Fly Restaurants
"Hole-in-the-wall eateries known for questionable decor but serving elite, highly authentic home-style cooking (jiachangcai) at rock-bottom prices."
Logistics
Budget
Vibe
Grimy, Loud, Legendary
Duration
1-1.5 hours
Best For
Extreme food adventurers
The Backstory
The name implies they are as numerous as flies (and perhaps as hygienic), but they represent the unpretentious culinary soul of the city where businessmen and stick-porters dine shoulder-to-shoulder.
Local Secret
"Visit Dongzikou Zhang Liangfen for an archaic experience. It operates on a 'blind-box' model: sit beside a narrow stream as waiters pedal tricycles loaded with unlabelled plates. You simply grab whatever looks appealing as the tricycle rolls past."
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