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"Is it too much? Not too little!" Kong Yiji made the Xianheng Hotel famous throughout China and also made Shaoxing cuisine a popular "food trend" for tourists visiting Shaoxing to savor the ancient city's culinary culture. As a result, traditional Shaoxing dishes like braised pork with mustard greens, fried stinky tofu, and wine-soaked dates are becoming increasingly delicious and popular.
Start with a plate of fennel beans and a sip of Taidiao wine, then you can chat and savor the aroma while feeling slightly intoxicated. The drunken shrimp arrives, remarkably fresh and vibrant, perhaps thanks to the Taidiao flavor, their savory flavor is tempered by warmth, and their warmth is sweet. Fried stinky tofu is a great appetizer to satisfy your stomach. Crispy on the outside, hot on the inside, and with a lingering aftertaste that's both pungent and fragrant, it's a true signature dish.
Shaoxing cuisine, including braised pork with fermented dried vegetables, is arguably the most famous local home-style dish. Other popular dishes include pickled duck, goose, and pickled vegetables. Many traditional Shaoxing dishes, once considered rustic by locals, have now become popular staples of the city's cuisine. These signature dishes are considered signature dishes by every local restaurant. Dishes worth trying include: Braised Chicken with White Dried Fish, Silver Thread Bell Peppers, Chicken in Shrimp Oil, Pearl Fish, Braised Meat with Dried Vegetables, Fermented Amaranth Stems, Fermented Thousand Layers, Frozen Dried Fish, Zha Rou (stuck meat), Fermented Chicken, Yue Chicken in Clear Soup, Dried Herring in Fermented Sauce, and Drunken Crab.
"Warm a bowl of mellow rice wine and a plate of flavorful fennel beans." This tavern, mentioned in Lu Xun's "Kong Yiji," has become a Shaoxing tourist attraction. Xianheng is now divided into two sections: one is a traditional snack bar, where food is served after the order is paid, with eight-person tables and long benches; the other is the hotel's Chinese restaurant, with round tables, excellent service, and exquisite hotel cuisine. Because it's located at the end of the Lu Xun Hometown Scenic Area, it's a popular spot for lunch after sightseeing.
Address: No. 179 Luxun Middle Road, Yuecheng District
Contact: 0575-85116666
Transportation: Take Bus No. 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 106, 116, 130, or 303 to Luxun Road Intersection Station.
Reference price: 70 yuan
The food is authentic Shaoxing style, and the unique feature is that most dishes can be ordered in half portions. Just be sure to go early and be prepared to queue.
Recommended: Shaoxing Drunken Chicken, Champion Chicken, Shaoxing Three Fresh, Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables
Address: No. 114, Cangqiaozhi Street, Yuecheng District, Fuheng Street
Contact: 0575-85223317
Opening hours: 10:30-13:30; 16:30-20:30
Transportation: Take Bus No. 6, 18, 23, 28, 31, 309, 311, 316, or 603 to the Chengjian Building Station.
Reference price: 53 yuan
The atmosphere is average, but it's incredibly popular. It's famous for its large bowls of dishes, which are generously portioned and primarily Shaoxing-style. You can also find a variety of Shaoxing-style snacks here, such as eggplant wrapped in rice and bayberry with shochu.
Recommended dishes: Shaoxing three fresh vegetables, fish head, and millet porridge.
Address: No. 873 Xinjian South Road, Yuecheng District
Contact: 0575-88063600
Transportation: Take bus No. 11, 13, or 15 to Laohe Station
Reference price: 35 yuan
This popular restaurant chain in Shaoxing offers affordable prices, delicious dishes, generous portions, and attentive service. Recommended: Tea-flavored Chicken, Green Bean Puree, Green Tea Cake, Grilled Razor Clams, Coral Shrimp, and Mapo Tofu. Address: 2nd Floor, Building A2, West Zone, Margaret Commercial Center, Jiefang North Road, Yuecheng District.
Contact: 0575-88223377
Opening hours: 10:30-14:00; 16:30-21:00
Transportation: Bus No. 1, 4, 14, 30, 35, 39, 130, 303 to Railway Station.
