Tianjin Dining

Tianjin dining culture is renowned throughout China, and not only the traditional Tianjin snacks, but the cuisines from other regions of China can also be found in Tianjin. Tianjin cuisine places a heavy focus on seafood due to Tianjin's proximity to the sea.

Food Street is a fairly good place for you to sample these cross-cultural Chinese dishes. These traditional and famed snacks cannot be missed. For example, Goubuli Buns is a traditional brand of baozi (steamed buns with filling), famous throughout China. Guifaxiang is a traditional brand of mahua (twisted dough sticks). Erduoyan is a traditional brand of fried rice cakes.

There also a few great dishes as well. The Eight Great Bowls is a combination of eight mainly meat dishes, which can be further classified into several varieties, including the rough, smooth, and high. Furthermore, the Four Great Stews refers to a very large number of stews, including the ingredients of chicken, duck, seafood, beef, and mutton. If traditional Tianjin taste does not suite you, there are also plenty of western food restaurants in the city as well. Please read below for a sampling of information concerning the various type of cuisine offered in Tianjin.

Shiba Jie Mahua (Fried Dough Twist)

Shiba Jie Mahua is sweet-smelling and crispy. Although plain in look, this queue-shaped fried dough is by no means easy to make. Each bar of dough is made with quality flour and then fried in peanut oil. The bars are usually stuffed with a variety of fillings, most often the waxy tasting beanpaste (dou sha) - a taste for only the hardy. Since it can be preserved for several months, you can take some of this crispy specialty back home to share with family.

Address: Beilou Hotel, No. 18 Jiashang Road, Tianjin

Goubuli Baozi (Steamed Stuffed Bun)

Goubuli means the infant of a restaurateur; while Baozi means steamed stuffed bun. Goubuli Baozi has had more than 150 years of history. It is not an exaggeration to say that Goubuli Baozi is a food calling card of Tianjin.

Goubuli's stuffed buns are known for their generous filling, which is succulent but not greasy. This famous snack was created during the late Qing Dynasty by a native of Wuqing County, who had the nickname "Dogy". At the age of 14, Dogy left home and came to Tianjin, where he was apprenticed to a restaurant specializing in stuffed buns. 

A diligent and honest young man, he eventually opened a shop of his own. As his stuffed buns tasted better and had a unique flavour, they attracted an increasing number of customers. As time went by, his nickname became known far and wide. Later, people changed "Dogy" to "Goubuli", which literally means "the Dogy who doesn't talk", because he was often too busy to speak to his customers. Then, eventually, his buns were called by the same name.

Today, the Goubuli Bun Shop has developed into a corporation with 89 branch restaurants opened in Tianjin and two dozen other Chinese cities, provinces and regions. In addition to over 90 varieties of stuffed bun, its restaurants also offer more than 200 dishes.

Address:No. 77 Shandong Road, Heping District, Tianjin

Ear ¨C Hole Fried Cake (Erduoyan Zhagao)

With relatively fine ingredients and a renowned reputation in Tianjin, Erduoyan Zhagao is almost 100 years old. As one of the most famous traditional food of Tianjin, Erduoyan glutinous rice cakes were created by a small restaurant located by Erduoyan Lane, hence the name. With a history of over 80 years, such fried, glutinous rice cakes are golden yellow in color, crisp, soft, sweet and tasty.

Address: No. 37 Beimenwai Dajie, Hongqiao District, Tianjin

Chatang

Chatang is a traditional Tianjin snack. It is made of baked millet and glutinous millet flour. The soup is made by pouring boiling water to the mixed flour and then adding sugar or brown sugar to it. The way chatang being served at stalls is as attractive as the soup itself. The water is boiled in a big copper pot whose spout is usually fashioned into a dragon's head. While making the soup, the skilled chatang maker holds several bowls in one hand and pours the boiling water into them from quite a distance.

Guobaicai

A snack of strong local flavour, Guobacai is a sort of pancake made of millet and mung bean flour. The pancake is sliced and cooked in the sauce made of sesame oil, chopped ginger, soy sauce, preserved beancurd and green onion. Guobacai is often served along with fried dough and sesame cakes.

Tangdui

It is a custom in Tianjin to eat Tangdui on the eve of the Chinese New Year. The most popular tangdui is made of hawthorn berry. Hawthorn berries have their seeds removed and are skewered on a thin bamboo stick, then dipped in hot syrup. When they turn cool, the stringed berries wrapped in crystal sugar look like beautiful stone beans pungently sweet and sour. Sometimes, the hollowed hawthorn berries are filled with red bean paste, walnut and melon seeds. Today, in addition to hawthorn, a wide variety of tangdui has been developed, including water chestnut, tangerine, apple, pear and crab-apple, etc.

The Food Street in Tianjin's Southern Market looks like an ancient walled city enclosed by a circle of neat three-story buildings. There is a crossroads and at the centre of the crossroads is a musical fountain. The entire structure is covered with a glass roof.

In Food Street are over 100 eating places, occupying more than 40,000 square meters in floor space and each having its own special dishes of local flavors. There are Chinese restaurants serving Tianjin and other schools of cuisine and Western restaurants.

As a large city, Tianjin can indulge you with almost all eight of the classical Chinese cuisines, of which seven types including Shandong, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Anhui, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Hunan Cuisines can be enjoyed in Food Street. Undoubtedly each cuisine is a feast for your pallet. What's more all the traditional Chinese constructions are also represented in this street making a feast for your eyes as well.

