Lao Bian Jiu Jia (Jindai Road)

The three-storey restaurant may be rustic in style, but its novel take on familiar home-style flavours defies all expectations. The kitchen dreams up adventurous food combinations that work surprisingly well. Must-tries include pork dumplings in a deeply flavoured duck herbal broth that has been simmered for hours. A Taizhou meal is never complete without seafood, such as braised yellow croaker, white crab, or spicy whelks sautéed with aromatics.