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   Venue list

Shandong Fengwei  山东风味
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Jian bing guozi (煎饼果子) is a street food most popular in the north of the country, but we are always happy to find it in Chengdu. It's one of those dishes with many components – the 'jian bing' part of the name refers to a fried pancake, and the 'guozi' refers to the fried dough that...

Grappa's
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The Galeria Shopping Mall is turning into a worthy dining destination with notable local names and hot pot houses opening up shop, as well as some foreign restaurants. Grappa's on the fourth floor is a Hong Kong-based Italian restaurant with a growing number of locations in the mainland....

The Lazy Pug  懒巴哥
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Doing brunch is one of the things we love about weekends, so MORE was pleased to be hosted by The Lazy Pug for brunch on a recent Sunday. The Lazy Pug distinguishes itself with the important small details – you will never wait for coffee, which is fresh, bottomless, and strong enough to have...

Lai's Lamb Soup  赖氏羊肉汤
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
With the temperature dropping, we've noticed more and more sheep carcasses hanging outside restaurants around town. This is because one of the most popular ways to warm up in Chengdu is over a steaming bowl of lamb soup (羊肉汤). We've seen the soup eaten hot pot style, but the most common...

It's Cup
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
It took us forever to find It's Cup, since most of that block seems to be #9 Gaoshengqiao Rd. It's actually along South Gaoshengqiao Road, right behind the Louvre Plaza but not inside it. We were determined to find the little shop since indie cafés that do their own Western style baking are so...

Amber, Millennium Hotel
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The Millenium Hotel's Amber restaurant has recently had a new executive chef, Yosef Szeto, take the reins. Chef Szeto has been at the helm for only a few weeks but has already made significant changes to the menu at Amber. MORE was recently invited for the evening buffet and also offered a few...

Parador By Opera  派利多西餐厅
High-end authentic Spanish restaurant (Dieter)
Upscale restaurant that introduces real Spanish flair and flavor to Chengdu. Pleasant environment, good place to enjoy fine wine with friends.

Tao Hai Ge  淘海阁鲍鱼海鲜汤煲
True dining experience (Dieter)
Very nice seafood hot pot, good service, great environment. Ideal for business dinners or to take friend for a special occasion. Located convenient at the High-Tech zone Metro station, just don't keep hanging there too long (Metro until 10pm I believe) because it's hard to grab a cab..

7 - Eleven
Convenience stores revolution. (Dieter)
Clean & organized, ok prices, friendly staff, good snacks, coming up like mushrooms. I sat down with their Management team, about 50 24-hour convenience store will arise in Chengdu in 2011, the next years the number will increase to over 300. Already kicking Wowo, Huhui & Hongqi's asses. What I...

Vegan  维根
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
As we walked into Vegan's 2-story foyer with a koi pond at the bottom, the Southeast Asian décor and background music, which sounded like the Eastern counterpart of a Gregorian chant, made us feel like we were entering a temple rather than a restaurant. Although it was noon on a weekday, the...

Jing Man Lou  京满楼
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Jing Man Lou has a large mural along one wall depicting a scene from old Beijing. Hats with ponytails attached are worn by the servers, and opera music plays in the background, thankfully just loud enough to give the space some atmosphere. After the famous roast duck, our second favourite food...

You Yu Mian Guan  大石人家鱿鱼面馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We were over in the busy Dashi West Road on a Saturday in the pouring rain when, in need of sustenance, we stopped in at one of the squid noodle shops that have been popping up in town. Even with the downpour outside we were lucky to snag the last free table, which speaks to the popularity of...

Rice Plus  普乐士快餐
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Chengdu often seems to have more than its share of fusion restaurants, but occasionally some new and appealing combination comes along. Rice Plus has recently popped up opposite the Zongbei Middle School, in the row of smaller shops that offer dumplings, noodles, and congee. The window proclaims...

Mike's Pizza Kitchen
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
On those occasions for which delivered pizza is the sustenance most suited, Mike's has become our supplier of choice. The pizzas on Mike's menu are named after characters in kid's books. The Frog Prince can share a table with Goldilocks and Mama Bear. Brer Rabbit can nestle up to Snow White and...

San Sheng Xiang Tang Guo  三生香汤锅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We don't always feel good about ourselves the morning after indulging in spicy, oily, hot pot. Tang guo, on the other hand, is eaten almost exactly in the same manner as hot pot but the soup and ingredients are seen as nourishing and beneficial to the body. Whatever the health benefits may be, we...

Old Chengdu Club  老成都会馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The Old Chengdu Club is a private oasis amid the bustle of Wenshu Fang. Located on Wuyue Gong Street, just down from the temple entrance, the club resides in sixteen re-created mansions arranged in traditional Chinese courtyard style. Each building maintains its own character while belonging to...

Regal Court Restaurant  富豪轩
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
From August 29 - September 25, 2011, the Regal Master Hotel is holding a Hong Kong Food Festival featuring a special menu developed by award winning Chef Sam Ip of the Regal Hong Kong, which has been graced with a Michelin Star. MORE dropped by to try the dishes on offer, and chat with Chef Ip...

Yong He Soy Milk  永和豆浆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Yong He Soy Milk is a chain of restaurants serving up Chinese breakfast and lunch with the right combination of quick, cheap, clean, and good. If we walk in shortly after opening hours we can see most customers dipping crunchy youtiao (油条), fried dough sticks, into bowls of fresh, warm soy...

Morals Village  重庆德庄
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Hot pot lovers looking for a change of pace should try green hot pot, like that offered at De Zhuang, a chain whose name usually gets translated to 'Morals Village'. We went to check out the branch at Wanda Plaza on the East 2nd Ring. We ordered soup yuanyang style, part spicy and part mild,...

Shushizuo Vegetarian Restaurant  数拾座净素餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
This vegetarian restaurant is located on Yi Pin Tian Xia, one of Chengdu's destination dining areas. They cook with no meat, milk, eggs, msg, or alcohol and use purified water in all dishes. The menu, or rather menus, could use some editing since there were three menus in total and several dishes...

