Price Categories
Average price for a meal for one, with one drink:
$ = under US$20 (under Rmb 120)
$$ = US$20–40 (Rmb 120–240)
$$$ = over US$40 (over Rmb 240)
Restaurants
Guangzhou is a great place for eating out. The city is the home of Cantonese cuisine, with hundreds of good restaurants in which to sample it, and prices, though rising fast, remaining low compared to Hong Kong. There is also a good supply of dining options from elsewhere in China and, reflecting Guangzhou’s cosmopolitan nature, from around the world.
There are numerous restaurants on Shamian Island and in the nearby streets north of Qingping Market, but overall they are spread quite evenly around the city.
Cantonese and other Southern Chinese
Dongjiang Seafood
199 Yanjiang Zhonglu, Tinahe District. Tel: 020 8318 4901. Open: L & D daily. $$
Downtown and downright excellent. There are non-seafood choices, but regulars sing the praises of the stuffed giant crabs and other seafood specialities.
Guangzhou Restaurant
2 Wenchang Nanlu, Shangxiajiu Lu. Tel: 020 8138 0388. Open: L & D daily. $–$$
Ranged over several floors, signature dishes include Wenchang chicken and double-boiled shark’s fin soup with black chicken. Very popular with local residents for dim sum.
Lai Heen
3/F The Ritz-Carlton, 3 Xing’an Lu, Pearl River New City, Tianhe District. Tel: 020 3813 6688. Open: L & D daily. $$$
Cantonese fine dining in a sumptuous setting. Choose from dim sum, classic and modern Cantonese cuisine. Tea and wine pairings enhance the experience.
Panxi
151 Long Jin Xilu. Tel: 020 8172 1328. Open: L & D daily. $–$$
One of three garden-style restaurants remaining in Guangzhou, Panxi consists of several linked dining rooms with views overlooking Liwan Lake. The 100-year-old institution claims to serve over 1,000 varieties of dim sum.
Tao Tao Ju
20 Dishipu Lu, Liwan District. Tel: 020 8139 6111. Open: L & D daily. $$
Historic establishment that makes the most of its location and reputation. The dim sum is excellent, and its menu runs to 200 items.
Other Chinese
Dong Bei Ren
36 Tianhe Nanerlu. Tel: 020 8750 1711. Open: L & D daily. $-$$
Dong Bei Ren is one of Guangzhou’s most popular restaurants, renowned for its myriad Manchurian jiaozi, or mini dumplings, and its sweet red wine.
Xin Yue Muslim Restaurant
3/F, Xinjiang Dasha, 76 Tianhe Beilu. Tel: 020 3878 2783. Open: L & D daily. $
Good Uighur halal food – with Xinjiang-reared lamb predominating – at this inexpensive and fun restaurant, which puts on a nightly performance of Xinjiang dancing.
French
La Seine
G/F, Xinhai Concert Hall, 33 Qingbo Lu, Ershadao. Tel: 020 8735 2531. Open: L & D daily. $$$
Sophisticated French restaurant located within the Xinhai Concert Hall on Ersha Island. Upmarket ambience makes dressing up essential.
Indian
Haveli
2 Aiguo Lu. Tel: 020 8359 4533. Open: L & D daily. $
Haveli’s fulsome Indian fare tastes even better beneath the trees of its picturesque garden. Very well priced.
Jewel of India
123 Huangpu Dadao Xi, Tianhe. Tel: 020 3846 6955. Open: L & D daily. $
Great for a classic curry house feast, the Tianhe branch is one of a chain of authentic Indian-owned restaurants, with others in Dongguan, Foshan and Zhuhai.
International
1920
183 Yanjiang Zhonglu. Tel: 020 8333 6156. Open: L & D daily. $$
A charming, emphatically German riverside café that’s just the place for lunch, Sunday brunch, or somewhere to listen to live jazz of an evening.
Lucy’s
3 Shamian Nanjie, Shamian Island. Tel: 020 8121 5106. $
An American-style diner with well over a decade’s experience of providing home comforts to tourists on Shamian Island. Tables and chairs outside on the banks of the Pearl River make this a pleasant place to soak up Shamian’s laid-back atmosphere.
Wilbur’s
62 Zhusigang Erlu. Tel: 020 3761 1101. Open: L & D daily. $$
The food is fine but generic, but the real reason to visit is the fantastic converted 1920s mansion, tucked up in one of the oldest parts of the city. There’s a non-smoking floor – a rarity in China – a roof terrace and an outside patio.
Italian
Prego
40/F The Westin Guangzhou, 6 Lin He Zhong Lu, Tianhe District – Guangzhou, Guangdong. Tel: 020 2886 6868. Open: L & D daily. $$$
Upscale rooftop Italian restaurant, with authentic cuisine, exceptional pasta and an extensive wine menu.
Japanese
Amanokawa
4/F, CITIC Plaza, Tianhe Beilu, Tianhe District. Tel: 020 8755 4411. Open: L & D (daily). $$-$$$
Beautifully decorated Japanese restaurant located within the landmark CITIC Plaza, close to the Guangzhou East Train Station.
Thai and Vietnamese
Vanda
8 Xingsheng Lu, Unit 102 Huifeng Shangpu, Zhujiang Xincheng. Tel: 020 3805 1018. Open: L & D daily. $$
A casual Thai and Vietnamese café-restaurant in the Zhujiang New Town area, which doubles as a suave cocktail bar come nightfall. Great atmosphere.
Vietnamese Lemon House
Ground Floor, 11 Jianshe Liu, Ma Lu/507 Huifu Donglu. Tel: 020 8375 3600. Open: L & D daily. $
There are some Thai dishes on the menu, but you should concentrate on the Vietnamese, especially the range of pho.
Shang Xia Jiu Pedestrian Street has many well-known restaurants.
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Bars and pubs
Guangzhou’s bars and pubs still tend to be divided between Irish-style pubs which cater to expat tastes and budgets, and small, often-soulless Chinese-run bars where soppy Mando-pop and dice-games predominate. Things have improved somewhat in recent years as more younger, cosmopolitan bar owners have entered the fray. For more detailed information, see www.thenanfang.com/bars/guangzhou
136 Café Sleepingwood
1/F, Yanjiang Building, 195 Yanjiang Zhonglu. Tel: 020 8318 1198
Nestled in a prime riverside spot with a small outdoor patio, this relaxed café-bar is a top place for a quiet drink. Imported and local lagers.
Hooley’s Irish Pub.
101, 8 Xingsheng Lu, Zhujiang Xincheng. Tel: 020 3886 2675
Irish pub grub, big-screen sports and freshly baked bread at this excellent Irish pub in Zhujiang New Town. As well as Guinness and Kilkenny, Hoegaarden also makes it to the drinks list. Live music some nights.
Loft 345
4/F, 19 Xiaogang Huayuan, Jiangnan Donglu.
An artsy indie bar south of the Pearl River. Access is through heavily graffitied stairwells and corridors though the space is welcoming, with pool tables, foosball and a great range of art books and magazines.
The Paddy Field Irish Pub
G/F, Central Plaza, 38 Huale Lu. Tel: 020 8360 1379
Excellent craic guaranteed in this first outpost of Erin in Guangzhou. The Guinness isn’t quite as it is in Dublin, but it’s not bad all the same.
Wilber’s
62 Zhusigang Erlu.Tel: 020 3761 1101
Beautiful villa location and great outdoor terraces for enjoying the balmy Guangdong air at this restaurant-bar. There are some superb wines from northern China on the drinks’ list.