Hong Kong and Taiwan are serious about good food. But if you can't make it down there yourself, here are a few excellent places to try Hongkie and Taiwanese flavours right here in Shanghai.

Cha's Restaurant

What: Cantonese canteen, reigns supreme

Why: The milk teas, the curries, the surrounds

How much: RMB 50-80 per person

Where: Shop 2, 30-32 Sinan Lu, near Nanchang Lu. Tel: 6093 2062

Cha's may be aiming at the whole 1950s Hong Kong diner thing, but we've also heard it said that "it looks just like a Jewish deli." Never having been to either, we appreciate it for what it is: a rare combination of thoughtful interior design and cheap, tasty food.

The details make the place: diamonds of different coloured glass separating booths, saloon style doors to the bathroom, the counter at the back selling egg tarts and other pastries. They even serve Coke in 200ml glass bottles, with four slices of lemon and a real ring of rust left when the metal cap is removed.

The menu maps all the major continents of Cantonese food: fried rice, noodles, omelets, curries, fatty meats and whole and half chickens. Anything you care to eat comes in several different styles, making it easy to tailor a meal to fanatically precise tastes. 

With vegetable dishes, for example, you can get your chosen leaf poached or fried with garlic, oyster sauce or preserved tofu (RMB 18). If those options don't appeal, you can have it cooked in stock and flavoured with fish and black beans or salty egg (RMB 24).

The bubbling yellow claypot curry is unmissable – teeming with vegetables and chicken, seafood or fatty beef. The noodles in the Singapore style vermicelli are a well seasoned backdrop to the main action of fresh prawns, scrambled eggs and bbq pork. The braised pork belly with preserved vegetables (RMB 36) is a good choice for more brazen appetites, with a thick, tasty arc of fat on every piece. If you've got a big enough posse, order a whole duck smothered in thick, chocolate-coloured soy sauce (RMB 90). Visitors will be impressed.

On our last visit, the waitress recommended the scallops with tofu bean paste (RMB 38) over mapo style tofu. Recommendations are a good way to manage the massive menu, and it also pays to keep your eyes peeled for dishes arriving at other tables – we've seen some that aren't on the menu, including a whole fish under scrambled eggs and tomatoes.

The milk teas (RMB 13) are delicious and authentic, and it's nice to be able to sweeten – or not sweeten – them yourself. When you're ready to get your drink on, beers are RMB 14 to 18.

The place is packed at lunch and overflowing at dinner time – we suspect it's a good pick up joint for hip young professionals. If you don't want to wait for a dinner table, try sitting down before 6 or after 8.

Twist Brown Sugar Ice

What: Taiwanese ice bar

Why: Brown is the king of sugars

Where: 708 Weihai Lu, near Shanxi Lu

How Much: RMB 13-20 per person

Although the owner tells us it's wildly popular in Taiwan, Japan and Korea, Twist is the only place in Shanghai specialising in ices – Asia's equivalent of the snow cone – sweetened with brown sugar. It sounds like a minor point of difference, but the brown sugar brings a hint of molasses flavour to these treats that you don't get elsewhere.

Twist is a create your own affair. Starting with a base of crushed ice and brown sugar syrup (RMB 12), the toppings – which you can mix in your mind as you read – are: red bean, green bean, tapioca pearls, sago, condensed milk and the mysterious cranberry bean (RMB 1 each); almond jelly, grass jelly, sweet yams, peanut and rice balls (RMB 3 each); taro balls, yam balls and pudding (RMB 4 each); and sweet taro and grandma's recipe pineapple (RMB 6 each).

Those 17 ingredients can be used in, if not countless combinations, at least a number we couldn't work out. But we like the peanut, almond jelly and pineapple best.

There are also mango, pineapple, red bean, green bean, and, our pick, peanut smoothies (RMB 15-20), and you can get winter melon juice squeezed with brown sugar and your choice of lemon juice, tapioca pearls, and yam and taro balls (RMB 13-15).

The decor of the Twist shack is minimalist white, with upturned black plastic bins for stools at three small tables. The ice machine whirs away in one corner, and we're told they're bringing in more equipment in order to concoct warm puddings soon.

Oh yeah, Twist is also supposed to be a lala ice bar, but there's nothing especially Sapphic about it, unless you take Twist as an antonym for straight. There was even – gasp! – a man in there when we visited.

In another life, the owner was a creative director at advertising agencies Ogilvy and DDB, and she hasn't downgraded her ambitions. She hopes to open more Twists, perhaps in Hongqiao next.

