Zhuyuan Fishing-Family Restaurant (Zhuyuan Yujiale)

Zhuyuan Fishing-Family Restaurant (竹院渔家乐, Zhuyuan Yujiale) is a traditional fisher-family restaurant in Linhuai Town, Sihong County, Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China. The sources consulted do not publish a street address, so visitors should navigate to Linhuai Town and ask locally. Sihong lies on the shore of Hongze Lake, one of China's largest freshwater lakes, and the yujiale (渔家乐) format is a rural family-run restaurant serving fish and produce from the lake, often with a courtyard or lakeside setting. The kitchen is known for water-chestnut-stem buns (菱角秧包子), steamed buns filled with the tender stems of water chestnut plants, a seasonal local speciality. Other signature dishes include earthen-pot loach (地锅泥鳅), loach cooked in a large wok set into a stove; Hongze Lake fish-head tofu (洪泽湖鱼头豆腐), a milky soup of fish head and tofu that is a classic of the lake region; and fish balls with bones (带刺鱼丸), a traditional preparation that keeps the fine bones in the fish paste. The menu reflects what is caught and grown nearby, so availability changes with the season and the day's catch. The dining room is likely a simple, rustic family setting with no dress code, informal service and a relaxed, rural atmosphere, a very different experience from the city restaurants of central Suqian. Prices and opening hours are not published in the sources consulted; rural fisher-family restaurants are typically inexpensive to mid-range per head, but visitors should confirm before going. No phone number or reservation system is listed, and since the venue is in a small town, calling ahead through a local contact or checking Meituan or Dianping is sensible, especially for groups or weekends. Beverages are mainly tea, soft drinks, beer and local baijiu. Payment is typically by WeChat Pay or Alipay. Menus are probably in Chinese only. Getting there is easiest by car or taxi from Sihong's county town, and the restaurant suits visitors exploring the Hongze Lake area.