Eat your heart out

Amici Restaurant at the Hilton offers Italian classics.

Dining choices abound in a city with enticing local and international cuisines. Reports byDavid Powell

In Partnership WithGo China-ZHENGZHOU

Zhengzhou's restaurant scene is flourishing in ways never before seen, thanks to China's rapidly growing leisure dollars and an infusion of new flavours and culinary concepts from overseas. Local food shops are ubiquitous, but there are many foreign and fusion restaurants catering to international guests and locals with a taste for adventure.

One of the most popular foreign-oriented restaurants is Zax BBQ, which serves authentic dishes from the American south and is located on Guiren Jie in Lanbao Wan. "It's an American smokehouse featuring southern-style meat such as pork shoulder, duck legs and sausages," says Zach Cagle, the owner's husband. Zax also serves American standards such as burgers, wings and fried chicken. Quality and authenticity are the calling cards.

For French food, the top restaurant is La Cerise, run by general manager Thierry Houngues and home to three international chefs. Stop by for some of the city's freshest baguettes. For proper French food, a trip to the Zhengdong New Area is worth visiting.

If Russian food whets your appetite, try the Russian Kitchen Restaurant in Jinshui District. The food is plentiful and robust, while dishes are reasonably priced.

The microbrewery trend has come to Zhengzhou and a great place to try some hand-brewed draught beers while eating authentic German sausage is the Paulaner. Visit the central business district's Greenland Centre Plaza for a taste of the Old World.

The city's upscale hotels are reliable redoubts for quality international and Chinese food. Some of the best sushi in town can be found at Le Meridien's Akebono. The décor is startlingly beautiful and the sushi and sashimi are delicious. Amici Restaurant at the Hilton provides scrumptious Italian food. The Yuda Palace Hotel is home to the WenQi Chinese Restaurant, which offers more than a dozen private rooms for intimate dinners and a wide variety of traditional Chinese cuisines. If you miss the tastes of Hong Kong, you'll love Man Ho, the JW Marriott signature restaurant featuring Cantonese classics prepared by the hotel's executive chef from Hong Kong.

For a restaurant more focused on local specialities, Banu is one of the most popular hot-pot restaurants in Zhengzhou. Signature dishes include the mushroom soup and beef omasum, a carnivore's dream.

Sometimes the best restaurants are found serendipitously by wandering the city's side streets and ducking into a mom-and-pop restaurant. Boost your chances of striking gold by visiting some of the many neighbourhoods famed for their range and variety of restaurants.

Strike out for Dashanghai, which has an abundance of great small restaurants. For a compact area, try David's Plaza, home to many tasty local treats.

For a more international scene, try Lanbao Wan, which is home not only to the aforementioned Zax BBQ, but also Italian, Korean and Szechuan restaurants within a stone's throw of each other.

Any gourmand's visit to Zhengzhou would be incomplete without a visit to the night market on Jiankang Lu. The scene can be raucous during peak hours but the sheer variety and excitement of the market's eateries are unparalleled.