Six of the best restaurants in Guangzhou

‘I’m so spoilt living in Guangzhou,’ says Wai Zhou, a local foodie champion. ‘The cuisine here is the finest in all of China.’ The old Chinese saying ‘Be born in Suzhou, live in Hangzhou, eat in Guangzhou, die in Liuzhou’ suggests that she’s not the only one to think so highly of restaurants in Guangzhou.

Zhou and I are having dinner at Bingsheng Zen Tea House, a cute vegetarian restaurant on the cusp of Xiaogang Park. It’s my third meal in Guangzhou, and the tastiest I’ve had all weekend. Which is quite a statement, given I’ve had lashings of dim sum and cheung fun (a Cantonese delicacy of steamed rice noodle rolls), washed down with all kinds of exotic tea.

Guangzhou – formerly Canton – is the capital of Guangdong province, and the spiritual home of Cantonese cuisine. From casual dim sum spots and tea houses to Michelin-starred fine dining establishments, the city’s ever-evolving dining scene has become one of the Greater Bay Area’s most vibrant culinary destinations.  

And thanks to decades of domestic migration – with millions of residents hailing from other parts of the Chinese Mainland – Guangzhou’s food scene is not just limited to Cantonese cuisine. You’ll find that the city is laced with restaurants serving dishes from areas as far away as Sichuan and Xinjiang. 

Here’s a selection of the best restaurants for your next trip to Guangzhou.

Bingsheng Zen Tea House

At the main entrance to Xiaogang Park, this vegetarian restaurant serves small plates in cosy private rooms overlooking the park’s trees, making it an ideal place to pause, unwind and recharge during your travels. There’s a large selection of tea (pu’er, longjing green tea and a tasty apple and date infusion) and mushrooms trussed up in numerous different ways, including fungi-based dishes that look like salt and pepper squid and sweet and sour pork. It lends itself perfectly to a long, lazy weekend lunch. 

146 Qianjin Lu, Haizhu

Wenjixiang Seafood Market Hot Pot

Built around a seafood market concept, Wenjixiang is a must-visit for hot pot lovers. The restaurant is set in a spacious market-style venue, where you can pick up a wide variety of live seafood, alongside meats, vegetables and fish pastes and balls to cook in your choice of soup base. The most popular ingredients here are the succulent flower crab, tiger prawn and scallop – all pulled straight from the tanks. Don’t forget to order one of the congee soup bases, a specialty of Guangzhou.

329 Huangbian South Road, Baiyun

Yu Yue Heen

A mainstay in the Michelin Guide, Four Seasons’ acclaimed one-Michelin-starred dim sum restaurant occupies a prime location in the Guangzhou International Finance Centre, at the heart of the CBD. Dishes span classic dim sum – turnip cake, char siu bao, siu mai – as well as seafood dishes and barbecued meats. The signature mango pudding has especially garnered glowing reviews. 

5 Zhujiang West Road, Tianhe

Tao Tao Ju

Dim sum is a way of life in Guangzhou, and Tao Tao Ju is a legendary spot to enjoy this beloved communal dining tradition. Despite having been around for over a century, this upscale restaurant has kept up with the times, blending traditional dim sum craftsmanship with creative modern twists. The har gow (shrimp dumplings) and crispy red rice rolls are unmissable classics, while adventurous eaters can try the baked sticky rice with cheese and swan durian pastry, which is as pleasing to the eyes as it is to the palate.

No. 20 Dishifu Road, Liwan

Huangsha Aquatic Products Market

The largest seafood market in southern China, right on the Zhujiang River, is not for the faint-hearted. There are huge Boston crabs, monumental tiger prawns and wrinkled geoducks ready for consumption. Inside the main market building is a selection of restaurants that will cook the fresh seafood you’ve just bought downstairs with nothing more than a squeeze of lemon and some garlic.

15 Huangsha Dadao, Liwan

Liwan Mingshijia

Also known as Liwan Famous Eatery, this traditional Cantonese restaurant on the old town’s Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street serves some of the fattest dumplings you’ll find in Guangdong (and in China). If you’re not here for dumplings, there’s also wonton noodle soup, hand-pulled cheung fun and congee to try. 

99 Dishifu Lu, Liwan

This article was first published in August 2018 and updated in July 2026.