Xin Wang

What: No strings attached Hong Kong comfort food

Why: Wonton noodles to die for

How Much: RMB 40-80 per person

Where: 2F-222, Channel 1 Mall,

155 Changshou Lu, near Shanxi Bei Lu.

Tel: 3131 5101

It’s not easy to find. But if you can navigate your way up the escalators of Channel 1 Mall, then walk through H&M and Jack Jones without trying any clothes on, Xin Wang is worth a taste.

The décor, while clean and modern, is nothing fancy or cutting-edge. This is a place where you can grab a barbecue pork rice combo or a bowl of congee, wash it down with milk tea, and leave feeling satiated without burning a hole in your wallet.

The barbecue meats are a must. If you can’t decide which is your favourite, try the four-piece combo, which has pieces of crispy pork, barbecued pork, duck and chicken (RMB 45) laid simply on a plate with two different sauces. This is one of the few places in Shanghai that captures the flavour of this Hong Kong specialty without being too oily or fatty.

The wonton noodles are a great deal at RMB 20. And after taking a bite out of these wonton dumplings, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see actual fresh, juicy shrimp in the filling.

For drinks and desserts, this cha canting has an exhaustive list of goodies to choose from. The lime soda (RMB 15) was a bit of a bore, but for an authentic Hong Kong meal experience, have a sip of the red bean ice drink (RMB 13). It’s a Cantonese favourite that’s more like a liquid meal of red beans, rich milk, and syrup – and it won’t let you down.

The mango sago with pomelo (RMB 18) seemed promising at first, but this fruity dessert was disappointingly goopy, and not fresh-tasting at all.

As the newest Shanghai location of the Xin Wang franchise, the restaurant attracts a fair share of customers, even mid-week. The service is friendly, the prices affordable, and its no-frills dishes will keep you coming back for a simple taste of authentic Hong Kong. 

Tsui Wah

What: 1967 Mong Kok café climbs corporate franchise ladder and opens shop in Shanghai

Why: You have a hankering for that Hongkie feel

How Much: RMB 60-100 per person

Where: 291 Fumin Lu, near Changle Lu. Tel: 6170 1282

It’s the little things that count at Tsui Wah.

You’re greeted by hostesses wearing t-shirts with ‘I Tsui Wah’ in Chinese characters. Hot milk tea (RMB 13) is served in a homey cup with a simple swirly blue design of a smiling cartoon face. Its warm pineapple bun (RMB 9) comes with a slice of butter that’s thoughtfully placed atop a few ice cubes. 

But these are just added touches to what makes this restaurant feel like home for Hong Kongers. It’s buzzing with the sound of clattering plates, people chatting away from their booths, and a steady flow of restaurant-goers coming in and out.

The menu is massive, and it has to be. Tsui Wah offers a smattering of Hong Kong café classics, which ranges from fish ball egg noodles and barbecued meats, to Southeast Asian dishes like Hainan chicken rice, and even ‘Swiss Style’ chicken wings and sandwiches served with fries.

If you’re in need of a jolt of caffeine, try the iced yuanyang (RMB 15), a mixture of milk tea and coffee that is already sweetened and a refreshing accompaniment to any meal here. The hot version, however, is RMB 2 cheaper, which is apparently because it comes in a smaller cup.

On our server’s recommendation, we tried the Malaysian beef stew curry (RMB 48), a mix of soft and tender chunks of beef with potatoes, smothered in a mild yellow curry. While flavourful and enjoyable, it unfortunately spurred fears of prematurely-blocked arteries, after we found more chunks of fat than other, healthier cow bits in the bowl.

Another selection you might like to try from Tsui Wah’s top 10 dishes is the sizzling king prawns with fried noodles (RMB 58). Sitting pretty on a hot plate, the crispy egg noodles were overpowered by sweet and sour sauce, though its shrimps were fresh and generous in size.

Compared to the rest of its menu, the dessert selection is slim. But the crème brulée (RMB 25), with an intricate caramelised sugar dome as a garnish, is a sweet treat at the end of the meal.

Although this isn’t the best Cantonese food we’ve tasted, the restaurant’s quick service and busy, but relaxed, atmosphere has a charm that really keeps it bustling like any Hong Kong café.

And just like in Mong Kok, where the lights never seem to dim, Tsui Wah is located next to No. 88 club and open late into the evening – making it a very likely spot for some after hours, late-night snacking action (otherwise known as snaction).