On August 3rd, the topic of “Shanghai’s 128 yuan (RMB, the same below) lettuce salad uses only one head of lettuce” briefly trended on Weibo, sparking a huge controversy.
Recently, a netizen shared having a lettuce salad in Shanghai for 140 yuan per serving. This salad, priced at 128 yuan, only consisted of one head of lettuce. The restaurant also added an extra 10% service charge, bringing the total price to 140.80 yuan. The process of making the salad was quite simple, with the server just breaking the lettuce into small pieces, adding 6 ingredients, sprinkling a bit of bacon bits, a layer of Parmesan cheese, and a few chrysanthemum petals to finish it off.
Netizens mentioned that after tasting it, the flavor wasn’t significantly different from a regular salad. The restaurant explained that the lettuce is delivered daily from Nantong base, targeting high-end business entertainment, and the premium comes from the prime commercial district rent, on-site ceremonial feel, and customized service, rather than the ingredients themselves.
In the comments section, some netizens joked that the restaurant made 138 yuan with tears, while others felt that even if the salad was sold for 20 yuan, it would still be considered expensive. “Without trying hard in Shanghai, you can’t even afford lettuce.”
A netizen did the math, revealing that the same variety of romaine lettuce is sold for only 6-8 yuan per pound in supermarkets, and Fresh Hema offers three heads of organic lettuce for less than 10 yuan.
A Weibo member named “Oil Lamp Mom” expressed, “128 yuan is enough for me to buy nearly 13 packs of organic lettuce at Hema Supermarket, a total of 39 heads. My mother plants lettuce in our hometown every year, and a packet of lettuce seeds costs less than 2 yuan, with the yield from one packet of seeds supplying our family with green leafy vegetables for almost 2 months. 138 yuan is enough to plant for 64 years!”
“Oil Lamp Mom” further joked, stating that the purchasing power of “Hush dollars” is not in the same league as regular RMB.
Some netizens pointed out that the side dish price is higher than the main dish, and the service charge is even more expensive.
Similar incidents have occurred in Shanghai before. Previously, another popular restaurant in Shanghai, “THE C.STEAK HOUSE,” sold a lettuce salad for 188 yuan per head, and the restaurant permanently closed in July 2025.
In January of this year, a netizen complained that a head of lettuce was sold for 128 yuan in Shanghai.
In March of last year, “Extreme News” reported that most high-priced dishes are concentrated in Shanghai’s top commercial districts: half a white-cut chicken was priced at 480 yuan, but upon serving, the visible portion was notably insufficient. The server explained, “This chicken is different, it drinks milk and listens to music growing up.”
A lettuce salad priced at 188 yuan, consisting of only the leaves of one head of lettuce without even the core, and adding a 10% service charge, is more expensive than having a hot pot meal out. Even some of the “slightly affluent” middle class stated: “This dish is something I can’t afford.”
The report mentioned that inflating prices has become a kind of “marketing strategy” for many brands. Increasing prices are like handing out business cards. The extravagant presentation, exquisite decoration, and unconventional ingredients emphasize not taste but rather identity recognition.
This is a composite business of “consumption flaunting + brand story + social currency.” The keyword of consumption is not “eating” but “showing off.”
More importantly, behind the high prices in first-tier cities, it actually exposes that the transformation of China’s urban economic structure is not yet fully completed. The growing disparity between the income of ordinary people and the consumption capacity in first-tier cities is gradually widening, revealing the deep-seated contradictions in this high-cost area.