Tianfu Laoma Restaurant
Address:No. 85 Liuwei Road, Hedong District, Tianjin

Lao Sichuan
Address:South Building, Hexi District, Tianjin

Yang Shangshu
South Gate Branch:No. 406 Nanmen Wai Dajie, Nankai District, Tianjin
Benxi Road Branch: No. 19 Benxi Road, Hongqiao District, Tianjin

Garden Villa
Address:No. 117 Kunming Road, Tianjin
Tel:(8622) 2331-1117, (8622) 2313-9888

Yue Weixian
Address:No. 283 Hebei Road, Tianjin
Tel:(8622) 2314-6666

Yuanmansushilin
Address:at the corner of Suzhou Dao and Jiulong Road

TGI Friday's
Address:1/ F, Teda International Hotel & Club, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2300-5555

Barcelona Western & Spanish Restaurant
Address:No. 10 Binyou Dao, Hexi District, Tianjin

Hank's Sports Bar & Grill
Address: Building B, Joy Business Center, No. 56 Tianta Road, Nankai District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2341-7997

Richmond Restaurant
Address: No. 231 Hebei Road, Heping District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2311-3397

Bella Pizza
Address: No. 129 Anshan Dao, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2781-1902

Mr. Pizza
Address: 1/F, E-Mart (across Olympic Stadium, on the corner of Binshui Dao and Shuishang East Road), Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2393-3050

Origus
Address: North side of Binjiang Dao, past the intersection with Heping Road, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2712-7606

The Pizza Box
Address: Fukang Garden Apartments, Wangdingdi Area, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2367-1318

Pizza Hut
Address 1: Dagu South Road, Hexi District, Tianjin
Address 2: Dong Ma Road, Nankai District, Tianjin
Address 3: 1/F, Hai Guang Si Carrefour, Nankai District, Tianjin
Address 4: Nanjing Road (near the intersection with Binjiang Dao), Heping District, Tianjin
Address 5: 1/F, Parkson Building, Heping Road, Tianjin

Pizza King
Address 1: Home World, Jiashi Street, Zijin Shan Road, Tianjin
Address 2: No. 6 Wei Road, Tianjin
Address 3: No. 11 Jing Road, Tianjin

Gino Caf¨¦
Address: Xiaobai Building on Machang Dao and Weidi Dao, Tianjin

Jimix Italian Restaurant
Address: 7/F, Far Eastern Department Store, No. 168 Dongma Road, Nankai District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2726-0035

Brazilian Barbeque (Baxi Kaorou)
Address: North of Balitai on Weijin Road, almost across the street from Nankai University' East Gate.

Alibaba's
Address: Near Nankai University. Alibaba's is located in a dark alley across from the Bengon's on Tong An Dao. Walk down about 50 meters, and it will be on your right hand side.
Tel: (8622) 2351-3976

Cape of Good Hope
Address: Binjiang Dao (halfway between Nanjing Road and Heping Road), Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2711-1965

C'est La Vie
Address: 3/F, Building D, Joy Business Center, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2341-9808

Le Tube Cristal
Address: Youyi South Road, Zero Island, Hexi District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2804-8899

O'Smile French Restaurant
Address: No. 162 Machang Dao, Heping District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2331-8806

Paris Village
Address: No. 16 Youyi Road, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 8371-7060; (8622) 2836-0352

Saigon Court (French ¨C Vietnamese Cuisine)
Address: On the corner of Xikang Road and Chengdu Dao (near Somerset Olympic Tower), Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2335-9173

Amigos
Address: No. 10 Chongqing Dao, Heping District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2313-6488

Bawarchi Indian Restaurant
Address: 3/F, Shanggu Business Complex West Building, No. 69 Tianta Road, Nankai District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2341-2786

The Golden Fork
Address: B/F, Shangsha Building, Heping Street, Tianjin

Furusato
Address: Super 8 Motel, No. 2 Youyi Road, Hexi District, Tianjin

Meshiya
Address: 7/F, Isetan Building, Nanjing Road, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2718-8385

Mizuho
Address: Near the corner of Shuishang North Road and Tong Yuan Dao, about a block away from the intersection with Weijin South Road
Tel: (8622) 2352-6988

Sakura
Address: No. 30 Zijinshan Road, Hexi District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2335-9949

Seitaro Japanese Restaurant
Address: 2/F, Tianjin Sheraton Hotel, Zijinshan Road, Hexi District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2334-3388

Takenosuke
Address: Xidao Hotel (near the intersection with Binshui Dao), Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2813-9229

Yakiniku, Korean Barbeque
Address: On the southeast corner of Shuishang North Road and Shuishang East Road, Tianjin

Golden Elephant
Address: No. 78 Guangdong Road, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2328-7801

The Green Chili
Address: Zijinshan Road (slightly to the West of Sheraton Hotel), Hexi District, Tianjin

Parkway Caf¨¦
Address: 7/F, Isetan Building, Nanjing Road, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2718-8368; (8622) 2718-8369

Y.Y. Beer House
Address: No. 3 Aomen Road, Heping District, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2339-9634

New Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant
Address: D Building, No. 1 Youyi Road, Tianjin
Tel: (8622) 2813-9199

Lianwa Jia.
Address 1: 1/F Dickson Hotel, No. 18 Binshui Road, Hexi District, Tianjin
Tel:(8622) 2813-0537
Address 2: B1 International Building, No. 75 Nanjing Road, Heping District, Tianjin
Tel:(8622) 2313-1366

TEDA Branch
Address:1/F Youyi Shopping Centre, No. 19 Huanghai Road, TEDA, Tianjin

NOTE: Although this information is correct at the time of our web publication, it is still advised that you call the phone number and confirm the address before going to the venue because some venues may have changed their telephone numbers or address locations.

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