From Sushi to Satay—Asian Cuisine in Guangzhou Other Than Chinese

Photo: chimelong.com

Guangzhou diners wishing to please the palate with something other than Chinese cuisine don't have to eat Western all the time. Guangzhouers can find a multitude of Korean, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants ready to tease their taste buds. These eateries range from the crowded-every-lunchtime budget sushi bars to top-of-the range restaurants with imported chefs and ingredients flown in fresh from the sea.

Many neighbourhoods have their own sushi bars and Korean barbeques cheek-by-jowl with your local char-siu joint. These are always worth a try—who knows, the one near you might just become your favourite eat-out spot.

But if you're in a go-to-town mood, and feel like browsing a few Asian-themed restaurants, a good place to start, as usual, is the international district around the Garden Hotel.

1) Japanese Cuisine 
Possibly the best non-Chinese Asian food deal in the city is the buffet at Tairyo. For 168 RMB per person (less during special offers) diners can eat and drink (yes, beer and sake are included!) as much as they can order.  Not only serving sashimi, sushi, tempura-battered shrimp and your usual Japanese fare out of the kitchen, they also boast teppanyaki grills. Foodies can choose to eat in a private room at a table set in to the floor, at a free-standing table for a little privacy, or grouped with other diners along the teppanyaki grills where you can watch the chefs prepare your sizzling meal right in front of you. If you're not super hungry, you can also order a la carte.

Tairyo 大渔铁板烧
Add: 2/F, Guangyi Building, 34-38, Huale Lu, Guangzhou
地址: 广州市华乐路34-38号广怡大厦2楼
Tel: 020 8360 1371
Opening hours:  11:00-14:00, 17:00-22:30

Photo: dianping.com

2) Thai Cuisine 
Just across the landing from Tairyo is another of the city's well-reviewed “Other” Asian restaurants. Cow and Bridge, a local institution with two branches, offers Thai food in a gilt-and-wood décor restaurant at reasonable prices (mains 28 RMB up). Chinese-style round tables make it a good place to go when you've got a large group of people. They offer a tantalizing selection of desserts and iced beverages. The restaurant even smells authentic—lemongrass and curry whet the appetite as you walk through the door.

Cow and Bridge泰珍牛桥
Add: 2/F, Guangyi Building, 34-38, Huale Lu, Guangzhou
地址: 广州市华乐路34-38号广怡大厦2楼
Tel: 020 8360 1468
E-mail: cowbridge@163.com

3) Malaysian Cusine 
On the busy food Mecca street of Jianshe Liu Ma Lu are several more Asian favourites.  Sabah, a Malaysian restaurant, serves up spicy and succulent curries and other regional specialties in a brightly-lit, airy restaurant with comfortable seating. Prices start at 22 RMB for mains and 15 RMB for juices, teas and other beverages. If you're looking for a more northerly flavour, there's also a Korean restaurant, Ji Zhou Dao, on the same floor to the left in the corner. This restaurant has hotpot or table barbeque options, and the chance to try some traditional food and drink like soju (rice brandy, 45 RMB) or steamed dried pollack (a fish, 120 RMB).

Sabah  莎巴马来西亚餐厅
Add: 313-317, 3/F, 33 Jianshe Liu Ma Lu, Guangzhou
地址:   广州市建设六马路33号3楼313-317号
Tel: 020 83633887

Ji Zhou Dao 济州岛韩国料理      
Add: 313-317, 3/F, 33 Jianshe Liu Ma Lu, Guangzhou
地址:   广州市建设六马路33号3楼
Tel: 020 8363 3746
           
4) Indonesian Cuisine 
Down the street, Jian She Liu Ma Lu offers more exotic restaurants to pique the palate. Pandan Indonesian has a branch at Number 1, serving sauteed sea crab (two pieces, 52 RMB), nasi goreng, gado gado and satay sticks (most dishes 25-75 RMB). Pandan is on the mezzanine level of this recently-opened building of restaurants. On the ground floor, find Guangzhou newcomer Soi 5, a Thai cafe/bar with nicely priced drinks (mixed drinks 35 RMB, cocktails 45-50 RMB) to go with your tom yum soup (18 RMB per person) and spicy minced pork salad (38 RMB). On Mondays Soi 5 has a live DJ and cocktails for a chill 25 RMB.

Pandan 香兰印尼餐厅
Add: 1 Jianshe Liu Ma Lu, Guangzhou
地址:  广州市建设六马路1号
Tel: 020 8376 5075
Email: pandanGZ@hotmail.com

Soi 5
Add: 1 Jianshe Liu Ma Lu, Guangzhou
地址:  广州市建设六马路1号
Tel: 020 8388 3821

5) Vietnames Cuisine 
For Vietnamese cuisine, check out Nha Trang or Lemon House, both also on Jianshe Liu Ma Lu.  Lemon House is a Guangzhou favourite with four branches. Its chefs cook up pan-Asian dishes with a Vietnamese focus, including bun moc (pork and mushroom noodle soup, 22 RMB) and rice paper rolls (18 RMB).  Nha Trang's Jian She Liu Ma Lu branch (it has another on Tianhe East Road) has a clean, airy modern décor with a wall of windows perfect for people-watching passersby on the street below. They serve a selection of salad rolls (32-42 RMB), pho (noodles, 18-38 RMB) and sandwiches (28 RMB) as well as other mains and starters.

Lemon House
Add: 1/F, 11 Jianshe Liu Ma Lu, Guangzhou
地址:  广州市建设六马号11号
Tel: 020 8375 3600

Nha Trang
Add: 2/F, 3-7 Jianshe Liu Ma Lu, Guangzhou
地址:  广州市建设六马号3-7号2楼
Tel: 020 8373 6663

6)  Other Asian Cuisine around Guangzhou
And if you're looking for something closer to your usual haunts, in the Zhujiang New Town Area, Korean restaurant Hans Cafe gets good reviews, as does Tiger Prawn, a Vietnamese restaurant near Beijing Lu.

Hans Cafe
Add: 1/F, Poly Champagne Garden, 123 Huasui Lu, Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou
地址:   广州市韩斯韩国美食,珠江新城华穗路123号保利香槟花园1F 
Tel: 020 3899 9496
          
Tiger Prawn
Add: 8/F, Guangming Plaza, 63 Xihu Lu, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
地址:  广州市越秀区西湖路63光明广场8楼
Tel: 020 8338 1931

For the upscale diner, Kaiseki Japanese Restaurant in Panyu's Chimelong promises fresh seafood and attention to detail, while Mai, on the 42nd floor of the Westin Pazhou in Haizhu District, boasts one of the city's best dining views. 

Kaiseki  怀石日本料理
Add: 3/F of Lobby 2, Yingbin Lu, Panyu District, Guangzhou
地址:  广州市番禺区迎宾路长隆酒店B区4楼
Tel: 020 8478 6838
Opening hours: 11:00-15:00, 17:00-23:00
Website: http://hotel.chimelong.com/en/about/Info.aspx?id=66

Mai (Westin)
Add: Area C, GZ Intl Convention Exhibition Center, Fengpu Zhong Lu, Haizhu District, Guangzhou
地址:  广州市海珠区凤浦中路国际会议展览中心C馆
Tel: 020 8918 1246
Opening hours:  11:30-14:30, 18:00-22:30
 

Related links
Hotel Restaurants: Raising the Bar in Guangzhou’s Dining Scene
Guangzhou's Best Hangover Breakfasts
Guangzhou Cheap Eats: Western Appetite, Chinese Budget