I received lots of good recommendations from all my followers on Instagram that I should try Wai Po Jia or Grandma’s House (as it’s known in English) while in Shanghai (China). And now I would gladly recommend you to try this restaurant as well, as you travel to Shanghai. Apparently, Wai Po Jia Restaurant is widely popular with the locals, not only because of the good taste but also because the price is incredibly cheap! If you ever see my Instastory while we were still in Shanghai, you know how we enjoyed the food so much that we ended up going here twice. Ha-ha.. 
We’re so grateful that one of my followers, Becca, who studied and now works in Shanghai, can meet us and join us for lunch at Wai Po Jia that day. Because she arrived earlier than us, she had taken care of the queue number, and when we arrived, our table was ready. Oh, don’t be fooled by the pictures you see on this post because the restaurant is actually SUPER Full and crowded (we took some photos after we finished eating, and the restaurant close for a break at 2 pm). If you want to avoid the queue, I suggest you come early right before they open the restaurant at 11 am.
If there’s already a long queue (especially happens on weekends), you can go straight to the counter, ask for a number, and wait for a table. While waiting, you can play some computer games, grab some fresh fruit, pick up candy, or get some free tea which is all available on the table. Don’t forget to hear the announcement; a loud child-like voice will announce the queue number that can get a table.
That’s pretty cool, they all seemed to organize well and prepared about the queue, but remember that each Wai Po Jia is different regarding the ambiance and the waiting facility. The branch we visited here is located at Bai Lian Xuhui Shopping Mall 百联徐汇商业广场 (take the elevator in front of the big GAP store to the 3rd floor).
The nearest Metro stop to reach this restaurant is Jiaotong Station exit 2, go to the right side, then walk straight for about 10 minutes walk to this mall.
Quick TIPS: If you can ride a bike, just rent Ofo bike, avoid the sun heat, and arrive faster to this mall.
Wai Po Jia has an amazing variety of Chinese dishes, but in this post, I want to highlight two dishes which is very popular among locals and tourists like us; the Steamed Prawns with minced garlic and Tea flavored Chicken. If you can’t read Chinese text, you can request for the picture menu or just show them the picture below when you place an order.
Steamed Prawns with Minced Garlic, 35RMB (equal to IDR 70K)
The prawn was lightly steamed, succulent, and served with a generous minced garlic on top. Simple but very flavorful, a mind-blowing prawn dish I’ve ever had so far! And you know what? We came back to Wai Po Jia again for this prawn before returning to Jakarta. Ha-ha.. And the price is very cheap when compared with similar dishes like this in Jakarta.
Tea Flavored Chicken, 45RMB (equal to IDR 90K)
As you can see, the Chicken Tea was not instagenic, but this clay pot-cooked tea chicken was so tender, and the meat just falls apart easily. It’s healthy, served in whole size chicken (can share up to 3pax) and infused with tea flavor; it was really good and full of flavor, not too salty, not too oily. If you are a fan of traditional home dishes, don’t miss this one!
If you want vegetables, I recommend you try the Organic Cauliflower (16RMB, equal to IDR 32K) instead of the regular Brocolli. It was just a simple stir-fry veggie, but we enjoyed the crisp and light flavor of this vegetable. From the second visit, we visited another branch of Wai Po Jia which is located at AFC Mall, where the mall is also connected to access Shanghai Tower, 2nd tallest building in the world today.
The ambiance here is somewhat different from our first visit to Wai Po Jia at Bailanxuhui Mall, and the service here was very rude, especially the young servant who likes to throw anything while serving the food on our table. Apart from the poor service, we still love the food here. Of course, we ordered the Prawns with Minced Garlic again and tried the other two menus.
I was recommended to try the Grandma’s Pork which is also a favorite menu among locals, but because it rained outside, I look for something warm. We decided to try the Sliced Fish in Tom Yum Goong soup (52RMB, equal to IDR 104K), and Prawn Hakao which both was delicious.
Overall, it was a satisfying lunch for us! Although the service can sometimes out of my expectation, and the dining environment was really noisy as expected in Chinese restaurants during peak hours, but the restaurant is clean and well maintained. Generous portions, good Chinese food, and reasonably priced, definitely a must try when in Shanghai. We will certainly visit again on our next trip to Shanghai.
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Read more of our fun experience Shanghai (China) September trip 2017 as follow:
~ [SHANGHAI] TIPS Travel Itinerary 7 Days Backpacking Shanghai Guide
~ [SHANGHAI] Visa, Social Media Use & Rent Bicycles Tips
~ [SHANGHAI] Top 10 Foods Must Eat in Shanghai, China
~ [SHANGHAI] Best Xiao Long Bao at Jia Jia Tang Bao
~ [SHANGHAI] Famous Sheng Jian Bao at Yang’s Dumpling
~ [SHANGHAI] Disneyland Park and Disney Town at Disney Resort
Wai Po Jia / The Grandma’s House
3rd Floor – Bailian Xuhui Shopping Center 百联徐汇商业广场, 2038 Huashan Lu,
near Guangyuan Lu 华山路2038号, 近广元路
Opening Hour: 11:00am – 10pm
Phone: +86 21 5418 6115
Price: starts from IDR 50K
