Hong Rui Xing (Xuhui Branch): Bring on the renao

Follow the Shanghai families to Hong Rui Xing, this institution which combines the best of high and low local cuisine. On the top two floors, an a la carte menu is chock full of time-tested classics, while on the first floor, a no-frills cafeteria serves expertly-handmade noodles, wonton soup, and popular street snacks.

Don’t miss the fish head soup (served upstairs), the giant tureen is big enough to bathe a small child (not recommended) but just barely contains a superb milky broth with pickled greens and a massive meaty fish head. Tender beef cubes with black pepper is another Hong Rui Xing standard.

Downstairs, there’s no table service or even an English menu. Diners line up at the cashier and if you don’t speak Chinese, prepare to start pointing at other people’s dishes in the dining room, or just randomly choose something from the board on Hong Rui Xing's wall -- chances are, you won’t go wrong.