arrangements, as table configuration details are not publicly listed.
Specific dietary accommodation details are not documented in available venue data. Fujian cooking often features seafood, pork-based broths, and fermented ingredients prominently, so vegetarians and those with shellfish allergies should raise requirements when booking. Calling ahead is the safest approach given the cuisine's characteristics.
At ¥¥¥, yes — if Fujian cuisine is what you are after. Back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025) plus a 2025 Black Pearl 1 Diamond give it verifiable standing in Shanghai's competitive Chinese dining scene. For comparison, you are spending at a similar level to other award-recognised Shanghai restaurants while accessing a regional tradition that is genuinely underrepresented in the city.
Come expecting regional specificity, not a broad Chinese menu. Fujian cuisine is built around clear broths, umami-forward sauces, and seafood in ways that differ significantly from Cantonese or Shanghainese cooking. The address is 83 Wending Road, Xuhui District — a quieter neighbourhood setting that is a deliberate contrast to the busier central dining clusters.
It can work for solo diners, but the format favours sharing across multiple dishes, which means a solo visit at ¥¥¥ may feel unbalanced in terms of both cost and coverage of the menu. If solo dining in Shanghai at this price tier is the goal, a counter-format restaurant gives better value. For Fujian specifically, Hokkien Huay Kuan remains the credentialled option regardless of group size.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
