Time-honored Restaurants in Suzhou

Shi Restaurant

Shi Restaurant was found in the 55th year of the Emperor Qian Long’s reign (1790). It used to called Xushunlou Restaurant with two wooden buildings for operation. Shi Han was the founder of this restaurant. It used to be a small shop running by the couple themselves. Until 1920s, great-grandson Shi Ren’an separated the hall and kitchen with street. Over the years, famous for cooking fresh dishes from Taihu Lake, this restaurant shapes a complete dish system with ten specialties which named with Shi. In 1929, Li Genyuan renamed this restaurant as Shi Restaurant and inscribed a short signage, 4 small boards and a horizontal inscribed board. Later Ye Gongchuo and Shao Yuanchong wrote the left signage and right signage respectively. In Republic of China, many celebrities came to Shi Restaurant for delicacy, such as Yu Youren, Li Zongren, Li Jishen, Shen Junru, Zhang Zhizhong, Shao Lizi, Ye Chucang, Sha Qianli, Shi Liang, etc.. Li Zongren once wrote in his epigraph to the restaurant “Pursuing equality and fraternity, share happiness with the people”. In past Shanghai, Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng would came to Shi Restaurant each time while traveling Taihu Lake. Other celebrities such as famous artists of Beijing Opera Gai Jiatian and Zhou Xinfang, Pinghua artist Jin Shengbo, renowned painter Zhang Daqian.

Zhu Hongxing Noodle Restaurant

Speaking of noodles, most people think about Zhu Hongxing, the King of Noodles, which is a time-honored brand with a history of 60 years. In March 1938, Zhu Chunhe, the founder of Zhu Hongxing established a small shop selling noodles and wontons which covered less than 30 square meters. Lu Fusheng is the qualified top chef during that time. They offered various refreshments, such as Stewed Meat Noodle, Fired Fish Noodle, Fried Eel Noodle, Stewed Trotters Noodle, Iced Chicken Noodle, Soup Dumpling, Steamed Dumpling, etc.. Zhu Chunhong was a smart businessman, and he paid great attention on the cooking method of noodle for catering to the taste of people from different areas. Taking local specialties as main ingredients, the restaurant further provided signature noodles with unique toppings like Ribs with Curry and Egg Sauce, Crab meat with Shrimp, “Three delicious parts of Shrimp”, Quick Fried Shrimp and Eel, Fresh turkey, Assorted foods, Honey-Stewed Trotters with Green Onion, and also various refreshments like Soup Dumpling with Shrimp. Steamed Dumpling with Shrimp, desserts with rose, mint, bean paste, sesame and shepherd’s purse. The taste of soup is a priority of Suzhou noodle. Thus Zhu Hongxing uses chicken, pork, bone of pig and eel to boil soup. In addition, thin noodle is another must of Suzhou noodle which can maintain the fresh taste of soup into noodle itself. The noodle in Zhu Hongxing is different from others, it is called “28 Ya Thin Noodle”. It requires the chef drain the noodle quickly and softly so as to make sure it is tasteful. There are also colorful bowls to hold noodle and soup. Red flowered bowl with red soup uses for Stewed Trotters Noodle, green-edged bowl with red soup uses for Stewed Meat Noodle, golden-edged bowl with white soup uses for Crab Meat and Shrimp Noodle. According to the requirement of customers, the restaurant offers different types of noodle, hard, soft, dry mixed, cook with soup, and also adjust the taste and the volume to cater to customers’ need. Besides, customers here have the priority to choose seasonings such as pepper, shredded ginger and chili oil. With the leading of Zhu Chunhe, Zhu Hongxing gradually grown up to a golden brand with an increasingly expanded sale scale.

Songhelou Restaurant

Songhelou Restaurant is a historical world-renowned restaurant offering authentic Suzhou cuisine. It has a history of over 270 years since it was founded at the very beginning of Emperor Qianlong’s Reign (1735AD). The restaurant, featured with traditional Wu culture style, is dedicated to provide refined delicacies of the season with natured ingredients. Songhelou Restaurant is not only a “China Time-honored Brand” authorized by the Ministry of Commerce, but also renowned with the awards of “Golden Tripod Awards” and the title of “Chinese Famous Snacks” and “National Special-Class Restaurant” offered by former Commerce Department and Domestic Trade Department respectively. Songhelou Restaurant is also a cradle of Chinese chefs. Qualified chefs in this restaurant won the gold medal among various cooking contests both at home and abroad for several times. To some extent, it is a symbol of Suzhou cuisine, and it is frequent in films and literary works such as, film Give Satisfaction To Them, Chonghua Sanwei, Gourmets and Personal Tailor. Jin Yong(Chinese famous Kung Fu story writer) mentioned Songhelou Restaurant for many times in his novel Tian Long Ba Bu. On Sep.23th, 2007, the 84-year-old Jin Yong wrote in his epigraph to the restaurant “Century-old but never leave behind, longevous as still”. Songhelou Restaurant first started in the noodle industry. In 2019, Songhelou noodle restaurant reappeared. There are currently more than 30 stores in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and other first-tier cities. The well-acclaimed Su-style soup noodle provided in Songhelou Restaurant is not oily, the flavor is not greasy, and the toppings are delicious.
Tel: 400-9977-779，0512-67272285,0512-67700688

Lu Gaojian Meat Shop

Lu Gaojian Meat Shop was found in the second year of Emperor Kang Xi’s Reign (1663). Mr. Lu situated the shop at Zhong Zhen Gong Qiao Wan, in Dongzhong District of Suzhou and selling fresh meat and cooked meat. There is a legend about the origin of the name Lu Gaojian. The tradition has it that on a Apri14th , before the “God Meeting Festival”, a bagger in rag with a palliasse on back and a folded pottery ware in hand came to the shop for a sleep. Mr. Lu had mercy on him and left him for one night. So the beggar put the palliasse on the ground in front of cooking bench, rested head on the folded pottery ware then fell asleep. On the early morning of next day, the beggar left without saying goodbye. The worker found a palliase of no use then put it into the stove. However, following with a fragrance, people in the shop couldn’t help to cheering for the aroma. Mr. Lu was confused and then he was aware of that the beggar last night might be the lucky god “Lv Chunyang”. He also found that the folded pottery ware symbolizing a Chinese character “lv”. Thinking of this, Mr. Lu preserved the rest palliase carefully and picked up a piece of the grass each time of cooking. The meat cooking in this way endowed a great smell which haunting through the whole Zhongshi Street and Xiatang area. Spreading from mouth to mouth, the shop became most popular than ever. Mr. Lu thought it was a great idea to name the shop with this magical story. Then Lu Gaojian came out as a result. From then on, Lu Gaojian Meat Shop maintain prosperous everlasting.
Location: No. 8 Guan Qian Street (at the starting point of Cuifang Bridge)
Tel: 0512-67270158

Source: Suzhou Municipal People's Government