Huang Cheng Ba Snacks  成都皇城坝小吃
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Huang Cheng Ba is one of our favourite local snack restaurants. It’s a chain with a few locations in town. They offer many of the popular local snacks, such as sweet and spicy noodles (甜水面), steamed dumplings (蒸饺), and fried style meat pockets (锅魁). Their wide, flat, 'shuai,'...

Nova Café and Grill  荟星庭西餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The Lido Sheraton, one of the oldest top-end hotels in Chengdu, is in the heart of the city, steps away from the Luo Ma Shi subway station. There are several restaurants including the Nova Café and Grill, which features both international and Chinese cuisine. MORE was recently invited to try...

Yinxiang Dumplings  印象饺子
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We're always on the lookout for a good dumpling place. Yinxiang Jiaozi is one of the more appealing pit stops in the south Auchan complex. The till has a sign board with the day's fresh jiaozi, as well as several cold vegetable and meat dishes, and a soup or two. Although dumplings are the main...

Guanghua Beef Restaurant  光华牛肉馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Guanghua Village, just south of the Finance and Economics University, is usually a great place to be hungry. Like most university neighborhoods, there are lots of snack stands and small home-style restaurants where you can eat a lot for a little money. We sometimes have a hard time finding places...

Yummy  雅密优格冰淇淋
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
On a recent trip to Hong Kong we couldn't help noticing, and sampling, the treats coming out from frozen yogurt + topping bar shops that seemed to be on every block. This trend has now landed in Chengdu by way of a very welcome newcomer to the complex on the low rent side of Dong Da Jie with a...

Rivoli Restaurant
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The Regal Master Hotel has been raising the bar for international food in Chengdu. The buffet on their second floor international restaurant is not the biggest in town but appeals with the freshness and quality of dishes served up. The foreign dishes demonstrate a rare level of understanding and...

Chongqing Cygnet Hot Pot  重庆小天鹅火锅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Cygnet is a higher-end hot pot option, but we had been told that their all you can eat (自助) was a fantastic deal so we went to try it out. At Cygnet you can also order an individual pot of soup, so if you happen to be solo and craving hot pot it's a great option. The menu is illustrated...

Gong Ting Bakery  宫廷糕点
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We are just beginning to discover how amazing Chinese bakeries can be. Though the Western style cakes these places turn out may not fit our ideas of what cakes should be, the more traditional Chinese sweets and snacks are a too often overlooked local treat. The Gong Ting bakery has a sign...

Yi Pin Hong Homestyle  一品红家常菜
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We've started to take note of when a restaurant has overflowed its walls and taken over adjoining spaces. Yi Pin Hong, a lone local restaurant in a complex full of international themed eateries, is now occupying yet another dining room in the large plaza by the Great World Carrefour. Recently we...

Zell's Café
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Breakfast is one of our favourite meals, so we're glad there are so many small restaurants with Western breakfast options in town. However, some of the finer points of breakfast service seem to get lost in translation. Few places understand that coffee needs to be served before, or at the very...

Lost Taipei  如思台北
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Yulin is one of our favorite areas. We love the walkable streets. We love shopping for 'waimao', or foreign clothes there. We love its outstanding fresh market, and we love how it has been developing gradually during recent years while keeping its neighborhood flavor. We recently spied a new kid...

Royalty's Kitchen  联之味
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We don't get up to the northeast Chenghua section of town that often, but every few months we seem to hear of friends who decide to relocate there. It's not hard to see why; there are plenty of new apartment complexes with reasonable rents, the air seems better than in other areas, and some of...

Yue Hong Vietnamese  越红
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
There seems to be high restaurant turnover on Zijing South Road, the street that runs south of the Shanghai Garden walking street. We've noticed a few new places open up this year, and the restaurants they replaced hadn't been that old. However, we were quite interested to see a new Vietnamese...

Healthy Mao Cai  健康冒菜
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
“Hah, you are really a Chengdu local now!” was the reaction I got when I confessed my fondness for mao cai. With mao cai, raw ingredients get the 'mao' treatment, which means a simmer in soup, before being mixed with seasonings and served up. Mao cai is one of the many local variations on the...

Matsuzaka Japanese Restaurant  松阪日本料理
BAD BAD BAD! (Keith)
This review is in deperate need of an update. We went there thinking it's only 88 RMB for dinner. It's now 158 RMB for dinner. The food was overall bad as well. BAD: Salmon was kinda fresh but a bit slimy, don't bother with the rest of the stuff sashimi. The tuna had streaks of chewy fat...

Underground  遂道
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The Underground is right off the first ring, on the University side of Jiu Yan Qiao. Despite the super-convenient location we had to wander a bit to find the place, since it's tucked in a walkway between two clubs. Underground is the kind of place that turns from a diner during the day into a bar...

Yibin Burning Noodles  喜来宜宾燃面
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
There are probably more ways to eat dry mixed noodles in Sichuan than there are to eat pasta in Italy. Ran Mian (燃面), which translates into, “burning noodles,” is one of the classics. Burning noodles have the distinction of being considered an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, which...

Izakaya Hara-Abu  原炙日本料里
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We are starting to feel a faint pulse in Lan Kwai Fong, the new entertainment street along the Fu where it meets the Nan. On a recent Friday evening a lot of the crowd was construction workers and most of the ambient noise was power tools, but a few of the clubs and shops were attracting...

Zhang Fei Beef  张飞牛肉
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The Sichuanese cure many kinds of meat, from pork to duck to rabbit. In the city of Langzhong, with its large Hui population, preserved beef is the main specialty. Someone decided the rest of the world should enjoy this local product as well, and began selling the salted beef as Zhang Fei Beef....

The Chicken Soup Shop  鸡汤铺子
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
On chilly days, The Chicken Soup Shop draws us like a magnet. This small restaurant near People's Park serves only chicken soup set meals. The star of the show is the golden bowl of chicken soup, which you can order with a few additions such as ginkgo (白果), mountain yam (山药), bamboo shoot...

