Hong Chu Xiang

Hong Chu Xiang is a Jinling-style restaurant at 9 Xianhe Street in the Qinhuai District of Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, serving reasonably priced home-style Nanjing dishes in the old south city. Jinling is the historic name of Nanjing, and Jinling cooking is a local branch of the wider Huaiyang tradition, marked by balanced seasoning, careful braising and the use of river fish and freshwater produce. The restaurant is a casual dining house without a Michelin listing or celebrated chef lineage; its role is to offer the kind of family-style dishes that residents cook and eat at home, in a sit-down setting. Signature dishes include ruan dou swamp eel at about ¥88, in which eel is stir-fried or braised until tender in a sauce that is soft rather than crisp, a Jiangsu specialty; braised beef tendons at about ¥68, slow-cooked to a gelatinous tenderness; and gold-medal prawns at about ¥98, a shareable seafood dish. The menu is built around table-sharing, so groups of three or four typically order four or five dishes with rice. The dining room is comfortable and unpretentious, with a lively but not deafening atmosphere, and it draws neighbourhood families and small groups; dress is casual. Tea and soft drinks are standard, and beer is commonly ordered with the meal, though there is no dedicated wine programme. Reservations are recommended at weekends and can be made through Dianping, which is especially useful for larger parties. Opening hours are 11AM to 2PM for lunch and 5PM to 9PM for dinner, with an afternoon break. Prices sit in the $$ range, and a shared meal usually costs about ¥70 to ¥130 per person. The Xianhe Street location in the old south city makes it easy to reach from the Confucius Temple and Laomendong districts on foot, which suits visitors who want a sit-down dinner after a day of walking.