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| Tourist
Guides for China |
Foshan Tourist Guide (March
2010)
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Late Night
Eateries - Street Restaurants |
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Related Pages:
• Restaurants
- Introduction
• Western
Restaurants
• Chinese
Restaurants
• Vegetarian
Restaurants
• Fast
Food
• Late Night Eats and Drinks - This Page
• Trendy
Cafes, beer gardens and juice bars
Siu Yeah'r
Siu Yeah'r is Cantonese for late night drinks and eating
establishments. These places are prolific, and tend
to open on the pavements between 6 to 8pm. If you Enjoy
the Latin style of sitting outside late at night and
sharing snacks and drinks with friends, then this is
for you.
Despite other meanings of this phrase, the term Siu
Yeah'r actually means 'Little death'; and I have been
victim of numerous "Little Death's" on the
backstreets of Foshan - all exceedingly enjoyable. For
clarification, you can take this as a Cantonese joke,
meaning: tomorrow morning may not happen for you. On
one occasion I remember staggering homewards at 7.30
am, although most of these places close around 4am in
general. However, China does not appear to have invented
liquor licensing hours yet; so enjoy the moment, and
repent at your leisure...
Introduction:
These restaurants tend to be grouped together and sometimes
it is difficult to know exactly where one finishes and
the next begins. As a generalisation - they are cheap
and cheerful, but usually have particular food they
are famous for. Changes to traffic flow, Policing policy,
or renovations may affect each location substantially.
General opening times are from around 5pm for 12 hours
or so. Outside tables are usually not available until
6pm or 8pm - depending upon location. Most will close
around 4am, but on a quiet night expect them to be finished
much earlier. Conversely, on a busy night they may still
be open until dawn or later. They will definitely close
around 7am.
Where to Go:
You will not find many of these establishments in 'Select
neighbourhoods' such as Bai Hua Plaza and near the Foshan
Hotel. They are lower class, convivial, and very enjoyable.
I will list some of our favourites, and please add your
own to this list via email:
Tong Sam Yuen
This restaurant specialises in Oysters and Rice Porridge,
although it also has a BBQ and a great range of dishes.
Outdoor tables start at 8pm, and it also features a
large indoor room with a 60 inch TV set - often showing
English Football via cable.
Oysters come in 3-sizes, and are very fresh - the prices
are something ridiculous like: Y2, Y3 and Y4 RMB for
truly massive ones! They are either served whole, or
adorned with a choice of dressing - the Garlic one being
totally delicious. Whilst many other places sell Oysters,
we have never had a bad one here - and we have eaten
thousands of them!
The main dish is 'Sik Juk' or rice porridge. This can
have many additions, the most common being meat and
cabbage. I sometimes find this a touch bland, so occasionally
add salt (Yim). This is excellent for soaking-up the
beer if you worry you may have had a little too much.
Other dishes are numerous, but of note is 'Guy Bay',
which is a chicken drumstick BBQ 'd Chinese style. It
comes looking like a cross with the centre opened out,
and is very nice to eat. Adventurous culinaires may
also like the dried squid, which is served heated through,
with a dip of soy sauce and fiendish wasabi. They also
offer a very good stir fry, which can be made to your
specifications of meats and vegetables. We like this
place because the staff are friendly, the patrons are
friendly, and we always enjoy good food.
To find this restaurant, go to Dong Jian Century Plaza
and head up the road just before keeping KFC to your
left. After half a mile you will meet a set of traffic
lights. Go over these straight on, and stop 30 yards
later. It is the second restaurant of two.
Down The Alley
This area is a lower class, and I only mention it here
because it is very close to the above. Between the traffic
lights and Tong Sam Yuen is an alleyway set at an oblique
angle, that runs past a small supermarket. This leads
straight through a Foshan Chinatown. At the far end
is the parallel street you could also have reached by
driving right and then left at the traffic lights. However
walking this way is pretty boring, whilst the alleyway
is an adventure.
