Li Hongzhang Restaurant

Li Hongzhang Restaurant is the heritage namesake of Hefei's most famous heritage dish - the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge (Li Hongzhang Za Hui), a slow-cooked one-pot stew of pork, sea cucumber, fish maw, ham, bamboo shoot, mushroom and the older Anhui aromatics, named for the Qing Dynasty statesman who is Hefei's most famous historical son. The room is dedicated to perfecting the dish, providing a cosy yet bustling ambiance where locals gather to enjoy generous portions of the famous stew alongside other traditional sides.

The hodgepodge is the room's reason for being: a long-cooked stew presented at the table in an earthenware pot, served with rice, with small sides of pickled greens and the Anhui-style braised tofu. The full menu runs a wider Anhui repertoire at the simpler heritage register - the Caocao chicken (a poached-and-dressed chicken named for the Three Kingdoms general), the Luzhou roast duck (Hefei's older name was Luzhou), the Lord Bao fish in the local sweet-and-sour preparation, and the bamboo-shoot soups.

The drinks list is contained: regional baijiu (Gujing Gongjiu and Kouzijiao at the centre), Anhui beer, the Huangshan green tea programme. There is no wine cellar to speak of; the format is the older heritage Chinese restaurant where the food and the spirit do the work.

Service is unfussy and quick; the room handles the lunch trade fast and a solo diner is welcomed without ceremony. For a heritage Hefei solo lunch on a one-day visit, the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge bowl here is the most authentic single dish in the city.

Li Hongzhang Restaurant is the considered solo-dining lunch in Hefei. The cosy bustling room is the heritage source for the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge stew (named for Hefei's Qing Dynasty statesman son), a single bowl of the stew with a careful Anhui side - braised tofu, mountain greens - is the most authentic single-table lunch in the city, and the price is decisively under the heritage banquet rooms.