Fuzhou Bamin Yiho hotel

The interior sports a tasteful green colour scheme with plant motifs and fish scale tiles for a style poised between Jiangnan and Fuzhou. In the same vein, the menu features authentic Huaiyang classics alongside Fujian produce and Minnan twists. Braised yellow croaker ‘lion’s head’ meatball impresses with rich silky texture and deep umami. Consider pre-ordering the ginger eight-treasure duck. Each of the 12 private rooms is equipped with tea serving facilities.

The restaurant is located in a historic area where many famous scholars lived during the North Song Dynasty. The interior sports original architectural details, while the menu pays homage to traditional Fujian food culture. The head chef has been cooking professionally for over 30 years; his sliced conch in red vinasse sauce accentuates the briny-sweet taste of the sea snail. Hand-pounded rice cake is the perfect companion to any seafood dish.

This tiny shop in an alley has been around for decades. Without bells and whistles, it has earned a loyal following with its rustic traditional Fuzhou sweets. The concise menu stars a lineup of all-time favourites. Simmered in a claypot for nine hours, the peanut soup is a creamy and nutty delight. Taro paste pleasantly surprises with small chunks of starchy taro which adds to the texture. The lotus root cake and sweet sticky rice are also worth a try.

This kitchen run by Fu'an natives specialises in dishes from their home city; "167" refers to the length of the city's coastline in kilometres. Naturally, seafood from Fu'an is the main draw – look for yellow croakers, sea bass and the like in the display fridge – but other home-style favourites such as drunken pork ribs in a sweet, tangy sauce, fried rice vermicelli with lovely wok hei, and herbal soups double-boiled in urns are also popular.

This restaurant, which doubles as an art gallery, is adorned in the owner’s art collection. In the kitchen, the young chef from Putian adds a new twist to Fujian fare. Large mactra clams, blanched in boiling chicken stock for 10 seconds by the table, impress with deep umami, perfect cooking and crisp texture. Traditional sliced conch in wine lees sauce is given a new spin, with the red vinasse exuding a unique fragrance.

Min Shi Fu is well known for its live seafood and local delicacies. There is no menu. Just pick your own ingredients from the live fish tank and ask the server to recommend the best ways to prepare them. In addition to live shrimps, crabs, bivalves and whelks, the signature oyster fritter is very popular and boasts plump oysters, aromatic scallion and crisply fried egg batter. Everything is cooked to order and showcases solid techniques.

The owner from Xi’an couldn’t find any restaurant serving authentic cooking from his hometown, so he opened his own! The spartan room is clean and rustic. The kitchen team from Shaanxi deftly pull noodles by hand. The signature biangbiang noodle – there is only one long noodle in a bowl – is toothsome and expertly crafted. The aromatic spiced oil dressing clings nicely to the noodle, while cabbage, bean sprouts and chives provide crisp textures.