Hong Xing Restaurant  红杏酒家
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Ask a Chengdu native to recommend a good restaurant serving local food, and the response you’ll hear most often is Hong Xing. We finally went to check it out. The place is run like a well-oiled machine, with the hostess taking your party information, and relaying it upstairs so as soon as you...

Yi Jia Fengqing Restaurant  彝家风情餐
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We were strolling around the second level of the Roman Holiday plaza, watching the antique vendors ply their wares below, when we spotted a restaurant featuring the cuisine of the Yi people from the southeast of Sichuan very near Yunnan. We had to try it. The interior is a little worn and has...

Tai Pan Hong Kong Tea Restaurant  大班香港茶餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Choosing good Hong Kong barbecue usually involves arriving when the barbecue is really fresh and examining the pieces on display to see which look best. I first walked into Tai Pan because their barbecue pork looked fresher than that of a similar restaurant a couple of doors down. When the server...

Koko Casa  可可家
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
For months this coffee, chocolate, and gelato shop in Yanlord Landmark had an, “Opening Soon!” sign out front. A few weeks ago the doors were open, but they were only doing a soft opening, and were serving coffee and chocolate truffles for free. The staff promised their official opening would...

Pomodoro Italian Restaurant  红蕃茄
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
We popped into Pomodoro after the new Italian restaurant had been in business for a mere two weeks. The soft opening period was still on so everything was half price and the menu was only partly translated. It's located in Zongbei, along a side street near the American Consulate and walking...

Xiao Jian Jiao Flavor Restaurant  小尖椒巧味菜馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Chengdu has a handful of Xiao Jian Jiao restaurants, named for a tiny, fiery chili pepper. As the name would suggest, their popular dishes are quite spicy, such as the pepper fish (尖椒鱼), or the, server recommended, “pepper-numbing-chicken” (椒麻鸡). We really enjoyed this dish, whose...

Gaoshengqiao Lotus on the Water  清水荷华高升桥店
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The menu at this small, casual, vegetarian restaurant near Gaoshengqiao, where you order at the counter, mainly features set meal combinations of main, soup, rice, veg, and pickle. The server recommended the sweet and sour vegetarian pork (糖醋排骨), which we chose, and the vegetarian red...

Caidie New Vegetarian Concept  彩蝶新蔬食概念馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Caidie is Chengdu's newest and now most central vegetarian restaurant. There is no meat, eggs, or msg in any of the dishes, though dairy may be used. When we dropped in for lunch recently there was a choice of three set meals on the menu card; the economy set for 28 RMB, a business package for...

Yu Tian  雨田
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Just north of the Wangfujing Mall is Hua Xing Zheng Street. Very few areas in Chengdu have this much food history crammed into this small of a space. Long Chao Shou and Pan Sun Shi are right beside each other, and the Yue Lai Teahouse is just beside the opera. With Hua Xing Tomato Egg Noodle now...

Grandma Jin's Handmade Noodles  金婆婆手掌面
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
One of our favorite noodle shops has gone under renovations not once, but twice this year. The most recent changes even closed the place down for a few days, which really worried us, but they are now open for business again and thankfully the only changes are on the outside, which now sports a...

Symphonie Fusion Restaurant  协奏曲餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Symphonie is one of the very few indie restaurants in town which offers a new world take on Western food and does it very authentically and well. The proprietors, originally from Taiwan and semi-retired, have years of restaurant experience in America; she runs the front of the house and he takes...

Rivoli Restaurant  御花园餐厅
Susan Johnson (More chengdu)
It's getting hard to keep track of all the five star hotels that have opened up in Chengdu over the last couple of years. For us, the main draw is not lodging but the kitchens attached which are turning out some of the best non-local food in the city. We recently went to check out Rivoli, which...

Chun Tian Beijing Roast Duck  春天北京烤鸭
Susan Johnson (More chengdu)
The first thing that caught our eye about this restaurant was the wood-burning oven in the open kitchen. Cooks were using a long pole to transfer ducks in and out of the oven, while others rolled out the tiny pancakes used to wrap the duck. Like typical Beijing duck restaurants in town there are...

Xi Da Dou Tang Fan  西大豆汤饭
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
To find the best and most authentic food in Chengdu, you go into the resdential areas and seek out restaurants that cater to the neighbourhood. The lower end of these places often fall into the category of fly restaurant (苍蝇馆子), an unfamiliar term to many Chinese people from outside...

Qiao Mian Guan  巧面馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
One of the more recognizable billboards around town advertises a brand of instant noodles – Qiao Mian Guan. We were surprised to discover a real live noodle shop of the same name, the interior displaying the eponymous instant noodles. We have no idea if the noodle shop came before the fangbian...

Milo's  米罗缤纷意大利休闲餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
When friends repeatedly recommended Milo's to me I was very sceptical, but lately have been finding myself there more and more. Milo's is a local chain restaurant with characters from a certain Disney movie on the walls and menu. Our favourite branch is the one at Yanshikou, on the seventh floor...

Saigon Lotus  阿玉莲西贡餐吧
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Within moments of spying a mention online of a real Vietnamese restaurant in Chengdu, I was on my way over to check it out. Saigon Lotus is on the third floor of the Wanda Complex out on the east second ring. Once there, it took me a while to find the restaurant (in the back next to Early MBA)...

Mi's Taiwan Xian Cao Tea  仙草密
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The specialty at Mi's is xian cao, which translates into something like 'immortal herb' and is a familiar offering at most Taiwanese drink places. Xian cao is usually served as a cool brown jelly, and is slightly bitter so is usually sweetened or served with syrup or honey. At Mi's the xian cao...

L'escargot  小小家
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
L'escargot is a gem of a cafe that has been open for a few months, located a couple of blocks south of the Zijing cinema complex in Tongzilin. The place is so small that if you walked by you might not even notice it, which would be a shame. Inside, it feels very comfortable and welcoming. French...

