Holiday Inn Express Taizhou Toumen Port by IHG

In a bright, airy space that is tastefully furnished in an antique gold colour scheme, the open kitchen and live seafood tanks are the centre of attention. Popular choices include yellow croaker, pomfret and lobster –pick your favourites and have them cooked in your preferred way. Must-tries include the crispy deep-fried beltfish belly, which is packed with umami and briny sweetness. The Taizhou-style braised crushed crab is pure decadence.

The three-storey restaurant may be rustic in style, but its novel take on familiar home-style flavours defies all expectations. The kitchen dreams up adventurous food combinations that work surprisingly well. Must-tries include pork dumplings in a deeply flavoured duck herbal broth that has been simmered for hours. A Taizhou meal is never complete without seafood, such as braised yellow croaker, white crab, or spicy whelks sautéed with aromatics.

This shop specialising in ginger broth has been going strong for more than half a century. Every morning at 5 am, the owner makes the broth with ginger that is marinated in yellow wine and sun-dried for a rounded flavour. For starch, order hand-rolled noodles, rice noodles, rice cakes or even steamed rice to go in the broth. Feel free to top up with an assortment of seafood like shrimp, razor clam, mantis shrimp, mud crab or Bombay duck.

This three-storey restaurant specialises in seafood and Taizhou dim sum. Just pick your favourites from the live fish tank and the display cases; the server can then adjust portions according to your party size. Must-tries include the stir fried spicy sea snails for their bouncy texture and mild heat. The Taizhou home-style classic of braised octopus with pickled cabbage on rice noodles is rich and tangy. The private rooms must be reserved.

For over 40 years, this family business has focused on making the best hand-rolled noodles. By adding lye to the dough and kneading it repeatedly, the noodles develop an exceptionally bouncy texture. Served either in a soy-based broth or tossed in a spiced marinade with meaty umami, these delectable strands have made the shop well known. Choose from among 10+ toppings, including fried pork chop, rib tips and marinated chicken intestine bundle.

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.

Tucked away down an alley, this joint, which is almost 40 years old, has been helmed by the same two women chefs from Taizhou since day one. Local ingredients are crafted into no-frills dishes loaded with wok-hei and often competitively priced. Try the braised mustard stem with salted pork belly and dried shrimps, crispy trio in scallion oil, or wok-fried pork kidneys. Soft-boiled egg in brown sugar syrup with Shaoxing wine is a heart-warming final flourish.