15 October 2026
If you can point at it, it counts
Ordinary restaurants a visitor can enter, not a chef ranking.
A city climbs the food list when a visitor can eat a famous local meal without a reservation or a translator. Chengdu, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Xi'an clear that bar in different ways.
A tasting menu in Shanghai can be wonderful and still not move Shanghai up this list. The list is about the ordinary table.
- Related pageThe guide this note sits next to