Shanghai gives you about six good weeks to eat outside before the cold sets in.
We have maybe six good weeks before Shanghai turns cold, and we spent some of our favourite evenings this autumn eating outside. Three terraces, three completely different nights, and we loved every one enough to want to hand them straight to you: a California rooftop over the Lujiazui skyline, a handmade-pasta lane in a restored 里弄, and a Spanish rooftop built for a sunset glass. Here is what we ate, who is behind the cooking, and why we would go back tomorrow.
Good to know
- The window: the comfortable outdoor stretch runs roughly mid-October into late November, warm by day, a throw-over-the-shoulders cool after dark.
- The three we loved: Spago (Bund rooftop, California fine dining), Momenti (Italian lane-house terrace) and Ática (Spanish sunset rooftop); full prices in the table below.
- Book the outside table: a clear autumn evening fills the good terraces first, so reserve, and say you want to sit outdoors.
Why autumn is the moment to eat outside
Shanghai's weather plays a short, generous trick every October. The summer humidity finally lifts, the plane trees start to turn, and for a few weeks the evenings land in that narrow band where a terrace is a pleasure rather than an endurance test. The restaurants know it, which is exactly why the good outdoor tables go first. Our advice after this autumn's running around: pick your night, book ahead, and ask for a table outside. Here are the three we kept thinking about afterwards, from the grand to the hidden.
| Where | The night, the view | What to order | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spago, the Bund (Huangpu) | Glam rooftop, the Lujiazui skyline across the river | Smoked-salmon pizza, tuna cones, wagyu rib | ¥600 to 1,000 (USD 90 to 150) |
| Momenti, Hong Shou Fang (Putuo) | Warm Italian lane, canopy and greenery | Daily handmade pasta, steak, lamb shank | ¥150 to 250 (USD 22 to 37) |
| Ática, Xinle Road (Xuhui) | Sunset terraces over a leafy park | Jamón, tapas, seafood paella, salmorejo | ¥300 to 450 (USD 45 to 67) |
Spago: Wolfgang Puck, over the Bund
We dressed up for this one. Spago is the restaurant that made Wolfgang Puck a household name, born on the Sunset Strip in 1982, Michelin-starred, the place that put the smoked-salmon pizza and the open kitchen on the map. Last November it opened its first outpost in mainland China, on the 21st floor of The St. Regis on the Bund, with Puck himself cooking on opening night. The day-to-day kitchen is run by Executive Chef Luke Omarzu, who has cooked in the Spago world for years.
The terrace is the reason it opens our list: it looks straight across the Huangpu at the Oriental Pearl and the Lujiazui towers, and at dusk, when the skyline switches on, it is genuinely hard to look down at your plate. You should, though, because the food more than holds its own. We started with the dish that started it all, that cracker-thin smoked-salmon pizza with dill cream and a drift of roe, then tuna tartare scooped from little sesame-miso cones, a silky miso black cod, and a wagyu côte de boeuf carved at the table. Leave room for the spikey lemon.
It is a splurge, roughly ¥600 to 1,000 a head at dinner (about USD 90 to 150), with a gentler weekend lunch. Book the terrace, specifically, and aim to be seated before the light goes. This is the one for the night you want to remember.
Momenti: the Italian lane we keep going back to
If Spago is the big night, Momenti is the one we actually miss. Tucked into the restored Hong Shou Fang lane in Putuo, Pastificio Moménti is Italian-run, with a Milanese chef and the sort of welcome that clocks your face by the second visit. "Pastificio" means pasta workshop, and that is the whole idea: they make the pasta fresh every single day, in-house, from Italian flour, and you can taste the difference.
We sat out on the canopy-shaded terrace along the pedestrian lane, strung with greenery, and let lunch turn into a three-hour afternoon. The handmade pasta is what to order, but the seared steak and the slow lamb shank are quietly excellent, and the wine list is all Italian and worth handing to the floor, so ask what the family is pouring that night. It helps that it is the gentlest bill of the three, about ¥150 to 250 a head (about USD 22 to 37), which is exactly why it is the one we keep on repeat.
Ática: a Spanish sunset in the old villas
The third we almost want to keep to ourselves. Ática is a Spanish rooftop on the fifth floor of an old Xuhui mansion, reached by a small lift through the shop downstairs, which only sharpens the sense that you have found something. It comes from the Bottega group with a Spanish consulting chef, and the two leafy terraces, striped umbrellas and all, look over Xiangyang Park and a church dome or two. The whole place is tuned to golden hour.
We went for the last of the light and stayed into the first stars. The food is honest Spanish, meant for sharing: a plate of jamón, little tapas and pintxos, a chilled salmorejo, the creamy ensaladilla rusa, and a proper seafood paella heavy with mussels, clams and prawns. Order a sherry or a vermouth, angle the chairs at the sunset, and do not rush. Reckon on ¥300 to 450 a head (about USD 45 to 67). Of the three, this is the sundowner.
How we played it
A few notes from our own autumn evenings. Check the forecast and book the outdoor table explicitly, because the good seats vanish the moment the sky clears. Go earlier than you think for the sunset places like Ática and later for the skyline ones like Spago, so the view does its work while you eat. And bring a layer: a Shanghai October evening turns the minute the sun drops, and every one of these is better with a jacket you can shrug off than a chill you cannot.
When is outdoor dining season in Shanghai?
Roughly mid-October into late November, once the summer humidity lifts and before winter arrives. Evenings are warm enough to sit out and cool enough to want a layer, and the good terraces fill first on clear nights, so book ahead.
Which Shanghai terrace has the Bund and Lujiazui skyline view?
Spago, on the 21st floor of The St. Regis on the Bund in Huangpu, looks straight across the Huangpu River at the Oriental Pearl and the Lujiazui towers. Ask for a table on the terrace, and go at dusk.
Where can I eat outside in Shanghai without spending a fortune?
Momenti in Hong Shou Fang (Putuo) is the gentlest of the three at about ¥150 to 250 a head (about USD 22 to 37), with a canopy-shaded lane terrace and fresh handmade pasta. It is the relaxed, come-back-often option.
Do I need to reserve a terrace table in advance?
Yes, especially on a clear autumn weekend. Outdoor seats are limited and weather-dependent, so reserve and say you would like to sit outside; terraces are the first thing to go when the forecast is good.
Sources · 资料来源
- Details, hours and prices checked on Dianping (大众点评) and Trip.com, with reader notes from Xiaohongshu (小红书); opening and chef details from the restaurants and The St. Regis on the Bund.
- The photographs are from our own friendly contributors, who have dined at these restaurants themselves; the opinions here are our own. Hours and prices change often, so confirm on Dianping before you go.
Words, maps and research by the Choice Shanghai team. Please credit us and tag our 公众号 if you share.
