LuxWild Jilai - 食堂分店

You can find Xin Rong Ji in all major Chinese cities these days, but this is their longest-standing outlet (in business since 2005). As in most Taizhou-style restaurants, diners pick their own seafood from the tanks and specify how they want it cooked. All-time favourites include golden fried beltfish with delicate flesh in a crispy crust, and braised sea anemone with glass noodles, which seduces with its flavoursome broth and lovely textures.

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.

As the owner strives to serve every Taizhou-style small dish under one roof, his menu covers much ground, from flatbread wraps and bianshi dumplings to stuffed pancakes known as maibing. But the main draw is their home-style wok-fried mochi with egg and vegetables – the sticky rice cake has a crispy crust and chewy centre. The hearty "old-town" thick soup is garnished with shepherd's purse, dried tofu, potato, ground pork and baby oysters.

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.

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 eatery, the group’s flagship, offers private rooms on the upper floors. The array of live and chilled seafood on display is quite spectacular and wild-caught fish from the East China Sea is especially prized for its outstanding quality. Braised yellow croaker with sticky rice cake unveils interesting textures and natural sweetness. Made with spring water, Ningxi tofu soaks up the flavours of shrimps and salted pork.

Taizhou snacks are their speciality and their famous rice vermicelli soup starts with a flavourful broth made from scratch with pork leg bones. Regulars often pair it with tofu skin rolls filled with juicy pork, also made in-house. For variations, the beef broth with a hint of curry is also a good choice. Another must-try are the house steamed open-faced dumplings known as ‘chui yuan’ that boast soft, chewy skin and succulent pork filling.