Restaurant in Shanghai, China
Michelin-backed Hui cuisine in Jing'An.
Wan Yan holds Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025, plus a Black Pearl 1 Diamond, making it one of Shanghai's few formally credentialed Hui cuisine addresses. At ¥¥¥ it sits in the serious-but-accessible range for regional Chinese dining. Book in late autumn or winter when the preserved and slow-braised preparations that define the tradition are at their seasonal peak.
Wan Yan earns its place on a Shanghai itinerary with two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024, 2025) and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025), making it one of the few venues in the city to carry formal recognition specifically for Hui cuisine. At ¥¥¥ pricing it sits in the serious-but-accessible tier, and with a Google rating of 4.4 across 339 reviews, the consistency record holds. Book this if you want a credentialed, regionally specific Chinese dining experience in the Changning corridor rather than another Cantonese or Shanghainese rotation. If your priority is vegetarian innovation, Fu He Hui is the sharper choice. If you want Shanghai's most technically precise modern dining, Taian Table operates in a different category entirely.
Hui cuisine is one of China's eight canonical regional traditions, rooted in Anhui province and built around a philosophy of using preserved, slow-cooked, and foraged ingredients to coax depth from relatively humble materials. Braised meats, wild mountain vegetables, cured fish, and long-reduced stocks form the backbone of any serious Hui menu. Wan Yan works within this tradition at a level the Michelin and Black Pearl panels have now recognised in back-to-back years, which tells you the kitchen is not coasting on novelty.
The Changning location places it at 18 Yuyuan Road East, inside or adjacent to the Jing'An district border, an area that rewards explorers willing to move away from the Bund-centric dining circuit. The address suggests a room with considered presentation rather than a casual neighbourhood canteen, and at ¥¥¥ the expectation is a full, composed dining experience. Visually, Hui restaurant design tends toward warm, unhurried interiors that reflect the patience embedded in the cooking itself: ceramic tableware, dark timber, and table spacing that acknowledges the course structure of a proper Hui meal.
Hui cuisine is structured around the seasons in a way that directly affects what you should order and, crucially, when you should visit. The tradition leans heavily on preserved and aged ingredients in winter and early spring, when cured fish, red-braised pork belly, and fermented vegetables carry the menu. As the season turns to late spring and summer, fresh mountain greens and lighter preparations move to the front. Autumn brings mushrooms, chestnuts, and the game-adjacent proteins that Hui cooking handles particularly well. Visiting in a single season and ordering off the full menu without accounting for this rotation means missing the dishes that are actually at their peak. If you are planning specifically around a Hui meal, late autumn through early winter is historically when the preserved and aged preparations are at their most developed.
The back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition matters here as a trust signal. A Plate does not carry the weight of a Star, but it indicates a kitchen the Michelin inspectors consider worth recommending without reservation. Combined with the Black Pearl Diamond, which is a separate panel and a separate methodology, this is a kitchen receiving consistent third-party endorsement rather than a one-year result. For the explorer diner, that cross-panel validation is meaningful: two different critical frameworks, same conclusion.
Compared against the broader Shanghai regional Chinese circuit, Wan Yan occupies a specific and underserved niche. Xin Rong Ji (West Nanjing Road) works the Taizhou coastal tradition with higher name recognition and likely more booking competition. 102 House addresses Cantonese. Wan Yan's Hui focus means it is not competing on the same frequency as those venues, and for a food enthusiast trying to map China's regional diversity across a trip, that specificity is exactly the point. If you are moving through other Chinese cities, Meng Du Hui in Nanjing and Meng Du Hui in Beijing offer comparison points for Hui cuisine in different urban contexts, and Ru Yuan in Hangzhou is worth cross-referencing for Anhui-adjacent cooking closer to the tradition's geographic source.
For the broader Shanghai picture, see our full Shanghai restaurants guide. Planning around bars or hotels? Our Shanghai bars guide and our Shanghai hotels guide cover the adjacent decisions. If you are building a wider itinerary across Greater China, Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau and Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou represent different calibrations of formal Chinese dining worth comparing.