Premier Court Western Restaurant  圣悦庭西餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Hotel restaurants are often a good bet for when we have an appetite for something other than the local fare. We went to sample the lunch buffet at the Haiyatt (no, not that Hyatt) Garden Chengdu’s, Premier Court Western Restaurant on the edge of Chunxi Road. In very casual street clothes we...

Red Sail Sea Hong Kong Restaurant  红帆海港式茶餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Red Sail is billed as a, “cha can ting,” or a cafeteria that serves up inexpensive English and Cantonese fusion in an atmosphere that is uniquely Hong Kong . They often serve congee, macaroni soup, toast, sandwiches, fried rice, and noodle plates. Dim sum, sweets, and Hong Kong style drinks...

Cool Hot  酷热
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Hong Pai Lou Plaza on Jialing Road is beginning to come to life. The new Carrefour has been open for a few months now, and the smaller stores are beginning to get some traffic. It's just outside the second ring on the #1 bus line so it is easy to reach from just about anywhere. I dropped by the...

Ami Vegetarian Restaurant  阿米素食
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Unique in Chengdu, the recently opened, Ami, serves Western-style vegetarian food. The interior is elaborately decorated, but comfortable; with mostly booth seating that gives each table its own space. The servers are welcoming and well-trained. The short, bilingual menu emphasizes healthy food....

North East Dumpling House  东北饺子馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
“Is it really the ears of a cat?” I asked the server who came out to translate. She replied that the cat ear noodles (mao er mian) were just in the shape of a cat's ear. The chewy, thumbnail-sized noodles come in a sauce of tomato, pork, and onion. They also come with a spoon, which is great...

Huang Cheng Ba Beef  皇城坝牛肉馆
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The sign outside reads, “one hundred years of history,” but besides that, this Xiaojiahe halal restaurant does not look like anything special. It's famous though, and always busy. Waiting customers often perch on stools outside, holding menus from which they scan and choose items with obvious...

Shu Jiu Xiang  蜀九香
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The first order of business in a hot pot restaurant is choosing the soup. This evening we opted for the half spicy and half mild soup (yuanyang guo). There were three heat options for spicy: mild (wei la), medium (zhong la), or extra hot (te la). We, like the Buddha, took the middle path. The...

Le Sud  南方法国餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
“Here, you feel like you are in France,” writes the author of a local blog (in French.) The interior of Le Sud is reclaimed industrial chic, with metal chairs and tables painted bright red and purple and a banquette along one wall. The vegetable soup from the appetizer menu was nothing...

Tian Yuan Sha Guo  天元砂锅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
'Sha guo' describes both a container and a style of dish - a clay pot that is filled with food and then heated, usually on top of a flame, before being served. Sha guo is very popular on rainy or chilly days, since the clay pots hold heat very well. Tian Yuan Sha Guo is on the second ring...

Xiao Tan Dou Hua  小谭豆花
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The specialty of the house is dou hua, soft tofu. There is a plain version (bing zui dou hua) and a sweet version (hong tang dou hua). More interesting are the savoury versions: the san zi dou hua is topped with crispy strips of fried dough, the niu rou dou hua has spicy stewed beef, and the su...

Wenshu Temple Vegetarian Restaurant  文殊院素斋
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The art of Chinese vegetarian food has roots in Buddhist respect for living things. The cooking focuses on making vegetables, tofu, and wheat gluten mimic the texture and flavour of meat. The best examples of the genre present astoundingly realistic ‘meat’ dishes that also appeal in taste and...

Kaffestugan  咖啡斯特嘉
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
There are many places in Chengdu to sit with a cup of coffee and your laptop. Kaffestugan is one of the most appealing. The Swedish café’s been opened for a few months now, and serves fresh roasted coffee that is ground and brewed to order. Rotations of beautiful art and photography line the...

Sardinia Pizza  撒丁比萨
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
Like most customers at Sardinia, we usually order pizza, but this time we felt like exploring more of the menu, which seems too large for such a little restaurant. On this trip we ordered a salad and hamburger on top of the obligatory pizza. After waiting long enough to finish off two...

Swensen’s  双胜冰淇淋西餐厅
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
The crowds on Chunxi Road on a sweltering weekend can take a lot out of you and an ice cream break is a perfect pick me up. If you do not feel like standing in line at Dairy Queen or dropping hundreds at Haagen-Dazs, Swensen’s ice cream may fit the bill. Swensen’s is a chain that started in...

Xu Lao Ba Yuan Zi Noodles  徐老八原汁面
Susan Johnson (more chengdu)
This noodle joint on Xin Nan Road is right around the corner from the Number Seven Middle School, the most reputable in the city. At lunchtime and after school lets out, the blue and white uniforms of the privileged post-90’s crowd swarm the place, and the staff is quite adept at getting...

Jia Chang Wei Chuan Cai Guan  家常味川菜馆
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Some restaurants exude all the scents and subtle visual aspects of local home-cooked fare, right down to the cutlery, the grit on the floor, and the script of the hand-written menu. Others just taste right. Jia Chang Wei, or “Home-style Flavors” may not look much like the traditional...

Xiyu Fengqing Xinjiang Restaurant  西域风情新疆风味餐厅
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
There are some restaurants in Chengdu that tend to receive a level of foreign patronage disproportionate to their actual quality. This can be attributed as much to ignorance as to convenience: if you’re only around for a short while, it’s easier to just stick with what you know. As natural as...

Yulin Shan Zhen  玉林山珍
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Last month we introduced you to lamb soup hotpot, one of numerous varieties of hotpot that don’t include all that Sichuanese pepper so often associated with the capital of Spice land. In fact, hotpot, a Chongqing export, only became popular in Chengdu in the 1980s (at least, according to one...

Huang Shan Zhenxin Bao Dian  黄山真心包点
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
A friend once described baozi—those rotund, steamed little dumplings stuffed with various fillings—as the “poor man’s jiaozi,” the latter being, of course, the non-fluffy, common Chinese dumpling popular in the country’s northeast. Being the baozi devotee that I am, I found such a...

