The Guilin Directory
Our editorial team is finishing the long-form Guilin guide. The directory below lists every restaurant we've reviewed in the city — click through to read the full verdict, scores, and reservation strategy.
Guilin is a noodle town first and a restaurant town second. The dish that defines the city is breakfast: a bowl of Guilin rice noodles dressed with a braising broth, fried soybeans and pickled long beans, eaten standing up before nine. Sit-down dinners are the smaller story, and they turn on one regional star, Guangxi roast goose. The four rooms in our directory map the spread, from the lacquered birds at Chunji Roast Goose on Zhongshan Middle Road, to the lakeside cooking at Jinlong Zhai near the Sun and Moon Pagodas, up to Shang Palace, the city's one genuine fine-dining table inside the Shangri-La.
How Guilin Eats
Guilin runs on an early clock and a fast one. Lunch lands between 11:30 and 13:30, dinner starts around 17:30, and local dining rooms are busiest by 19:00 and often emptying before 21:00. This is not a city built for the long, late dinner; the rhythm rewards arriving when the kitchen first fires rather than after dark. Time a roast-goose table for around six and you catch the birds at their sharpest.
The everyday meal is the noodle bowl. Guilin rice noodles (Guilin mifen) are the breakfast and lunch staple, served with a dark braising broth called lu shui, fried soybeans, pickled greens and a spoon of chilli, eaten quickly at a counter rather than lingered over. No sit-down restaurant on this list will cook them for you; you find them in the noodle shops along Zhengyang Pedestrian Street and every side lane off Zhongshan Road, usually for a few yuan.
Two things surprise first-time visitors. Tipping is not done anywhere in mainland China, and no service charge is added at local rooms such as Chunji or Jinlong Zhai, though hotel restaurants sometimes add one to the bill. And payment is almost entirely cashless: WeChat Pay and Alipay are expected everywhere, while foreign cards and even paper cash are awkward at smaller spots, so set up a mobile wallet before you arrive.
The region keeps its own pantry. Guilin's "three treasures" are Sanhua jiu (the city's tri-distilled rice liquor), Guilin chilli sauce, and fermented bean curd (furu), and all three turn up on tables and in gift boxes. The local beer is Liquan, brewed in the city. For the dish people travel for, drive an hour downriver to Yangshuo, where beer fish (pijiu yu), Li River carp simmered with local beer, tomato and chilli, is the regional specialty no Guilin restaurant does better than the riverside kitchens that invented it.
Reservations are rarely needed. Most local rooms are walk-in, and when you do want to book, the Chinese app Dianping and a WeChat message are the standard tools rather than any international platform. Hotel restaurants take phone bookings; for a large team dinner at Chunji, a same-day call ahead to hold a round table is enough.
Best Neighbourhoods for Dinner
Guilin is small and walkable along the river, and its four directory rooms split between the central Xiangshan district, the lakeside strip and the eastern bank.
Xiangshan District and Zhongshan Road is the central spine, running past Elephant Trunk Hill where the Li and Peach Blossom rivers meet. The city's commercial heart sits here, and so do two of its best tables: Chunji Roast Goose on Zhongshan Middle Road, and Shang Palace on Huan Cheng Bei Er Road inside the Shangri-La.
The Two Rivers and Four Lakes, the ring of waterways threading the old centre, is where the city looks its best after dark, lit by the Sun and Moon Pagodas rising from Fir Lake (Shanhu). The lakeside lanes off Shanhu Road hold Jinlong Zhai, the Golden Dragon, a classic Guangxi kitchen and the highest-scored room in our directory.
Qixing District, across the Li River on the east bank around Seven Star Park, is quieter and more residential. Taste Made sits here on Guiyang Road, plating the city's most contemporary cooking away from the tourist core.
Zhengyang Pedestrian Street, the lantern-strung walking street in the old centre, is less for dinner than for the snack circuit: noodle counters, grilled skewers and the night-market stalls that open once the restaurants close. It is where to wander after a goose dinner rather than where to book one.
The Guilin Top 4
Ranked on the cooking, the setting and what each room is for. Every table here is reviewed and scored by the Restaurants for Kings editors. How we score.
Jinlong Zhai (Golden Dragon)
Two Rivers Four Lakes (Shanhu Road) · Classic Guilin / Guangxi · $$
Classic Guangxi cooking by the lakes, and the highest-scored kitchen in our Guilin directory at a flat 9.1 — book it for a relaxed local dinner.
Chunji Roast Goose
Xiangshan District (Zhongshan Middle Road) · Guangxi roast goose · $$
The region's benchmark roast bird, lacquered and carved tableside, named a Top 10 Brand of Guangxi cuisine; bring the team and order one goose per four.
