Hunan Restaurant   Jinlongzhai   Muslim Restaurant   Liu Gui Fang   Mushroom Restaurant   Tian Tian Le   Vegetarian Restaurant

Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurant

I have come across many foreigners who follow vegetarian diets to some extent or other, but they understandably complain that it is difficult to find vegetarian food in China. So, I'm delighted to announce the arrival of a vegetarian restaurant in the city centre.

What might surprise you if you read Chinese is that the menu includes chicken, duck, smoked pork, beef, fish, lobster, etc. However, rest assured. The restaurant sells no meat. There is a Chinese Buddhist tradition of recreating meat dishes using purely vegetarian ingredients such as tofu, beans, mushrooms, etc. They even do kebabs!

The restaurant is hidden in the maze of streets behind Guilin Ren restaurant and Wuxing Department Store. The address is: 41 Liuxin Street

Tel: 2809489

You can down load a translation of the menu here (PDF format)

updated 13th April 2008

Muslim Lanzhou Lamian

A few years ago, Liuzhou's city centre had a few Muslim restaurants. There was Ali Baba, a fine Xinjiang style restaurant and the highly popular Xi'an Restaurant. Unfortunately, these are long gone. There are many places where you can pick up lamb on sticks, but few restaurants offering the full range of this wonderful food.

The only one I know of in the city centre is this tiny restaurant tucked under the No. 1 bridge. If you know any others, please let me know.

It is a simple, small place with  reasonable prices. The menu is huge (but see below) and includes a number of noodle dishes including the famous Lanzhou Lamian for which it is named. There is a large variety of dishes featuring lamb, beef, chicken and seafood. They specialise in , which is a large plate of chicken and potato served with noodles.

They also have , a large piece of Arab style bread, stuffed with spicy lamb. Unusual dishes include Arabic salad and Yemeni salad. They do sell beer.

Please note that all the food is prepared to strict Muslim standards and therefore the owners have this sign at the entrance which reads "This is a Muslim restaurant. Please do not bring in food from outside."

Also note that it is very old fashioned Chinese restaurant style. Service can be be very quick or painfully slow, depending on the phase of the moon. Many dishes they will tell you they don't have if the cook can't be bothered to cook them (at least when the boss isn't around), etc. They also close early in the evening. By 8pm it's all over - just as the surrounding area wakes up. However, when they are open and get it right, they are very good.

The restaurant is on the north western side of the No. 1 Bridge just where the road passes under the bridge. Near the snack city and Bu Jian Bu San bar.

added 23rd February 2008

Liugui Fang is one of my favourites. It specialises in local food. (Liu is for Liuzhou; Gui is for Guilin). This place gets busy at lunchtimes (it is very near the government headquarters and other office buildings) but the service is quick and efficient. The kitchen is on view, so watch those guys work. Apart from a full range of dishes (ask for the off-menu

(literally, Paper Bag Fish), hot pots etc., they also have a range of noodle and rice porridge dishes.

Liugui Fang is at 41 San Zhong Road.

Left to right: Shuizhu Yüpian - Fish in Sichuan Style Chilli Soup; Dry Chicken Hotpot; Egg and Seaweed Soup.

12th February 2008

WLSZ - The Mushroom Restaurant

I was recently treated to one of the best meals I have eaten anywhere and certainly the best in Liuzhou. The venue was a highly popular restaurant known as:

The restaurant is one of a chain originating in Chongqing, and its specialty is wild mountain mushrooms. A friend and I ate a huge hotpot type mushroom soup. The depth of flavour was astonishing. The restaurant had around 36 different mushrooms on display, but our soup only had about six - more than enough. We were stuffed!

They offer a full menu, but also have set meals which are great value and a useful introduction. Last night, two of us ate more than we needed for ¥68 (March 30th 2008). The meal consisted of a hot pot bowl of the most amazing organic chicken soup (with the chicken meat), a plate of pancakes, four different wild mushrooms to cook in the soup and a side dish of Hunan style stir fried bacon. Might not sound a lot, but believe me, it was more than enough. My companion, a good Chinese friend, didn't even want rice to go with it! And when it was time to top the soup pot, they did so with chicken stock, not with water as they do everywhere else.

Set meals for larger groups  have more dishes / ingredients, not just more of the same.

The restaurant is very popular so booking is recommended (essential at weekends). Turn up on time or they will give away your table. In fact, they called us 15 minutes before our reservation time to be sure we were definitely coming. Service is excellent.

WLSZ is at 22 Gui Zhong Avenue. From the city centre, cross Hudong (No.3) Bridge, and take the second main turning to the left. The restaurant is on the left side of the second block down. Tel 0772-3998958

The company have a (Chinese only) website. Click on the mushroom to visit.

originally posted 2nd February 2007, updated 31st march 2008

Harbin Jiaozi Restaurant

Frankly, I'm kind of jiaozi-ed out. However, about once a year is fine. Certainly, the best place in town to sample them is the Harbin Jiaozi Restaurant. This place does get really busy at lunchtimes and early evening, but is worth visiting for their large range of jiaozi (pork, beef, lamb etc, in various combinations). Dirt cheap but delicious lunch!

The Harbin Jiaozi Restaurant lies on the side street running down to the river opposite the southern end of the Wuxing Pedestrian Street

For authentic Guangxi style food, you could do worse than visit (Golden Dragon Stockade). This is a popular and busy mid-priced restaurant in the centre of town. Part of a chain based in Guilin, the restaurant is on the second floor of 12 Long Cheng Road (the main road running from Liuzhou Square to the No. 1 Bridge). 0772-2873198 2860845

It is best to go in larger groups as this is strictly Chinese style eating. Fortunately, they have a picture menu. Here is a sample (most with English translation - Note the menu in the restaurant has no English.) The group's website (Chinese only) is here.

Tian Tian Le

I'm including this by popular demand. A couple of people have said they really like it. I was singularly unimpressed, but hey, it's a democracy! (Em. No it isn't!) 

This place seems to have two names. The alternative translates as "Beautiful Food Culture Square." Whatever you call it, it is a vast place and can be very busy, especially at weekends. The deal is you go in, find a table, then wander around the various booths along one wall, picking your favourites. In quieter times, the food should be on your table by the time you get back. In practice, the day I went (a Sunday lunchtime), we had to wait quite some time.

The food is the usual array of Chinese snacks. (Have to say I thought the jiaozi were awful!)

This was written shortly after the restaurant opened. I have been back more recently and things have improved greatly. Service can still be a bit hit and miss when they are busy, though. (May 2007)

Hunan Restaurant

There several Hunan restaurants in town, but this is one of my favourites. 

is named after the village where Mao Zedong was born, and this is a popular place serving authentic Eastern Hunan food. Spicy hot! The restaurant can be found at No. 40 Gongyuan Road, near the crossroads at Soho Bar.

For those not familiar with it, most Hunan food is hot, hot, hot. Often hotter than Sichuan food. But delicious. There is an article on Hunan Cuisine here.