Vera Napoli Pizzeria Bar  那不勒斯餐吧
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Chengdu, foreigners commonly decry, is lacking in authentic Western cuisine. Despite its seat as one of China’s culinary centers—home to some of the most long-running, highly refined cooking traditions and countless unique dishes—what is it that makes the city incapable of dishing out a...

Fangcao Pin Wei Xuan  芳草品味轩
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Of all the great dishes in the Sichuan oeuvre, perhaps the one I most pity vegetarians for not being able to enjoy is twice-cooked pork. Fish-fragrant (yushang) eggplant is just as delicious as its sliced pork cousin, if not better, given eggplant’s remarkable ability to absorb surrounding...

Fu Rong Ye Beer  富蓉夜啤酒
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
As we all know, wintertime in Chengdu is cold. And, without central heating, many outsiders find it bone-chillingly so. That’s why you’ll find that when it’s freezing outside, locals love to gather around large steaming pots of gut-warming heartiness. But hotpot’s not the only potted...

Jin Han Gong Korean Restaurant  金韩宫
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
There are a number of reasonably authentic Asian restaurants in the Chunxi Road area, many of them within the Isetan and Ito Yokado malls. Just around the corner is Jin Han Gong, located next to a Brazilian barbeque, whose moderate prices and central location will be enough for those shoppers...

Grandma Wang’s Buckwheat Noodles  王婆荞面
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Buckwheat, or “qiao” (荞), is the world’s highest elevation domesticate, grown near the Tibetan plateau in northern Yunnan. Beyond being the namesake of the most popular of, “The Little Rascals,” it’s also well known through its use in Japanese soba or Korean naengmyeon cold noodles....

Old Maid’s Shuangliu Rabbit Head  双流老妈兔头
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
There are certain things that people who have lived in Sichuan for a while ought to try. Rabbit head is one of them. Now, as your faithful guide, we consider it our duty to bring you all the richness and diversity of this region’s most colorful cuisine. So consider it an act of devoted...

Peter's Tex Mex Grill, Kehua Branch  彼德西餐店
What is Pete thinking?? (txgrl)
As a foreigner living in China for the past few years I feel like maybe I give 'foreign' restaurants a little too much credit sometimes.. coming from Texas I could not be more disappointed with a restaurant that name's itself after my home state.. Each time I have gone there my food has not...

Yi Xiang Feng Jia Chang Wei Noodle Shop  一相逢家常味
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
The Sichuanese possess a unique local tongue. For those who study or speak standard Mandarin, the constant vowel changing and tone permutations leave outsiders in a suspended universe of half-comprehension and regular befuddlement. Such was the case when I asked for the specialty dish at Yi Xiang...

Tongguoju  铜锅居
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Split-level restaurants, as opposed to multi-storied joints, are quite a rare sight in Chengdu. A split-level of the class and sleek angles of Tongguo Hotel Restaurant are even rarer. Its unique lay-out, combined with excellent high-quality, reasonably priced Sichuanese cuisine, and a refined...

Fujian Shaxian Xiao Chi  福建沙县小吃
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Some dishes are synonymous with certain regions and ethnic groups like the Lanzhou-pulled noodles and the Hui, lamb kebabs and Uighurs, and Beijing duck and well, Beijing. But there’s one such food that doesn’t receive nearly the attention and fame it undoubtedly deserves: Funanese-steamed...

Ice Palace  冰宫
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Urban exploration. The phrase is more synonymous with hipster nerds getting their kicks by sneaking into fenced-off, former munitions factories, than with quality dining, but in the mysterious city of Chengdu, anything can happen. Think of the surprise on our earnest faces when a local friend...

Jia Jia Yan Qin Restaurant  家家宴亲
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
This unpretentious restaurant serves up classic home-style Sichuanese fare that is sure to satisfy any appetite, without disemboweling your wallet. Its convenient location on the same street as the Loft hostel and Morning bar makes it an ideal spot for pairing with other attractions on this...

Tea Garden  茶园餐馆
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Many sayings and idioms leap across languages well. Chinese, which has never been short of such handy nuggets of wisdom, tends to so with most. So, when visiting the far more rugged, and far less touristy, Qingcheng Back Mountain, make sure to, “ru xiang sui su,” or, “do as the Romans...

Wu Wei Restaurant  无味饭店
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Home-style or “jiachang” cooking, is the heart of a good culinary school. Sure, you can have your escargot, your fertilized duck embryo, your snake hotpot on a special occasion, but when fork comes to knife (or, perhaps more appropriately, when stick comes to stick) what you eat on a mundane...

Thailand Shark Fin Restaurant  泰国鱼翅馆
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
For a region that so does loveth the spice, it is somewhat ironic that the local version of “curry” dishes are as limp and bland as a Szechuan beef served in Kansas City. So it was with some trepidation that we tried the beef curry at the elegant, semi-upscale Thai Lin restaurant, located...

Ama Tibetan Restaurant  阿妈藏餐
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Tibet is a place that inspires many image: it’s distinctive version of Buddhism and their vivid prayer flags and monk robes, the equally distinct wildlife, not to mention its breathtaking scenery. Such things quickly leap to mind. Rarely, however, does its food. Ama Tibetan Restaurant, near...

Korean Cook-up (Hanguo Banfan)  韩国拌饭
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
The search for a great, affordable bibimbap, that classic Korean claypot dish of rice, meat and vegetables that has satisfied lunchers on the go from Seoul to Seattle, has gone on for quite a while in Chengdu. With some of the more established Korean restaurants upping their prices to 20-30RMB or...

Old Courtyard Restaurant  老院子中餐馆
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
A lot of family-run restaurants in Chengdu serve up marvelous food, yet lack any real character. If you’ve been here any length of time, you’ll know what I’m referring to: unadorned walls, nondescript tables with plastic tablecloths. After a while, it leaves you craving some genuine...