Taste Made
Qixing District (Guiyang Road) · Modern Chinese / Guangxi fusion · $$$
The most contemporary kitchen in town, away from the tourist core on the east bank — reserve ahead for a quiet deal or a first date.
Shang Palace
Xiangshan District (Shangri-La) · Cantonese / Fine Chinese · $$$$
The Shangri-La's Cantonese dining room and Guilin's only genuine fine-dining table — save it for the formal client dinner.
Best by Occasion
Best for a Team Dinner
A team dinner in a regional city wants a local benchmark everyone recognises, a sharing format, and a bill that stays comfortable across a round table. Guangxi roast goose was built for exactly this, and the lakeside rooms do the convivial version well.
Chunji Roast Goose · Jinlong Zhai · Shang Palace. See more: best restaurants for a team dinner.
Best for a Deal or a First Date
When the table needs to hear itself and the cooking should do some of the talking, the quieter, more composed rooms win over the busy goose halls. These three trade the banquet clatter for space and a longer evening.
Taste Made · Shang Palace · Jinlong Zhai. See more: best restaurants for closing a deal and first-date restaurants.
Guilin Dining FAQ
What is the best restaurant in Guilin?
Jinlong Zhai, the Golden Dragon, is the highest-scored room in our Guilin directory, a classic Guangxi kitchen near the lakes off Shanhu Road. For the city's defining dish, Chunji Roast Goose on Zhongshan Middle Road is the regional benchmark, and for a formal dinner Shang Palace inside the Shangri-La is the only genuine fine-dining table in town. Each is scored on food, ambience and value by our editors.
What food is Guilin famous for?
Guilin is famous for Guilin rice noodles (Guilin mifen), the breakfast bowl dressed with a braising broth, fried soybeans and pickled greens that locals eat standing up before work. The sit-down star is Guangxi roast goose, lacquered and carved tableside at Chunji. The region also keeps its three treasures, Sanhua jiu rice liquor, Guilin chilli sauce and fermented bean curd, plus Yangshuo beer fish a short trip downriver.
How much does dinner cost in Guilin?
Dinner in Guilin is inexpensive by international standards. A roast-goose feast for four at Chunji runs well under 800 yuan, and a team of eight stays under 1,500 yuan with beer. Taste Made's modern cooking sits a tier higher, and Shang Palace inside the Shangri-La is the one room where a Cantonese dinner with wine moves into four figures. Most local meals cost a fraction of a comparable evening in Hong Kong or Shanghai.
Do you tip at restaurants in Guilin?
No. Tipping is not practised at restaurants in mainland China, and no service charge is added at local rooms such as Chunji or Jinlong Zhai. Hotel restaurants like Shang Palace inside the Shangri-La sometimes add a service charge, which appears on the bill. Payment is almost entirely cashless: WeChat Pay and Alipay are expected everywhere, while foreign cards and even cash are awkward at smaller local spots.
Where can I get the best roast goose in Guilin?
Chunji Roast Goose, on Zhongshan Middle Road in Xiangshan District, is the Guangxi roast-goose benchmark. The bird is brined, air-dried to tighten the skin, lacquered with a maltose-and-soy glaze and roasted over wood, then carved tableside with a plum-ginger sauce. The chain has grown across southern China, but the Zhongshan Middle Road flagship is where the brand was codified and where the goose is sharpest. Order one bird per four diners.
Does Guilin have fine-dining restaurants?
Guilin is a regional city rather than a fine-dining capital, and its one genuine high-end room is Shang Palace inside the Shangri-La on Huan Cheng Bei Er Road, serving Cantonese and refined Chinese cooking at the city's top price tier. For a more contemporary table, Taste Made in Qixing District plates modern Guangxi fusion. Diners chasing tasting-menu cooking usually travel onward to Guangzhou or Hong Kong.
What time do restaurants serve dinner in Guilin?
Guilin eats early. Lunch runs roughly 11:30 to 13:30 and dinner from about 17:30, with local rooms busiest by 19:00 and often emptying before 21:00. Plan a roast-goose dinner at Chunji for around 18:00 to catch the kitchen at its sharpest. Hotel rooms such as Shang Palace keep slightly later hours, but the city is not built for the late, lingering dinners common in Madrid or Hong Kong.
How do you book a restaurant in Guilin?
Most local restaurants in Guilin are walk-in, and the everyday rooms rarely need a booking outside holidays. When you do want to reserve, the Chinese app Dianping and a WeChat message to the restaurant are the standard tools rather than international platforms. Hotel restaurants such as Shang Palace take phone bookings. For a large team dinner at Chunji, a same-day call ahead is enough to hold a round table.