Reference price: 45 yuan
This is a creative Shaoxing restaurant with a rather artistic atmosphere. There's no menu; you order from the small blackboard downstairs. There are only four rows of seats, but the food is good and it's a popular spot among young locals. Recommended dishes: Bread Temptation, Peppercorn Chicken, Farmer's Stewed Fish, and Charcoal Grilled Meat.
Address: No. 81, Fuhe Street, Yuecheng District (opposite to Tashan Park)
Contact: 0575-85225077
Opening hours: 10:30 AM - 1:00 AM
Getting there: Get off at Yuecheng District Fu or Tashan and walk about 100 meters. You can also get off at the Second Hospital and walk about 200 meters.
Reference price: 63 yuan
This is the most famous restaurant in Anchang Ancient Town. Owner Shen Baolin is the town's "ambassador." Mr. Shen, wearing a black felt hat, stroking his long beard, a gray gown, and round cloth shoes, evokes a typical Kong Yiji from Lu Xun's novels.
Recommended dishes: Chinese sausage, cured duck, fried fish with scallion oil, dried bamboo shoots and loofah soup, braised pork with dried vegetables.
Address: Old Street, Anchang Ancient Town
Reference price: 30 yuan
Shaoxing snacks are truly plentiful! Besides the well-known stinky tofu, fennel-flavored beans, rice wine, and fermented glutinous rice, there's also honey kernel cake, Shaoxing fragrant cake, wine-flavored mooncakes, osmanthus-flavored cake, osmanthus-fried rice cake, fish skin wontons, crispy sesame cakes, pine nut cakes, fried crispy fish, mugwort cakes, tangerine peel cakes, pine flower cakes, tiaotou cakes, square cakes, Anchang pulled white sugar, moldy dried vegetables, cream-filled pancakes, and many other snacks I can't even name.
To find truly famous snack shops in Shaoxing, you really need to carefully explore them. Rongluchun Restaurant (389 Jiefang North Road, 6, 9, 11, 18, 106, 116, 303 Hualian Department Store <City Square Station>) is a time-honored Shaoxing establishment, known for its noodles. However, due to organizational issues, the service is average and the food quality has declined. Stinky tofu is everywhere, and "Three Flavors Stinky Tofu" (258 Luxun Middle Road) is known as "Shaoxing's number one snack." However, the stinky tofu that Shaoxing residents love needs to be found in more secluded corners. For example, Wang Laohan Stinky Tofu (on Xinjian South Road, near Luxun's hometown) enjoys a good reputation among locals. Zhoujia Food (254 Luxun Middle Road), near Luxun's hometown, is said to be run by his descendants. It's a good business and offers a wide range of high-quality snacks, so ordering a few is a good idea.
If you like pastries, you can go to Chef Tang’s Food Hall at No. 98 Cangqiaozhi Street (6, 18, 23, 28, 31, 309, 311, 316, 603, City Construction Building Station). It is quite popular and is most famous for its creamy Xiaopan, as well as many local snacks from Shaoxing.
The time-honored teahouse in Anchang Ancient Town has been around for over 250 years. Drinking tea and visiting teahouses is a traditional tradition in Anchang, Shaoxing, and even the Jiangnan region. Therefore, visiting Anchang for tea is the ultimate way to experience the ancient town.
Recommended: seasonal tea, broad beans, and boiled water chestnuts.
Address: Old Street, Anchang Ancient Town
Reference price: 10 yuan
There are several food gathering areas in Shaoxing:
One is the intersection of Jiefang Road and Luxun Road (Xianheng New World), where there are many delicious restaurants;
The second place is Laodong Road, which is the section from the entrance of Zhou Enlai's ancestral home to the intersection of Xinjian Road. It is less than 100 meters long, but there are many hot pots and barbecues.
The third place is Jishan Road, which is a bit scattered and not very centralized, and mainly serves Sichuan or Northeastern cuisine;
The fourth is Fushan West Road, which runs from opposite Hanlin Imperial Palace to the West Station. It is most famous for its Korean cuisine, among which Korea Garden, Hancun Korean Cuisine and other Korean dishes are authentic and popular.