What to eat in Chengdu

Here’s what I ate in Chengdu that is worth mentioning:

📍張老二涼粉 Zhang Lao Er
I got the sweet water noodles and the liangfen. I prefer the sweet water noodles which was slightly spicy, savoury, and sweet from the sugar all emulsified into one sauce when you mix it. The texture was strange at first though - it’s like biting into really thick undercooked dough but I couldn’t stop eating it.

📍巴蜀大將火鍋 Bashu Hotpot
One must try mala hotpot while they’re in Sichuan. The place I went to is ranked highly on Dianping and it gets crowded during dinner time (expect a 30-40min wait and roam nearby areas while waiting). The sichuan spicy soup base is fragrant with the numbing peppercorn and of course SPICY (even if it’s mild but you can also opt for the non-spicy soup base).

📍蓉荣北大铺盖面 Rongrong Beida Pugaimian
This was really good! I ordered the beef noodles and rib noodles. Soup bases are flavourful but the main focus should be on the noodles. Made fresh in house - 铺盖面 essentially means noodles covering a pan like a blanket. Two chefs are seen pulling and shaping the dough to be boiled fresh per order. Michelin bib gourmand.

📍 皇城熙客·巴蜀大牌档
My fav meal in Chengdu! The kung pao chicken was bursting with flavour in the oil filled with chili, peppercorn, and scallions. Dan dan mian had great texture. And the chicken soup I ordered was hot and comforting (especially after days of heavy and spicy foods)

📍明婷饭店 Mingting Fandian
A very local eatery recommended by the hotel concierge. This place is known for their naohua tofu (mapo tofu with pork brains). It’s not as bad as it sounds but I was realllllyyyy oily and spicy so you might want to try their other dishes like stir fried ribs instead if this is not your thing. Their daikon pork ribs soup was good and HUGE - the bowl was larger than the size of my palm. Followed with a plate of stir fried yam leaves. Dishes were on the oily side but representative of the dishes in this region. Follow me for more food and travel recs in China. Chongqing and Beijing coming up!

#mytraveldiary #china #chengdu #chinaguide #成都

Post by Elle | @unagi.dawn | Sep 7, 2025