Leanna’s Bakery  莲娜西点坊
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
There are some things that Chengdu chefs, no matter how much training they have received in Westerners’ perplexing eating habits, struggle to do well. Pizza, with a few exceptions, is a classic case in point. Salad, a dish that in many ways runs contrary to the fundamentals of Chinese cooking,...

Bellagio Café  鹿港小镇
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
A Taiwanese chain with branches in the usual mainland haunts, Bellagio is a typically smooth affair, offering a hip, though refreshingly unpretentious, dining experience at mid-level prices. While its extensive Guangdong/Taiwanese-leaning dishes are consistently tasty, it’s the restaurant’s...

Harbin Boiled Dumplings  哈尔滨水饺
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Ahh, dumplings. There’s something tangibly magical that happens when you wrap meat and vegetables in dough. Tim Wu, a leading cyberspace and, apparently, dumpling authority, describes what he calls the “magic ratio” between protein and carbohydrate, a line that good sandwiches, sushi and...

Taste of Yibin  味道宜宾
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
One point that is not made enough about Sichuanese cuisine is its great diversity. Traveling around the province, specialty dishes seem to pop up as often as town names, so that the food they eat in say, Zigong, is significantly different from that in Chengdu. So it is with Yibin, a city four...

Tianyuan (“Farmland”) Vegetarian Restaurant  田园素食
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Sichuan, indeed much of Mainland China, remains a part of the world where the concept of vegetarianism remains vague. We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been asked, “But is chicken alright?” or we’ve clearly ordered vegetarian dishes that come out slathered in a pig’s ass. In...

Tiantian Restaurant  天添饭店
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
There are a handful of Sichuanese restaurants that receive almost too much of the foreign community’s patronage, and far too many deserving alternatives that continue to go without. Tiantian is such a place, but not necessarily to their loss, though they’re certainly not suffering from a lack...

Junhongji Spicy Crab and Shrimp  俊宏记香辣蟹爬爬虾
papa xia (silhouette)
I haven't been to the place before but judging from your description and the pics, I think the shrimps you're talking about are called Mantis Prawns.

Da Dong Bei  大东北
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Friends often remark that when eating out in Chengdu, they find themselves craving “something different.” After a while, they say, there’s only so much fish-fragrant eggplant they can take, and soon enough, they find themselves making a beeline for the nearest Western comfort food. But for...

BBQ Fanwo  BBQ 饭屋
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Sometimes, you just want a burger…and pizza, and club sandwiches and piles of spaghetti to boot. But, if you’re as price-conscious as say, a foreign student who does restaurant reviews on the side, you’re not always excited about forking out 30-40 RMB to do so at Peter’s or Grandma’s...

Chongqing 258 Zhengchang Cai (Fangyou Hui)  重庆258蒸常菜(坊友会)
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Located along a nondescript strip of South Dianxin Street, just north of Yulin and not far from the intersection of the 1st Ring and South Renmin Road. It would be easy to pass by Fang You Hui without giving it a second glance. This would be a shame given its stereotypically humble charm and the...

Great Palace  大海湾酒楼
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Dim Sum, Yum Cha, Xiao Chi…call it what you wish, but it’s natural to bemoan the city’s lack of those perfectly proportioned nibblies when you’re this far from Guangdong or Hong Kong. But, having tried out a number of mediocre dim sum restaurants around town, Great Palace’s classy,...

Desibao Deutsch Bier Mahlzeit/Tersberg German Restaurant  德斯堡*啤酒餐吧
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Wanda Plaza, located in the southeast of the city off the second ring road, was completed last year and is by now a bustling, glittering parade of Chengdu’s modern and upward mobility. Its third floor features a wide variety of new restaurants, offering localized versions of various...

Chi Wei Xian Restaurant  翅味鲜
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Northeast of Tianfu Square is Tai Sheng Nan Lu, also known as “cell phone road.” Away from the packed commercial strip there are a tidy collection of restaurants, including Chi Wei Xian, a lively, round-table establishment wholly characteristic of Chengdu. Passing through the bustling,...

Ruxuan Seafood  如轩
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
For many foreigners, whose ideas of “what Chinese food is” are based on the cuisine served up at Western Chinese restaurants, arriving in Sichuan may prove somewhat disappointing. Ruxuan Seafood, just south of Computer City, offers up reasonably good Guangdong and Sichuanese dishes at...

Namaste Indian Cuisine & Bar  亚非拉-娜玛什蒂印度餐吧
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Located opposite the Shamrock is Namaste, a long-serving Indian restaurant and music bar. It’s not difficult to see why Namaste has proven so popular over time. Though its reasonably authentic northern Indian cuisine is cheaper than the nearby Tandoor, Namaste’s main draw is its atmosphere....

Lao Ma Chao Shou  老麻抄手
Thanks for correction! (M.Hiew)
Hi Pepper, Excuse my mistake. I was not aware of the distinction. Thanks for letting me know. Also, love the blog! -Mark

CSC (Country Style Cooking)  乡村基
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
The native fast food market is growing in China, and, if you crave the convenience of a big, illustrated English menu you can point at but can’t bear to order another burger, Country Style Cooking offers painless, affordable and attractive local standards. During a busy weekday lunch hour...

Caribbean Restaurant  加勒比餐吧
Mark Hiew (more chengdu)
Wanton soup: a staple of Chinese cuisine in the Western world, but not so in Southwest China. For those wandering whether a dish found on menus in, say, New York, can crossover successfully in Chengdu, make a stop at a “Lao Ma Chao Shou” for wantons whose delicious universality crosses...

Houcaller Beefsteak  豪客来牛排
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
This chain has several locations around Chengdu and boasts having the “best beefsteak.” The critic in question has always been skeptical of these claims but was starving one day in the relatively restaurant-free area around Tianfu Square at 2 o’clock. So against her gut feelings of...

Fiesta Thai  非常泰国风味餐厅
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
Thai food is pricey, so you want to make sure you are getting quality for your buck. Fiesta Thai can offer that, plus a convenient location on Linjiang road, behind the bus station. One weekend, I entered the warmly lit restaurant with my “partner in dine”, cold and ravenous. In the dining...

