6 hidden Shanghai restaurants

Though Shanghai is constantly abuzz with talk of new food trends and the latest restaurant openings, true foodies know that the best feeding spots are those that requite the least noise.

Here are six of Shanghai’s best concealed restaurants, some of which don’t even have a signboard.

1. Gao Li (高丽烧烤)

A simple door, but some of the best Korean food you can find without going to Gubei -- or hopping a flight.

Behind an unmarked brown door just round the corner from the Yongfu Lu party strip lies Gao Li, one of Shanghai’s first Korean barbecue restaurants.

Shanghainese owner Cai Zhihua, 53, got the idea to start the tiny two-level restaurant in 1989 -- three years before China established diplomatic relations with South Korea -- after a friend returned from a trip to Hong Kong and raved about the popularity of South Korean barbecue there.

Business was poor in the first year, so Cai hired ethnic North Korean chefs and waitresses and the restaurant soon became a magnet for busloads of Korean tourists as well as the expatriate community.

Traditional recipes and imported Korean cookbooks brought in by regular customers have helped to refine the menu over the years.

Random fact: Cai watches Korean soap operas every day to keep up with the latest food trends in Korea.

“I was so happy when I saw that the grill in one of the shows was exactly the same as the one we use in the restaurant,” she says.

Don’t leave without eating: The barbecue beef (RMB 30) and three-layer pork (RMB 30) are staples, and the kimchi portions (RMB 16) are plentiful. If you don’t fancy your meats grilled, the dome-shaped hot plates are designed with a thin moat for soup.

181 Wuyuan Lu, near Wulumuqi Zhong Lu 五原路181号, 近乌鲁木齐中路，＋86 21 6431 5236

2. Yong Xing (永兴餐馆)

Looks like any other Shanghai side street, but the food at the end is a find.

The dark red walls and carpets of this five-table restaurant make it feel as though you have stepped into a Shanghainese home, and service feels just as familial.

The waitress speaks perfect English and the motherly 50-something proprietor, Qian Xiu Hua, occasionally hands out free peanuts to go with your beer while encouraging you to stay as long as you want, even when you are the last customer in the restaurant.

• More on CNNGo: Shanghai's best Shanghainese restaurants

The restaurant is known for its cheap hairy crabs and is usually booked up weeks in advance during high season from October to November. The crabs are served de-shelled for newbies unsure of how to handle the complicated crustaceans.

Random fact: Qian and her family live just above the restaurant. Check out the toilet upstairs for a truly old Shanghai experience.

Don’t leave without eating: The egg yolk in smoked duck rolls (RMB 25) and crispy winter vegetables with cashew nuts (RMB 16) make great starters while the deep-fried ribs (RMB 18), though on the salty side, is a hit among reviewers on Dianping.

626 Fuxing Zhong Lu, between Maoming Nan Lu and Ruijin Er Lu 复兴中路626弄1号, 近茂名南路 +86 21 6473 3780

3. Miyako No Mori (都之森)

Great food, great views -- what more could you ask for? Maybe decent decor, but they're working on that.

This two-year-old restaurant in a corner of Gucheng Park (also sometimes referred to as Ancient City Park) has floor-to-ceiling glass panels for walls that offer a complete view of the park’s lush greenery by day and an unblocked view of the Pudong skyline by night.

While the park is shut to the public after 7 p.m., a security guard lets the restaurant's customers in via a side gate, and you can stay till its 2 a.m. closing time.

• More on CNNGo: 5 Shanghai parks where grass stains are permitted

When the weather gets warmer, patrons can also dine al fresco on the roof terrace or by the carp-filled ponds that surround the building. The only downside is that the restaurant’s interior resembles an office meeting room, but Shanghainese owner Guo Xiaoting, 36, plans to refurbish  at the end of April. But with outside views like that, who’s really going to pay attention to the furniture anyway?

Random fact: The restaurant’s name, Miyako No Mori (都の森) means a "forest within a city" -- quite fitting indeed.

Don’t leave without eating: The gomoku rice, or five vegetable rice stew (RMB 40), which the owner will cook over a hot pot right in front of you. The dish is truly a labor of love as the dry rice grains have to be pre-soaked overnight in fish stock that takes three days in brew.

333 Renmin Lu near Fuyou Lu 人民路333号, 近福 佑路, +86 21 6336 6126