There are times when a food tour is just not a convenient choice – we realize this – so we have compiled a guide of some of Shanghai’s top food delivery companies. Don’t fight the urge to stay in your pajamas and finish that season of Orange is the new Black on DVD. You’re not being lazy, you are giving a courier a job. Sure, that’s it.
Instant meal options:
Sherpa’s is the undisputed king of the restaurant delivery services in the city. With the best selection, customer service and best restaurants, this is your go-to for western restaurants. You’re going to pay more than eating at your local stir-fry shop, but you don’t have to leave your living room. There are plenty of Chinese options available as well, and daily promotions that may make sifting through the options a bit easier. They’ve introduced free delivery from 1-6pm with no minimum order for 2014. http://sherpa.com.cn/
Mealbay is a lot less picky with the restaurants that join the service, so you are going to find some shitty food amongst the myriad of decent options. The English menu item translations are a hot mess, so there’s that. Definitely gets the job done, and there a few more lower end price options to be found.
Delivery Hero China I never actually made it past the annoying sign up process when I tried last year. They are marketing themselves as the super cheap option. Use at your own risk.
Nosh They’re in the market of the quick, fresh, sandwiches, soups, salads, wraps and simple mains category. A great option if you live in Puxi. They have weekend brunch sets that are quite decent.
Groceries:
With groceries, you generally are going to have to pick a time and wait around at your house to actually receive them and pay in cash. That said, the sites are all quite easy to use and you can just make sure ayi is around to answer the door.
Fields: They’ve got just about everything, including organic produce, hard to find foreign items, full meal sets, gift baskets, at-home hot pots(!) and so much more. It’s not the cheapest, but it’s pretty fair.
Kate & Kimi: It’s not the most professional, but they do have plenty of sales, a good mobile site for ordering when you’re sick in bed, and tons of health and diet-specific items that may be hard to source. Some frozen meals to stock up on as well that are quite tasty. Try the Indian butter chicken. Yum!
Of course there are many more! Feel free to tweet us your favorites @UnTourShanghai and we’ll update this post from time to time.
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