Ahn Lan Xinchang

Near Guoqing Temple tourist attraction, this rustic joint attracts both locals and visitors with its comforting homely cooking. Before ordering, browse the menu wall and display fridges of fresh produce to find something that catches your eye. Wild-caught river fish is lightly fried and braised in aromatics for silky meat and rich flavours. Meatballs wrapped in tofu skin are served in a broth with varied textures of egg dumplings and bamboo shoots.

The simple room may be a bit dated, but the incredible smell of its beef blood curd soup is irresistibly enticing. Its signature soup is the classic comfort food of the landlocked county; chunks of silken blood curd and melty white radish nestle in a savoury broth seasoned with dried chillies. Their beef offal noodle soup is equally famous: the offal is meticulously crafted and the flavourful broth clings nicely to the springy noodles.

This brand with a nation-wide presence started out as a seafood stall in Linhai in 1995. Xin Rong Ji opened this branch in 2013, in a restored villa in Linhai, set amid lush greenery and boasting lake views, and it has since become a pilgrimage destination for loyal customers. The menu features the chain's classics from across the decades, including its famous braised yellow croaker with sticky rice cake, which generated much buzz in the early days.

Appealing to a wider market with its lower price points, but without sacrificing quality or flavour, Rong Cun is a spinoff of the decidedly upmarket brand Xin Rong Ji. It specialises in no-frills farm-style fare prepared in traditional ways. In their signature red-braised river fish, velvety, umami-laden meat comes in a dense, rich broth, best enjoyed with a bowl of steamed rice. Razor clams in scallion oil bring out the natural briny sweetness and aromas.

For 10-plus years, this simple shop has focused on one item – bianshi dumplings that are steamed, deep-fried, pan-fried or served in soup. Each dumpling is generously filled with ground pork, mashed tofu and water bamboo shoots before being folded by hand into an ingot shape with its paper-thin wrapper draping like butterfly wings. Try their premium version of ginger juice egg custard; the ground pork and walnuts add lovely textures to the sweet treat.

It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it shop - but what it lacks in frontage, it makes up for in spatial efficiency and food quality. Their seafood, in particular, never disappoints. Ask the owner-chef to recommend the best of the season and how it should be cooked. The exact type spins with the season, but pan-fried crab with a pinch of sugar is always a treat. Sautéed pork liver with wild rice stems impresses with spot-on doneness and tenderness.

This simple shop near Donghu Lake has built up a loyal following over the past 20 years, thanks to its authentic local eats. The signature item is wok-fried mochi with egg, carrot and beansprouts – the sticky rice cake, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, is elevated by the smoky wok hei. Maixia noodle soup is a staple dish in Linhai, and theirs is springy in texture, with a broth imbued with deep flavour thanks to clams and dried shrimps.