As one of the four famous Buddhist mountains the main dishes, enjoyed by both travellers and pious Buddhist followers here, are vegetable based. It is from areas such as this that the more famous vegetarian restaurants in China, such as the popular Gongdelin Restaurant, learnt their styles. Most favoured specialties include bamboo shoots and various exotic funghi & mushrooms, that are made in to such rare and pricey finished dishes as the Jiuhua Three Mushrooms (Jiuhua san’er, made from Wood, Stone & Silver Mushrooms).

With the increase in ordinary travellers to the mountain, local restaurants have also added various animal dishes to their menus. These include boiled tortoise (Qingzheng jiayu), roast hare (Chuangkao paotu) and steamed wild chicken (Qingzheng shanfenghuang), as well as a selection of the normal dishes from around China.

Jiuhua town has a number of small restaurants that line its main street. Most of the local hotels also have their own restaurants, some with western food, although these are normally pricier than those that can be found on the street. If not on a budget, the best food in town is at the Vegetarian Restaurant (Sucai guan), that can be found opposite the town’s police station. There are also various stalls up the mountain that provide basic snacks and drinks.