BEST XIALONGBAO IN SHANGHAI - Jia Jia Tang Bao (How to go, what to expect, and what to order!)

I discovered Jia Jia Tang Bao with my friends when we went to Shanghai so I was VERY EXCITED to take my parents here because I knew they will love it!

Shanghai is famous for their xialongbaos and not Taiwan (maybe because of Din Tai Fung’s popularity?).

How to go to Jia Jia Tang Bao:

Get out of People’s Square (Line 1/2/8, exit 8)

just walk straight and cross this pedestrian

when I went with my parents there was already a line

went back to Shanghai during Oct 2019 , we went here as soon as we landed!

What to expect:

The place is just small so do not expect anything fancy. Before you can enter and sit down, you should order and pay for your food at the counter on your left.

You’ll see the “menu” as you enter. For those who don’t understand Chinese, you can ask for an english menu.

so on the upper part, the first one on the left is half crab half pork, followed by pure crab and the one on the white paper is a mixed of 3 variants (pure pork, egg and pork, half crab half pork) then at the end of the upper line is ginger (yes you have to buy ginger separately). the lower part on the left side are soup variants and the right are drinks

What to order:

We ordered the 3 variants, 2 orders of the half crab half pork and an order of the pure crab.

Personally you could totally skip the 3 variants (I wasn’t a fan of the egg + pork mix).

My parents LOVED the pure crab xialongbao!

So my recommendation is the
1. Half crab half pork xiaolongbao
2. Pure crab xiaolongbao

tip: finish the half crab half pork xiaolongbao first before eating the pure crab xiaolongbao since the pure crab is very rich in flavor and if you’ll eat the half crab half pork after, it might taste bland to you