Restaurant in Shanghai, China
Michelin star, one year in. Book early.
Sole earned a Michelin star in 2024, just one year after opening, on the strength of an all-Cantonese kitchen team with serious technical credentials. At ¥¥¥ in Changning District, it is one of the more considered Cantonese addresses in Shanghai — strong across dim sum, double-boiled soups, and specialist items. Book four to six weeks out minimum; demand is consistent and the room fills.
The practical reality at Sole is this: a Michelin star earned in 2024, just one year after opening, means the 2025 booking window is tight. Contact the restaurant as far ahead as possible — four to six weeks minimum is not overcautious, it is the floor. If you are flexible on timing, a weekday lunch slot is your most viable entry point. Sole sits in Changning District, away from the dense tourist circuit of the Bund, which means it draws a more deliberate, knowledgeable crowd rather than passing trade. That works in your favour when you are planning a considered meal, but it does not make the room any easier to get into.
Sole opened in 2023 with an all-Cantonese kitchen team and quickly established itself as one of the more credible Cantonese addresses in Shanghai. The head chef brings over 20 years of experience to a menu that reads like a thorough survey of the genre: dim sum, Cantonese barbecue, seafood, double-boiled soups, and stir-fries. This is not a menu that chases novelty for its own sake. The ambition is precision and depth within a defined culinary tradition, and the 2024 Michelin star confirms the kitchen is delivering on that.
The price tier sits at ¥¥¥, which places it above casual Cantonese but below the top-end spend of a ¥¥¥¥ fine-dining room. For first-timers, that positioning is important context: you are paying for serious technique and quality sourcing, not for theatre or an elaborate service production. Arrive with an appetite for the food itself and you will not feel shortchanged.
If this is your first time at Sole, the dim sum and seafood categories are where the kitchen's strengths are most legible. The scallop dumpling with crab roe is among the most discussed items on the menu, noted for its translucent skin, precise pleating, and a filling described in Michelin documentation as rich and buttery. This is a good calibration point for the kitchen's technical standard , if the dim sum impresses you here, the rest of the menu will hold up.
The double-boiled soups are another entry point worth prioritising on a first visit, particularly if you are visiting in cooler months. Double-boiling is a slow, exacting technique that concentrates flavour without clouding the liquid, and it is a reliable indicator of a kitchen that respects process over shortcuts. For a first-timer trying to read the room, the soup and the dim sum together tell you most of what you need to know about Sole's register.
Once you have a baseline read on the kitchen from visit one, the second visit is the right moment to explore the more painstakingly prepared items further down the menu. The deep-fried egg custard with chicken testicle is the example the Michelin guide cites , an item that requires both technical skill and a willingness to work with ingredients that many kitchens would not touch. This is not provocation; it is traditional Cantonese cooking taken seriously. If you came away from visit one confident in the kitchen's judgment, trust it here.
The Cantonese barbecue section also merits a dedicated second-visit exploration. Barbecue is a category where many restaurants coast on familiarity, but at a Michelin-starred room with a team of this experience level, it is worth approaching as a distinct chapter rather than a side order.
Cantonese cooking is structurally designed for the table to share, and Sole's long menu rewards a larger group that can cover more ground in a single sitting. A third visit with four to six people allows you to move across dim sum, barbecue, seafood, soups, and the more specialist items simultaneously, which is closer to how this food is meant to be experienced. If you have already anchored on the scallop dumpling and the double-boiled soups in earlier visits, a group meal is the occasion to let the kitchen's full range come to you.
For context on where Sole fits within a broader itinerary in the region: Cantonese cooking at this standard is also well represented at Forum in Hong Kong and Le Palais in Taipei. Within mainland China, Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau operates in a comparable register. Sole's position in Shanghai is useful precisely because serious Cantonese at this level is less common here than in Guangdong or Hong Kong , it fills a gap in the city's dining map rather than competing in a crowded field.
| Detail | Sole | Ming Court | Yè Shanghai |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuisine | Cantonese | Cantonese | Shanghainese |
| Price tier | ¥¥¥ | ¥¥¥ | ¥¥ |
| Michelin | 1 Star (2024) | Check listing | Check listing |
| Booking difficulty | Hard | Moderate | Easier |
| Leading for | Cantonese technique, multi-visit | Cantonese classics | Shanghainese, groups |
| Location | Changning District | Shanghai central | Shanghai central |
Sole sits within a broader cluster of serious Chinese restaurant options in Shanghai worth knowing about. For comparable precision-focused cooking at the ¥¥¥ tier, Ji Pin Court and Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine are both worth considering. Bao Li Xuan and Canton 8 (Huangpu) provide additional Cantonese reference points within the city. For a different register entirely, 102 House is worth a look.
If you are building a longer trip around the region, Xin Rong Ji in Beijing, Xin Rong Ji in Chengdu, Ru Yuan in Hangzhou, Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing, and Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou all represent serious options in their respective cities. Our full Shanghai restaurants guide covers the wider field, and our Shanghai hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide are useful for building out the rest of a trip.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole | Cantonese | ¥¥¥ | Hard |
| Fu He Hui | Vegetarian | ¥¥¥¥ | Unknown |
| Ming Court | Cantonese | ¥¥¥ | Unknown |
| Royal China Club | Chinese, Cantonese | ¥¥¥ | Unknown |
| Scarpetta | Italian | ¥¥¥ | Unknown |
| Yè Shanghai | Shanghainese | ¥¥ | Unknown |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Sole's long à la carte menu is where the kitchen shows its range, from dim sum and Cantonese barbecue to double-boiled soups and adventurous items like deep-fried egg custard with chicken testicle. If a set tasting format is available, it suits first-timers well, but the menu rewards selective ordering for those who know the cuisine. A Michelin star earned within one year of opening in 2023 suggests the kitchen is consistent enough to justify ¥¥¥ pricing either way.
Book at least three to four weeks ahead. Sole earned its Michelin star in 2024, just one year after opening, and demand has increased accordingly. Prime weekend slots and larger tables will go faster, so book as soon as your dates are confirmed rather than waiting.
Solo dining works at Sole, but you will get a narrow read on the menu since Cantonese cooking is structurally built for sharing. A solo visit is best treated as a focused first look at the dim sum and signature dishes like the scallop dumpling with crab roe, rather than an attempt to cover the full long menu. For breadth, bring a group.
At ¥¥¥, Sole sits in the upper tier for Shanghai Cantonese dining, and the 2024 Michelin star gives that price point independent validation. The kitchen's 20-plus-year head chef background and all-Cantonese team mean the technical standard is there across dim sum, seafood, and barbecue. If you are comparing it to mid-range Cantonese in Shanghai, the gap in execution is real and the premium is justified.
Sole is a Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant in Changning at ¥¥¥ pricing, which places it in smart-casual territory at minimum. There is no dress code listed in available venue data, but arriving in polished casual attire is a reasonable baseline. Avoid overly casual clothing given the setting and price point.
Yes, particularly for a group. The long menu covers Cantonese barbecue, dim sum, seafood, and double-boiled soups, which gives a table something to work through together over an occasion meal. The Michelin credential adds weight if you need to sell the choice to guests. For a one-on-one celebration, it works, but a larger group gets more out of the format.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
