Best Restaurants
in Xiamen

Xiamen — historically known as Amoy — is the dining capital of Fujian province and, since December 2024, the first Chinese city outside the tier-one megacities to receive comprehensive Michelin coverage. The Michelin Guide Fujian launch awarded five stars across the city (headed by Hokklo at the Waldorf Astoria), recognised 47 Bib Gourmand restaurants, and confirmed what food travellers already knew: the Fujian coastal palate, built around fresh seafood, Minnan traditions, and the Hokkien-Taiwanese cultural overlap, belongs in the global luxury dining conversation. Add the island geography — Xiamen is effectively two cities, the mainland urban core plus the colonial-heritage Gulangyu islet — and the result is the most interesting mid-sized dining city in coastal China.

What to prioritise on a three-day visit: one dinner at Hokklo — the Michelin-starred contemporary Chinese room inside the Waldorf Astoria, the only starred restaurant in Fujian province and the reason many food travellers book the city in the first place; one seafood evening at Zhenfu or Shuyou for the steamed lobsters, sea urchin porridge, and arctic shellfish that define the Xiamen marine table; one meal at Yanyu for the chef-driven Sichuan-Fujian-Cantonese fusion that has earned its reputation with the post-1980s generation; one sunset dinner at the Lujiang Harbourview's Amoy room or Café Amoy for the bay view and Mediterranean-Fujian fusion; and at least one breakfast at a traditional Minnan peanut-soup house — the Huang Ze He Peanut Soup Shop near the Gulangyu ferry pier is a Bib Gourmand institution.

Practical notes: Xiamen runs on Dianping, Meituan, and WeChat for restaurant bookings. Hokklo requires reservations via the Waldorf Astoria concierge at least a week ahead on weekends; the Michelin launch has compressed availability significantly. Gulangyu island restaurants close earlier than mainland Xiamen — last orders typically by 8:30pm, and the last ferry back to Xiamen leaves around 9:30pm (check seasonally). Tipping is not expected in China; five-star hotels include 15% service. WeChat Pay and Alipay are the default; foreign Visa/Mastercard works at hotel restaurants and the starred rooms but often fails elsewhere. Bring RMB cash for market-district and Gulangyu venues.

Neighbourhoods: the Siming District (central Xiamen, near the Zhonghua Street pedestrian zone) holds the main concentration of dining — including the Waldorf Astoria, Hokklo, and most of the starred and Bib Gourmand venues; the Huli District to the north contains the newer fine-dining openings and the business-hotel corridor; Gulangyu islet, a ferry ride from the mainland, has its own dining culture — colonial-heritage villas converted to restaurants, Minnan peanut-soup shops, and the old European quarter that earned the island its UNESCO listing; the Xiamen University and Zengcuoan village area south of the city is the student-creative dining cluster, where several of the city's newer chef-driven venues have opened.