9 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.

Thanks to its bright-red sign and big tower of steamers out front, this little hole-in-the-wall is easy to spot. Although the family who runs it doesn’t speak English, they will happily play charades in an effort to take your order for dishes such as steamed Hangzhou-style xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).

Back in 1848, this place was a simple fish shack. Business boomed, and it became the most famous restaurant in the province, focusing on Zhejiang cuisine and specializing in steamed lake perch served with vinegar sauce.

This ultra-popular Hangzhou chain packs in locals who flock here for homestyle Zhejiang cuisine at unbeatable prices. Good food at low cost means long waits, but the queue system is orderly and you can wander around the mall. If you're a group of 10 or more, you can call and book a semi-private room. The long menu is a mostly Zhejiang regional fare with a few dishes from other parts of China like mapo doufu (cubed soft tofu in chili oil). Must-orders include the clay pot roast chicken marinated in green tea leaves, piquant sautéed long beans with peppercorns, and spicy cauliflower stir-fried with garlic and tiny pieces of Jinhua ham (for which Zhejiang is known). Cool your burning tongue with winter melon juice and finish the meal with a plate of green tea pastry, the slightly flaky outside covered in sesame seeds and giving way to a sweet green tea paste within.

This outpost of Grandma's Home (外婆家) is not to be confused with Grandma's Kitchen, one floor up.

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.

There's no more authentic Chinese experience than fighting your way through crowds to tuck into delicious and inexpensive street food. Scores of stalls and pint-size restaurants line this street and even in winter the place is super popular with domestic tourists, young couples walking hand-in-hand, and a mixed group of locals. On offer are spicy noodles (available in broth or dry), barbecued oysters and crayfish, steamed buns filled with meat and vegetables (baozi), beef and lamb kebabs, and soup dumplings (xiaolongbao), their skins dyed purple, green, and orange from vegetable juices. It's chaotic here and you will smell the dumpsters as you walk past, but it's a fun, truly local experience with good eats to boot–and for a pittance.

Bring tissues or wet wipes.

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.

At this restaurant on the Yu Yao River, near the He Yi shopping complex's western end, you step through gigantic red-and-gold doors into an antiques-filled dining room, where hostesses in elaborate silk dresses welcome you. The Ningbo cuisine is as traditional as the setting: steamed turtle, fried yellow-fish with fresh blueberries, pork ribs.