About Flo (Foulang)
Flo (福楼法餐 / Foulang in Chinese) opened in 1990 in a restored 1920s French Concession villa as a joint venture between a Tianjin businessman and the French Flo restaurant group. It was one of the first proper French restaurants to operate in mainland China after the 1978 reform-and-opening period and is one of the longest continuously running Western fine-dining rooms in the country. The dining room occupies the villa's former ballroom and second-floor library; the original 1923 stained-glass windows and parquet flooring remain.
The menu is classical French bistro — escargots in garlic butter, beef tartare with frites, a slow-cooked bourguignon, duck à l'orange, a tarte fine aux pommes — interpreted competently rather than reinterpreted creatively. The kitchen has been French-led since 2002 and currently runs under a Burgundy-trained chef. A standard three-course dinner with wine is ¥420-580; the seasonal six-course tasting is ¥780.
What gives Flo its place in the city's dining map is partly the architecture (the villa is genuinely beautiful and the room is romantic in a way no other Tianjin restaurant matches) and partly the historical role: this is where Tianjinese executives took foreign business partners through the 1990s and 2000s when there were almost no other options. The cellar is curated, leaning on Burgundy and Loire — the wine list is the older guide-style printed book and reads as a relic.
The room seats sixty-five across the main hall and a smaller second-floor private space. Reservations are matter-of-course on Friday-Saturday evenings; the rest of the week walk-ins work. English-speaking staff at the front, French-speaking sommelier on weekend evenings, basic French and English on the menu. The room reads more authentically Concession-era than any other dining address in the city.
Best Occasion Fit
For a first date in Tianjin, the Concession-era villa setting is the city's most romantic dining backdrop. The architecture does the work for you. For closing-the-deal dinners with French-speaking clients, Flo's authenticity reads correctly. Birthdays — particularly anniversary-type — fit the format. The room genuinely transports.
Explore More in Tianjin
Discover more exceptional restaurants in Tianjin ranked by occasion — from first dates to deal-closing dinners and once-in-a-lifetime proposals. Browse our full occasion guide for every type of table, or explore all cities in our directory.