Shendacheng dates to 1875. We recommend its soft rice cakes and Shanghainese dim sum. The East Nanjing Road flagship combines takeaway windows with an upstairs dining room.
Rice cakes and dim sum
- Tiaotou cake
- A soft, chewy rice wrapper around smooth red-bean paste, with restrained sweetness.
- Double-filled rice ball
- Coconut-coated rice balls with black sesame and red bean, offering two fillings and textures.
- Qingtuan
- A spring speciality. Classic fillings include salted-yolk pork floss and red bean; we recommend potato and bacon, a spring trio of shepherd's purse, bamboo shoots and shiitake, and malantou with pork, in a mugwort-scented wrapper.
- Crab-roe xiaolongbao
- Thin-skinned, juicy crab-roe dumplings recommended for the upstairs dining room.
- Fresh-meat mooncake
- Suzhou-style flaky pastry around a savoury pork filling, best warmed so the layers and juices revive.
- Mint square cake
- A traditional red-bean-filled square cake with a cooling mint note.
Choosing the right window
- Different windows sell different items
- At 636 East Nanjing Road, windows 1–4 sell classics, windows 10–11 sell all qingtuan and new flavours, windows 6–7 sell boxed qingtuan, and window 8 sells seasonal specials. Check the pink sign and menu before joining a queue.
- Hours and quieter alternatives
- Listed hours are 07:30–22:00, with the widest selection around 10:00–19:00. Visit at opening or early afternoon because popular flavours can sell out. Try the second floor of the First Food Store or the corner window left of the flagship, which sells the same products with a shorter queue.
The upstairs Shanghainese restaurant
- Full dishes and house specialities
- We recommend squirrel fish, river eel with garlic, red-fermented-tofu pork, crab with rice cakes and river shrimp, alongside clover with pork intestine, wine-fermented dishes and braised fish tail. Taibai rice cake is exclusive upstairs.
- Hours and setting
- For reference, 11:00–14:00 and 17:00–20:30, a little over CNY 100 per person, and private rooms. Round tables and window seats create an old-Shanghai atmosphere.
Carrying and reheating rice cakes
- Freshness and gifts
- Fresh rice cakes have the best texture. Reheat refrigerated ones by steaming or gently pan-frying. We recommend lower-sugar pastries or osmanthus cake for older recipients and qingtuan or mooncake boxes for younger friends.
- Short shelf life
- Freshly made rice cakes and qingtuan may contain no preservatives. Guidance of one to two days at room temperature or three to five days refrigerated has been provided, but always follow the actual packaging and reheat before eating.