Late Night Food Tour in the Shanghai's French Concession

Jim was a good tour guide through the streets of Shanghai. We stopped at a few hole-in-the-wall places that would otherwise be completely passed by, and it was cool to eat food that only locals would really know. This tour would be a better value if you're in a larger group or more of a drinker (I was traveling alone and there were only 2 others on the tour). Otherwise, given the relatively cheap cost of food in China this didn't seem much worth it in the end to me. I'm not sure if we made an impromptu stop somewhere, but the order of food we ate was weird. We started with noodles and spicy pork, then followed with boba ice cream...but then continued to the brewery/beer tasting before having grilled street food and then stopping for local/traditional dishes at a tea shop and then soup noodles. I don't know about you, but I try not to follow dairy with beer. I would have liked to have tried more Shanghai-specific dishes (dumplings, rice cakes, chow mein, scallion pancakes, etc.). Most of what we had was tasty, but forgettable. You probably could do the same on a side street with lots of food stalls, stopping for a bite at each one. I appreciate the mostly mom-and-pop shop focus of the tour, but arguably this is true of most non-chain eating establishments in the city. The beef noodle soup at the end that featured in a famous American celebrity chef's show was pretty good (and I have followed in his footsteps in many different cities), but ultimately I've had better--even in Shanghai. Of course, he was more about getting to know people and soaking up the local feel than about the food, and in this case it was no different. Overall, this was a decent tour to occupy one of my nights in Shanghai. But if you're looking for insight into the food or food culture, you should look elsewhere. Note that the tour does not end at the starting point, and it's mostly up to you to figure out your way back.

Unmissable food tour. Guides are amazing. Not touristy at all. Genuine food with guides who know their stuff. Thank you Vivian!

This evening was a truly memorable and educational experience. Food is an essential part of Chinese culture and we felt we got great insight. We were a rather large group of travelers and we had been in various regions of China. The evening began with a tasting of craft beers. We then went to visit a tea shop and were served delicious snacks and soup dumplings. No one tried to sell us anything along the way. We went on to visit a 24 hour establishment to sample what you might have after a long night of drinking. We went to a bar-b-que restaurant for skewers. The last stop we were served probably the most amazing long noodles. We walked from spot to spot and our guide explained a lot of things to us about Shanghai and the area that we were visiting. We highly recommend it if you want a delicious adventure.

An excellent way to see a cross-section of Shanghai and enjoy good food, craft beer stops, and good company along the way! For me as a business traveller, the late night departure was perfect, and we went to places that I would never have visited by myself outside the bright lights of the French Concession. The long leg soup noodles were a real highlight!