As a modern city, Shanghai has attracted a great number of brilliant chefs from other parts of China, and has become one of China's gastronomic centres of the eight major Chinese cuisine. During years of culinary practice, absorbing the art and skills of other styles of cuisine, Shanghai chefs have created varied styles of cuisine peculiar to every region. 

Shanghai dishes are characterized by using heavy flavoured sauce, cooked in deep fat and soy sauce, in fact , the food is palatable, it retains its primary nutrition by braising with red sauce, stir-frying, simmering, deep-frying and pan-frying. 

Vegetarian cuisine in Shanghai has also been developed. Taking vegetables, bean products, dried mushrooms, fungus and bamboo shoots as major ingredients, chefs make savoury dishes resembling non-vegetarian ones only without the smells of meat and fish, which are frowned upon by the vegetarians. The skills of the chefs are often marvelled by the diners. 

With the increasing contacts between Shanghai and other parts of the world, more and more visitors from abroad are coming to visit this city. With a view to suit for these visitors, western-styled restaurants have been set up for them. These restaurants offer English, French, German, Italian or Russian cuisine.