10 Best Restaurants in Eastern China, China

There's no better place to sample the city's famous tangyuan (multicolor sugar dumplings served in a bowl of syrup and eaten like soup) than Gang Ya Gou. To get here, look for the hard-to-miss logo depicting a dog and a duck fighting over a pot of rice—or simply follow the crowds.

On the eastern edge of Moon Lake, this Middle Eastern restaurant has consistently excellent food. One bite of the olive-oil-and-pine-nut-drizzled hummus, and you'll be hooked.

If you need to take a break, the best place for coffee in Xiamen is on the waterfront outside the Marco Polo hotel. Along Yundang Lu, aka Coffee Street, you will find nearly five blocks of cafés—some more modern looking than others. There are dozens of spots to choose from, but we recommend hitting up Coffee Club (Shop 10, 1 Jianye Lu, 0592/531–2246) on the corner, which serves quality, if slightly pricey coffee, fresh juices and good sandwiches.

The theme is heavy-handed, but Xiamen's most beloved Mexican restaurant serves steak fajitas and genuinely good burritos. Don't expect generous sides of sour cream or guacamole, but it won't matter after a few well-poured margaritas.

Hot pot is an ultra-popular meal in East and Southeast Asia (where it's generally known as steamboat). Although locals in China eat it year round, it's best in winter, not the sweltering summers that much of the country sees. A metal pot of broth–either mild or spicy–sits at the center of the table and, while it simmers, you add whatever ingredients you've ordered. Hai Di Lao is a well-known country-side chain with fairly good service and a picture menu, but hot pot ingredients don't vary much– there's thinly sliced meats (usually beef and mutton), meat dumplings, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, wide, flat noodles, and sometimes seafood. There are a handful of dipping sauces available, including a spicy chili sauce and the more mild, sweet peanut sauce.

Hot pot is really not a good option for vegetarians unless there is specifically vegetarian broth; otherwise, assume it has meat it in.

This Himalayan café brews some of the city's best java. The eclectic space is outfitted with quilted tablecloths, comfy sofas, knit blankets, and walls stacked with books and knickknacks.

The comings and goings of monks add to the atmosphere at this restaurant next to Nanputuo Temple, where the menu isn't translated into English. Point to its few pictures or to items being served at other tables to order popular dishes such as black-mushroom soup with tofu and stewed yams with seaweed.

Downstairs at this loud, boisterous restaurant, tanks are filled with lobster, prawns, and crabs. Upstairs, diners feast on other types of dishes cooked in Cantonese and Fujian styles.

More than 100 years old, this popular, buzzing cafeteria is where the writer Lu Xun's most famous fictional character, small-town scholar Kong Yiji, would sit on a bench, sipping wine and eating boiled beans. The beans aren't for everyone, though they're worth a try, as are the fermented bean curd and the pork belly with dried veggies—local delicacies that pair well with a bowl of Shaoxing rice wine.

Get here early or risk waiting in line for the famous Shaoxing delicacies, including the ubiquitous stinky tofu, pork belly with dried vegetables, and chicken cooked in local wine.