Fresh River House (southern gate)  河鲜馆(南门店
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
Picking out upscale Chinese restaurants is tough. I have been to endless expensive dinners where food comes out beautifully arranged, primped and pretty, but the flavors often suffer. For a restaurant to impress business colleagues or a date on all fronts (food, atmosphere and service) try Hexian...

Youyou Japanese Restaurant  悠游居酒屋
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
SoHo on North Kehua Road boasts two Japanese restaurants, but if you’re in the mood for good quality sashimi and sushi in addition to the standard tempura, grab yourself a seat at Youyou Japanese. We love sitting at the bar, where you can watch the chefs professionally slice, dice, toss, daub,...

Cacaja  印度菜菜
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
Nestled in the same complex as Highfly Pizza, next to the Sofitel Wanda, Cacaja Indian is easy to miss, but worth the visit. One Saturday night, we found ourselves wedged into a back corner table. All the other tables were full of diverse and animated clientele. The interior itself is ornate and...

Paulaner Braühaus Restaurant  普拉那啤酒坊餐厅
Meg Young (more chengdu)
Craving sausage? The Paulaner Braühaus at the Kempinski Hotel in south-central Chengdu will not disappoint. From curried sausage to the Munich, from Bavarian sweet mustard to the Nurnberger paired with sauerkraut, this little slice of Germany means business. To experience the most “classic”...

Lanzhou Noodles  兰州拉面
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
Do you know which one I’m talking about? In Chengdu, it’s hard to sort through the thousands of restaurants that pop up on every block with that telltale sign advertising Lanzhou noodles. However, there is a reason that the cuisine is popular, and some Lanzhou restaurants do stand above the...

Huan Tian Zhai Guizhou Restaurant  欢天寨贵州风情酒楼
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
Banners proclaiming “Eating no sour food for 3 days, makes you walk forward on weak legs!” and “Try our dog meat” hang exuberantly from the ceiling of Huantianzhai Guizhou Restaurant. For those of you looking for Chinese food that diverges from the Sichuan hotpot steeped in numbing spice,...

Sapporo Ramen Kikusui  菊水烤肉和拉面
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
The luxury Isetan Department Store poses an unlikely place to find good deals on meals. However, on the seventh floor you’ll find Sapporo Ramen Kikusui (菊水烤肉和拉面) which offers high-quality northern Japanese cuisine in a minimalistic atmosphere and a menu with pictures, but no...

Talk restaurant  话.尚美
Monica Liau (more chengdu)
Talk restaurant advertises its 88 RMB set business lunches in several magazines across the city, but, leery of fusion cuisine (Talk boasts Sichuan and French Flavors), I didn’t decide to invest until a friend mentioned that she loved the place. As a vegetarian, she is on a first name basis with...

Red Sun Seafood  红太阳烧烤海鲜
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
This little seafood shack looks like almost all the other seafood shacks in the area. It's pure function. There are some crammed tables and little chairs, and the expected debris of messy eating. Red Sun, however, sticks out. Unlike the other shacks, it's always full of Chinese diners- a good...

Ponti's  波提斯意大利餐厅
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
Before I went to Ponti's, I'd started to forget what European-style fine dining was like. It's hard to pull off here. It's not that you can't train Sichuan’s chefs to cook European food, but the service etiquette and customs are profoundly different, and given the high turnover rates of wait...

Shu Fu Jia Yan  属府嘉筵
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
To those accustomed to eating with their eyes, a lot of Chinese restaurants look bland. Shu Fu Jia Yan, alas, is cut out of the same cloth as a million other restaurants in town as far as ambiance is concerned. It’s big, it’s got fluorescent lights, round tables, no music or dancing monkeys,...

Hooters  猫头鹰餐厅
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
For those not familiar, Hooters is an American chain restaurant that hires large-breasted, flirtatious waitresses, dresses them in orange short shorts and tight tank tops, and sends them forth to serve you their famous chicken wings. The chicken wings serving as a handy excuse to those who need...

8 Trees Wine Bar  八棵树
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
To be honest, selling western-style red wines in China has always been a tough sell. The 8Trees Wine Bar, therefore, deserves a degree of approval just for trying. It also deserves credit for its dark wood interior, hand-painted paper lamps, and the window in the floor that looks down on the wine...

Desir French Restaurant  滴意 - 法式餐厅
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
It’s difficult to understate how beautiful this restaurant is. Tucked away in the hip new refurbished Kuan Alley north of Tianfu Square, Desir combines a traditional Chinese layout and architecture with western touches in the furniture, the lighting, and the glass windows. The place is laid out...

Highfly Pizza, Binjiang Branch  高飞咖啡
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
Out near the Shangri-La a treasure trove of restaurants are opening up. One of which is the new High-Fly Pizza, three stories of pizzeria glory. The whole place has a pastel-colored, country home feel. The staff is warm, friendly and eager to please. The menu ranges from pizza to pasta to tuna...

Yipin Douhua Restaurant  一品豆花风味庄
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
Some good friends of ours were regulars at this Dou Hua joint’s old shop. A classic, crusty hole-in-the-wall restaurant that’s somehow incredibly delicious. When you walk in to the new location, the staff seems to beam with pride. When we took the pictures they’d gather around the camera...

Zhulouxiang Maocai Family  竹篓香冒菜世家
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
When I first saw the sign, I assumed “Mao” food referred to some ethnic group. Well, if people who love to eat things stewed up in big brothy bowls of garlic and pepper could be said to comprise an ethnic group, I’d like to think I’m part Mao. Otherwise, it’s just a particular kind of...

A Unique Skill of Cooking Lobster  龙虾一绝
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
I have to admit, the main reason I went to this restaurant was because of the name, lit up as it was on a jolly yellow sign looking over the placid, tree-lined, and, dare I say, funky-ass West Yulin Road. It arrested my progress and provoked contemplation. Lobster in Sichuan? Well, no. What...

