Seafood is the main content of Dalian cuisine.

Although seafood can be found in most downtown restaurants, your best bet is the seafront or the pricey hotels. One of the nicest restaurants on the seafront is the New Orient Seafood City, which serves possibly the best crab cooked by chefs from the popular Cantonese food chain, Bifengtang.

For those not after seafood, Tianjin Street (Tianjin jie) is the place to come. It is dotted with stalls and restaurants serving the usual Chinese fare, and also the local Dalian fried dumplings and pancakes. The Donglaishun Restaurant on Changchun Road also sells good hotpot dishes for cheap prices.

Western food is all over the shop, especially KFC. But you’d better head for the Greenery Beerhouse on Renmin Lu available with a variety of western style snacks at different prices. Or head for Jinshan Restaurant that serves medicinal food, mainly turtle or snake, apparently good for health. Don’t forget to sample the local fruits, including apples, pears and cherries.

Chinese Net Friends’ Recommendations:

Dalian Dishes:
Sea Urchin Eaten Raw:
Cut it in two equal parts. Eat it with a spoon. Dip it into mustard. The spines might still be trembling. Please do not be merciful when having good food.

Two ways of Eating Sea Cucumber:
Stir it raw with parsley, or cook soup with it.
Barbecues
Some little barbecue restaurants are the favorite of local people. Wusi Road is a street dotted with barbecue restaurants. Eat dishes of meat, fishes and shrimps with cold, icy beer. What a cool life!