Shanghai loves its crayfish and although the Shouning Road crayfish street mecca is no more, there are still hundreds of places to eat the little mudbugs in the city. (No, they are not raised in the sewer, as popular rumours on the Chinese internet have claimed.)
Hong Kui Jia Crayfish is one of my favourite crayfish specialty restaurant in Shanghai. Hong Kui Jia means “Red Armour” in Chinese – not a bad name for a crayfish chain. It has multiple locations around downtown, but expect a long wait at some of their popular locations, like this one in Dingxi Road. Lots of drinking and buzz, a very typical Chinese late-night dining vibe. They have all the crayfish classics, from traditional 13-spices, to Ma La (hot and spicy), but their specialties are 冰镇 or served cold over a bed of ice, and salted egg yolk.
Louisiana Crawfish or 小龙虾？
Clarke’s crawfish (Procambarus clarkii) is a native crustacean found in the waterways of Louisiana, and the main ingredients of Louisiana Boil. In 1920s, Japanese brought them into China as food for bullfrogs. As they had no natural predators, they became top of the food chain in many waterways and lakes in China. And because of their superb survival instincts (they can survive in poor water quality), they were thought to be sewer cleaners. Then the Chinese found the best way to destroy this invasive species – eat them. However after the food poisoning incident in Nanjing back in 2010, the demand for them totally tanked.
After efforts to assure food safety, crawfish these days are almost all farmed in Xu Yi County 盱眙 in Jiangsu. There are now also three wholesale markets, producing about 60,000 tons of Xuyi crayfish annually, making the Chinese the biggest consumer of crawfish/crayfish.
经典冰镇小龙虾 Crayfish on Ice
经典冰镇小龙虾 Crayfish on Ice is a great appetiser to kick off an evening of crustaceans. Just pop off the head and slurp out the tomalley, slip off the trousers and remove the crop, then eat the tail.
香辣迷踪膏蟹 Spicy Crab Roe
Darling has a special thing for 香辣蟹 Spicy Crab. Spicy crab is a classic dish featuring fresh live crab as the main ingredient, stir-fried with dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, ginger, garlic, and a special sauce.
It’s a popular and flavourful seafood dish known for its strong flavours. It boasts a spicy, numbing, and fragrant flavour, a bright red colour, and offers a delightful combination of crispy lotus roots and celtuce, and juicy, sweet crab meat.
Because different female crabs mature and mate at varying times of the year, and because one mating event can yield several separate broods, fertilised egg-bearing (or “berried”) females can be found across different seasons. Not because they are laden with steroids as the urban legend goes.
蒜茸烤生蚝 Grilled Oysters with Garlic
The oysters are as wide as the palm of my hand.
经典麻辣小龙虾 Crayfish in Sichuan peppercorn sauce
The must-order for every crayfish night-out. This is the flavour that kicked off the whole crayfish craze across the nation. It started with Beijing, along this street called 簋街 Gui Street, a 5-km stretch that houses many 24-hour eating places, mostly serving this version which the Beijingers call 麻小. Then the craze came over to Shanghai and its popularity just blew out of proportion. Shanghai is close the source of the main ingredients, so they sold them by weight rather than by piece.
And if you find eating these crayfish a chore and dread shelling them, the waitress can do the heavy lifting for you. Such joy!
烤牛蛙 Grilled Bullfrogs
Besides the crayfish and other seafood, you can also enjoy night market and supper favourites like BBQ and kebabs.
It once set a record for serving over 1800 tables a day and selling five tons of crayfish. But these days, F&B in Shanghai is taking a hit from the slowdown in economy. Prices have remained reasonable, and the service has improved.
Hong Kui Jia Crayfish 红盔甲
825 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’An Xi Lu, Changning District
定西路825号, 近延安西路
Visited Apr 2026
0 comments on “Red Amour Crayfish 红盔甲 @ Shanghai”