Little House Café and Bar  小房子
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
Not to be confused with the Little Bar (either one of them), the Little House is distinctive mainly for its fabulous location on the Ruiming walking street, which is one of my favorite places to hang out when the weather gets warm. As the general local populace turns out consistently and in force...

Salut  萨露西班牙-加泰蓝风味
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
It’s not saying much to say that Salut is the best Spanish tapas restaurant in Chengdu, because it’s the first and so far the only. Chengdu got lucky enough to not only get a tapas restaurant at long last, but also to get a pretty authentic one. The Gazquez brothers, Pepe and Agusti, are two...

Huaxing Jian Dan Mian  华兴煎蛋面
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
A certain amount of faith should be placed in a restaurant that names itself after a specific dish. Jian Dan Mian is such a place. Despite its one remarkable dish, there’s a bit more going on here than one might suspect. It is nestled into the south end of Yulin road, making it merely a few...

Green Heart Forest BBQ  绿心林烧烤
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
On the one hand, it’s not particularly difficult to find places that will sell you grilled goods on sticks in Chengdu, or anywhere else in China for that matter. That said, quality varies, yes it does, as does the degree of risk you take. The Green Heart Forest Barbeque is comfortably...

A're Tibetan Restaurant  阿热藏餐
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
Three floors of culture await you just across the street from Wuhou Temple. In fact, that’s where you should start. A’re is located smack-dab in the middle of what has become known as the Tibetan District. And that’s fitting, too, seeing as A’re is in fact Tibetan. Before sitting down to...

Zoe’s Barbeque  爱舍西餐
*** (more chengdu)
Bottomless coffee. One more time: Bottomless coffee, and its only 10 kuai. If that didn’t hook you, try the Zoe’s Skillet, or pick something off their vegetarian menu. The feel is laidback with a staff eager to learn your name. Come enjoy the food, just don’t let the wooden flute covers of...

Lily Shadow’s  睡莲花影西餐厅
*** (more chengdu)
This restaurant serves modern Japanese/Italian fusion food. The ambience is soothing and quiet, and the wine bar is stocked with reds from all over the world. The food is good and worth the high price. English menu available.

Namaste  亚非拉印度餐吧
*** (more chengdu)
Come here when in a relaxed mood. There’s no need to rush a satisfying meal. Namaste puts up a good fight for the name of best Indian food in Chengdu. But that’s not our job to decide. It’s yours. As long as you can get a taxi, Namaste’s centrally located eatery is a breeze to get to.

Mutt’s Nuts
*** (more chengdu)
Mixed reviews from great to “mutt’s nuts.” But hey, this is a place people love to talk about, so don’t necessarily trust the haters. People are picky about pizza. We suggest you try it out, and see if it fits your taste. English menu available.

Café Z  蓉咖啡
*** (more chengdu)
If any restaurant in Chengdu is worth paying the money for, this is the place. Its buffet starts at RMB128 net/ person for lunch, while breakfast (147RMB), dinner RMB148 net/ person (Mon.-Thu.), and weekend dinner buffet RMB188 net/ person (Fri.-Sun.) are more expensive. That said, this is an...

The Sultan  苏坦土耳其餐吧
*** (more chengdu)
The only Turkish restaurant in town, and as far as we can tell, the only hookah too. The staff is friendly, and there’s a room full of pillows. Don’t be surprised to find people dancing. English menu available.

Tandoor  天都里印度餐厅
*** (more chengdu)
The food and ambience is created fresh daily. The Indian chef takes good care to make his food deliciously authentic. Things can get up there (40+RMB), but it’s worth the great food and service. English menu available.

Yang Yang Restaurant  杨杨餐馆
Pete Sweeney (more chengdu)
Yang Yang Restaurant may be the perfect mix of authentic and accessible. It’s accessible because it is right in the middle of the hopping Wuhou District, near the US Consulate, and because it has an English menu. The spot is great, located down a cute yet well-marked and easy to find alley a...

Peterpan Italian Restaurant  彼德潘意大利餐厅
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
A few things have come out of Modena, Italy that you might have heard of. Do the words Ferrari, parmesan or balsamic vinegar ring a bell? All of them come from Modena. Well, have you heard this? A little bit of that prolific city has found its way to Chengdu. News to you? That’s why you’ve...

Hokkaido Japanese Restaurant  北海道日本料理
*** (more chengdu)
The taxi problem around here isn’t something we have to talk about. We’ve just got to wait for the subway to be finished. People in higher places busy their time with solving the problems. And what do we know? We’re no traffic-ologists. Anyone can spot a problem, but solving it is a...

Vegetarian Lifestyles  枣子树素餐馆
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
It seems to be the bane of the vegetarian that the phrase “I don’t eat meat” is always erroneously interpreted as “I eat a little meat, just small pieces, no big pieces please.” Here’s the real hook of Vegetarian Lifestyles: This place is Vegan. They mean it too. There are a few...

Red Tomato Pizza  红番茄美食屋
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
While Chengdu is not without decent pizza options, Red Tomato Pizza is a singularly welcomed new addition. Located down a charming alley off Ke Hua road near Sichuan University’s west gate, the place at first appears to be yet another alluring hole-in-the-wall, except for the warm pumpkin paint...

My Humble Home  玉楼寒舍
*** (more chengdu)
We’re all about having great food in whatever atmosphere it comes from, but it is nice to eat in a place that eases the eyes as much as it eases the stomach. Look for items not found on most menus here. English menu available.

Yulin Chuan Chuan Xiang  玉林串串香
Bill Stranberg (more chengdu)
Easy access classic Sichuan food and much cheaper than your average hot pot place. And, despite all that, they manage to offer good quality service. Don’t speak the local lingo? Good, because you don’t need to. Walk straight up to the food and pick out what you want.

Grandma’s Kitchen, Kehua Branch  祖母的厨房
*** (more chengdu)
Come here to pick from a nice selection of cold sandwiches. Aside from those, the menu is enormous, ranging from the aforementioned all the way to kobe beef. We’d suggest you stick with the cold sandwiches. English menu available.