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Wuzhen Scenic Area is dotted with a wide variety of restaurants and food stalls, offering authentic local cuisine. Here, you can enjoy a wide variety of Jiangnan water town snacks, authentic Wuzhen dishes, Cantonese dim sum, Hangzhou cuisine, Shanghainese cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, and exquisite Western cuisine. You can also customize your own banquet.
Wuzhen's most famous local specialty is braised lamb, which is crispy, sweet, and spicy, and is especially delicious after the winter solstice. Whitewater fish is also a local specialty. Common home-style dishes include Wuzhen braised chicken, braised pork with preserved vegetables, blanched river shrimp, stir-fried snails with soy sauce, braised pork knuckle, steamed white fish, free-range chicken stew (soup), egg yolk pumpkin, mushrooms and vegetables, and a variety of seasonal vegetables. Famous snacks include sister-in-law cakes (sugar cakes with red bean paste fillings), stinky tofu, Dingsheng cakes, smoked bean tea, green rice dumplings, steamed pork with rice flour in lotus leaves, and mini wontons.
Snack shops are located near several workshops and soy sauce factories, selling snacks like fried stinky tofu (10 yuan per portion in Xizha, 5 yuan per portion in Dongzha), with a dazzling array of toppings and unique flavors. Snack shops are more common in Dongzha, where mutton noodles are ubiquitous for 15 yuan a portion and braised lamb is just 40 yuan. Specialty pastries like silkworm flower cakes, osmanthus cakes, and black rice are also available. However, the environment isn't as quiet and clean as in Xizha.
Dongzha restaurants are privately owned. Jiujianglou, which specializes in local specialties like Shourou (Shou Rou) and Steamed Pork with Lotus Leaf Flour, is a century-old establishment (next to Xiuzhen Temple, south of Yingjia Bridge in the Dongzha Scenic Area, 0573-88716799). Despite its age, its reputation has been declining. Sanzhenzhai Braised Duck Restaurant, near Yingjia Bridge, is also well-known. A newer establishment, "La Wuzhen" (451 Xizha Street, 83 yuan per person), is also quite good.
The restaurant is small and a bit out of the way, with only a few tables. The environment is really average, but the taste is absolutely up to par, and the price-performance ratio is very high in Dongzha.
Signature dishes: Braised lamb, whitewater fish
Address: No. 40 Guanhou Street, Wuzhen Town (near the east end of Beihua Bridge)
Contact: 13655835540
The hotels near Caishen Bay are of average quality in terms of environment and taste, but have a good location. You can watch high pole performances while eating, and the prices are not expensive, so they are cost-effective.
Signature dishes: Steamed taro with braised pork, amaranth omelet, Fengyuan brown pig's trotter, loach with moldy vegetables, and braised lamb.
Address: West side of Caishen Bay, Dongzha Scenic Area (near the entrance to Xizha)
Contact: 0573-88718048
Reference price: 32 yuan per person
Xizha's Tong'an Inn (129 Xizha Street, Tong'an Inn, 88 yuan per person) and Jintang Club offer high-end dining options, each with its own unique flair. Each B&B in Xizha is run by its own owner, each a skilled chef. However, seating is limited, with only one to three tables per homestay. Menus and prices are standard: pot roast chicken for 35 yuan, braised lamb for 48 yuan. Choosing a B&B near the waterfront and enjoying the host's signature dishes is a pleasant and affordable experience.
I recommend eating at your B&B. Each B&B offers food and beverages, and the prices are standardized throughout the scenic area. Don't worry about getting ripped off. The breakfast provided by the accommodation is also quite good. If you arrive before 9 PM and find the host, they'll provide you with a free breakfast the next morning for a reasonable price. The breakfast is incredibly varied, with dozens of options to choose from, and the taste is quite good.
This is a restaurant with some influence in the local area. It serves authentic local flavors, and its service and environment are among the best in the scenic area.
Address: Next to the guesthouse, No. 18 Xizha Street, Wuzhen
Contact: 0573-88731985
Reference price: 70 yuan per person
This is a very popular restaurant in Xizha. You often have to wait for a table. The environment is just like the name of the restaurant, with a strong Republican style, and the taste is also reliable.
Signature dishes: Braised lamb, river shrimp with wine lees, Song family braised pork, millet cake, wild vegetable cake
Address: Xizha Scenic Area, Wuzhen
Contact: 0573-88730635
Opening hours: 10:50-20:00
Reference price: 69 yuan per person
This is a very cost-effective restaurant in Xizha. The restaurant environment is very Jiangnan, with carved windows, wooden tables, and long chairs. It is quite interesting.
Signature dishes: Whitewater fish, Dongpo pork, salted pork and winter melon soup
Address: No. 03, Andufang, Xizha Street, Wuzhen (near the ferry terminal)
Contact: 0573-88731077
Opening hours: 11:00-13:00, 17:00-6:00
Reference price: 45 yuan per person