This area has half a dozen Siu Yeah'r set back from
the road, and the recommended one is the second one
you reach from this direction. It is very hard to tell
where one finishes and the next begins, so keep central
until you are sure. The food is very acceptable without
being outstanding, but you will need a Chinese speaker
with you to help ordering.
Ho Sum Lao
This restaurant is also nearby and one I have spent
many hours at. Again start at Dong Jian with KFC on
your left, and go 100 yards up the road to the first
road junction. Turn right and cross the road. There
are a lot of local streetbar's along this stretch of
road and behind in the China Town. Ho Sum Lao is the
very last one of these on the block, and just before
the T junction at the end.
The Owner and family are very welcoming, although do
not expect English, and only some of the staff speak
Cantonese. They offer excellent spare ribs, hot pot,
and a great Hong Kong noodle dish served in a very large
bowl. Duck's Bill's are also well worth sampling, or
you can go inside and look at a few pictures of food
taken from their menu.
The patrons are extremely friendly, so if you are alone
- expect to get caught up in a drinking and merry-making
activities. Foshan's English teachers also use this
bar sometimes, and especially at week-ends and holidays.
However, it is the locals that make this a great place
for me, and it is also the place I met my wife a few
years ago.
The Turtle Place
This mirrors our entry listing under Restaurants, but
is edited for this category.
The Turtle Place is very easy to find, and comprises
a main area of 7 restaurants surrounding a massive car
park, with a second tier just around the corner. This
whole area is also a good spot for outdoor food and
drinks late at night. All restaurants are very good,
however we will focus on the most interesting one for
first timers.
Location: Go to where Jia Hua 5 Road becomes Jia Hua
4 Road - and this is where it crosses Foshan Avenue
(Daido). Turn into Jia Hua 4 Road and it is 50 yards
on your right. During the daytime you can park here,
but late at night the car park becomes a sea of outdoor
tables.
The Turtle Restaurant is immediately on your left as
you enter this enclave, and Siu Yeah'r begins around
8pm. Being a secluded enclave, there are a thousand
people or more here during the heights of summer. All
four restaurants cater to the demand, and still serve
inside also. This has a better ambience and is more
welcoming for foreigners trying Foshan late nights for
the first time. There is a recognisable 'Buzz' about
the area that is missing somewhat in other locations.
The road outside is also a preferred taxi halt, so getting
home afterwards is not a problem.
Within this area you can order virtually anything and
enjoy good food in pleasant surroundings. Between 10
and midnight on a balmy summer's eve is perhaps the
best time to go here, although they do serve outside
these hours of course.
University
University refers to the back streets around Foshan
University, which is centrally located just off Foshan
Avenue at the beginning of Jiangwan 1st Road. The University
itself occupies the area noted on the Google map as
Tiejun Park. The restaurant area is located about half
a mile along Jiangwan First Road on your right. It is
marked by a set of traffic lights, and the street you
are looking for winds its way into a native community
to your right.
I decided to list this under Siu Yeah'r and not restaurants
- simply because this area is a mix of the two, and
is generally a very cheap place to eat. Most of your
choices of eatery are pretty basic, but it is a very
interesting place to hang out. They are used to seeing
occasional Foreigners here, as the University does have
Foreign students from time to time. My good friend Neil
actually studied for his Masters here in 1996.
The food is pretty good and the selection mirrors other
locations in this city. What can be very entertaining
is that very often you will be joined by passing students
looking to chat and practice their English with you.
If you are in the mood for this - then have a great
time!
Summary
If you like this style of eating and drinking, then
Foshan abounds with similar establishments - thousands
of them! I have only highlighted a few that I know to
be good - and have been to many that are 'ok' and probably
quite missable. I have also excluded trendy 'Garden
Bars' from this page, as these can be found listed under
'Trendy Bars'
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This information is as supplied by China Expats and
our friends, as dated 10th July 2010, and/or other reliable
sources. Please check this information yourself as it
may alter without notice, and whilst we try our best
to ensure it is correct, please do not hold us responsible
for any errors - this is intended as a simple guide
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