Address: 18 Yuyuan Rd (E), Jing'An, Shanghai 200041. Cuisine: Hui (Anhui regional). Price range: ¥¥¥. Awards: Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025; Black Pearl 1 Diamond 2025. Google rating: 4.4 / 5 (339 reviews). Reservations: Booking is rated Easy, so advance lead time is manageable, but for weekend evenings and seasonal peak periods (late autumn into winter, when the most characterful Hui preparations are available), book at least one to two weeks ahead. Hours: Not confirmed in our data — verify directly before your visit. Dress: Not specified, but ¥¥¥ pricing and Michelin recognition suggest smart casual as the baseline. Groups: No seat count confirmed; contact the venue for large-group enquiries.
See the comparison section below for how Wan Yan positions against other Shanghai options at the ¥¥¥ tier and above.
For Hui cuisine elsewhere in China, the regional tradition is arguably most legible in its home context: Ru Yuan in Hangzhou operates in a city closer to Anhui province and offers a useful reference point. Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing covers adjacent southern Chinese territory. For the Italian and French options in Shanghai if you want to build a broader dining week, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana is the benchmark Italian, and Taian Table covers the innovative European end. Our Shanghai experiences guide and Shanghai wineries guide round out the planning picture.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wan Yan (Changning) | Michelin Plate (2025); Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | ¥¥¥ | — |
| Fu He Hui | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Ming Court | Michelin 1 Star | ¥¥¥ | — |
| Polux | ¥¥ | — | |
| Royal China Club | ¥¥¥ | — | |
| Scarpetta | ¥¥¥ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
If Hui cuisine is your focus, yes. Wan Yan holds a Michelin Plate for two consecutive years (2024, 2025) and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025), which at the ¥¥¥ price point positions it as a credentialed, mid-to-upper-tier commitment rather than a casual spend. Hui cuisine's reliance on preserved ingredients and slow-cooked technique is a specific format — if that approach interests you, the credentials justify the price. If you want Shanghainese or Cantonese, look elsewhere.
Book at least one to two weeks ahead for weekday visits; weekend tables at award-recognised Shanghai restaurants at the ¥¥¥ tier typically fill faster. Wan Yan's Michelin Plate and Black Pearl recognition increase demand, so erring toward earlier is safer. No direct booking link is available in the current record, so plan to reserve via a hotel concierge or a platform like Dianping.
Hui cuisine is built around preserved meats, freshwater fish, and slow-cooked proteins, which makes strict vegetarian or vegan adaptation structurally difficult at a specialist restaurant. No dietary accommodation policy is documented in the current record. Communicate restrictions clearly at time of booking and confirm directly with the restaurant before arrival.
For regional Chinese cuisine at a comparable tier in Shanghai, options include Fu He Hui (plant-based Chinese, Michelin-starred, higher price point) and Royal China Club (Cantonese, more accessible format). If you want to compare Hui cuisine in a different context, Ru Yuan in Hangzhou operates closer to the cuisine's Anhui origins. Wan Yan is the more practically located option for visitors based in central Shanghai.
Hui cuisine is one of China's eight canonical regional traditions and is less familiar to international visitors than Cantonese or Shanghainese cooking — expect preserved ingredients, braised preparations, and earthy flavour profiles rather than the brighter, sweeter notes of local Shanghai food. The restaurant sits at 18 Yuyuan Rd (E) in the Jing'An district, convenient from most central Shanghai hotels. No English-language website is listed, so arriving with a translation app is practical.
At ¥¥¥, Wan Yan sits in a tier where two consecutive Michelin Plates and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025) provide meaningful external validation. For a specialist Hui cuisine restaurant in Shanghai, that combination of credentials at this price point is reasonable value compared to Michelin-starred alternatives that cost significantly more. The question is whether Hui cuisine's format matches what you want from the meal.
Yes, with caveats about format fit. The credential set (Michelin Plate 2024–2025, Black Pearl 1 Diamond 2025) and ¥¥¥ pricing make it appropriate for a considered occasion dinner. It works better for guests who have some interest in regional Chinese cuisine than for a group expecting a familiar fine-dining format. For a larger group celebrating, confirm private dining availability directly before booking.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
