Love Sushi: Where to Eat in Shanghai

Why go

Shanghai’s sushi scene has exploded over the last few years, and most of it is noise — flashy fit-outs, imported fish flown in for Instagram, chefs who rotated in from somewhere else last season. Love Sushi is different because of who’s behind the counter. Ma Shifu isn’t a sushi chef who picked up the knife recently; he spent two decades in kaiseki kitchens before stepping into this ten-seat room, and that training shows in how the meal is paced — course by course, temperature by temperature, rather than piece after piece of the same thing. The restaurant sits inside the growing constellation of spots from sushi master Sun-San, whose name also anchors Ochiyo and Sushi Brother, so Love Sushi arrives with a pedigree rather than a marketing budget.

Where it is and what you’re walking into

You’ll find Love Sushi inside Plaza 66, the glass-towered mall-and-office complex on Nanjing Xi Lu in Jing’an — one of Shanghai’s most recognizable addresses, home to a cluster of the city’s most polished retail and dining. That location matters: this isn’t a hidden alley find, it’s a considered, quietly confident room tucked into one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the city, and the counter itself is intentionally small. Ten seats means you’re close enough to watch the rice being formed, the blowtorch pass over a piece of otoro, the small ceramic dishes being swapped out course by course. There’s no room to disappear into a corner table here — you are, by design, part of the show.

What to expect at the counter

The kitchen leans hyper-seasonal, which in practice means the fish on your plate this month won’t be what you’re served in another. That’s the whole point of an omakase built around a kaiseki-trained chef: the meal follows what’s genuinely good right now rather than a fixed laminated menu. Expect the rhythm of a proper omakase — lighter, more delicate items first, building toward richer cuts, with attention paid to how each piece is seasoned (a brush of nikiri, a scatter of yuzu zest, a pinch of salt) rather than drowning everything in soy sauce. Because menus and pricing shift with the season and with what’s flown in, it’s worth confirming current offerings and the reservation system directly with the restaurant before you go — details like this move faster than any guide can keep up with.

Getting there

Plaza 66 sits directly on Nanjing Xi Lu, one of the easiest strips of the city to reach. The Nanjing West Road subway station (Lines 2 and 12) puts you within a short walk, and the surrounding blocks — Jing’an Temple a bit further west, the Nanjing Road shopping corridor to the east — make it easy to fold dinner here into a broader afternoon in the district. If you’re coming from the Bund or People’s Square, it’s a quick taxi or a couple of stops on Line 2.

How to visit like a local

Omakase counters this small run on reservations, not walk-ins, and Love Sushi is no exception — treat a booking as the first step, not an afterthought, and expect to reserve well in advance given how few seats exist per seating. When you call or message to book, be upfront about any allergies or dishes you don’t eat; a kaiseki-trained chef building a set sequence needs that information ahead of time, not mid-meal. Dress a notch smarter than casual — this is the kind of room where guests match the quiet formality of the counter rather than turning it into a photo shoot. Payment at this tier is almost always by card or mobile pay (Alipay/WeChat Pay) rather than cash, standard practice across Shanghai’s higher-end dining scene. Tipping isn’t customary in Chinese restaurants generally, including here. The most common mistake visitors make at counters like this is rushing — arrive on time, but don’t expect or ask to speed through courses; the pacing is the experience. Confirm opening hours and the reservation process directly with the restaurant before you go, since both can shift with the seasonal menu.

When to go

Because the offering changes with the seasons, there isn’t a single “best” month — the appeal is precisely that a visit in spring won’t taste like a visit in autumn. What you can control is the experience at the table: a quieter, less rushed seating generally means a more attentive one, so ask when booking whether weeknights tend to run calmer than weekends, and plan around that if pacing matters to you.