A favourite amongst expats living in Guangzhou, The Paddy Field is the one and only Irish bar in the city. It serves most kinds of imported beers (Guinness, of course, being available), as well as a good meal selection. Imported beers are expensive (around 50 for a Guinness), although food is reasonably priced.
Sleepingwood Bar & Restaurant is a relaxed earthy place located a few buildings up from the Holiday Inn.
Unlike most other bars in Guangzhou, Sleepingwood is not on a main street, and has a garden where you can sit in peace without hassle from traffic or pedestrians. The decor is akin to most Western style bars, with lots of ornamentation and pictures, and the food is a Chinese/Western collage. Prices are decent and there is a good selection of food and beers.
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The Backstreet Jazz Bar is a two storey architecurally impressive glass building set inside a bamboo forest. A lower ‘Jazz’ floor opens out into a small upstairs restaurant area, and the two are joined together, and with the outside world, by a complicated series of stairs, bridges, and sliding doors. The decor is dark, metallic, and subdued, with lots of glass and mirrors. Live jazz-style music is served up every night.
The restaurant ostensibly serves Latin-American styled food, although it borders on the generic American Italian. The prices are high and portions are small. Drinks, although available in a wide array of forms, are equally served in small quantities. Ask for a glass of wine and you’ll think yourself the butt of a joke; drink it fast otherwise the meagre serving will evaporate.
Extremely popular with the locals, the Lemon House restaurant is almost always chaotic, deafening, and overflowing with life. Do not be surprised if you have to queue, and prepare your ears for overload.
The restaurant serves good quality Vietnamese food. It is not cheap, nor is it peaceful, and you may come away wondering what all the fuss is about.
Sawadika! The Cow and Bridge restaurant is probably Guangzhou's most authentic Thai food restaurant, or at least it is according to the chef who imports all his ingredients from Thailand.
Prices are similar to the Banana Leaf restaurants, but are generally better quality and average around 45-200.
Big, bright, and brashy. These are the words you'll immediately think of when eating at a Banana Leaf restaurant where upon entering you will discover yourself in a faux-tropical paradise, with plastic trees apparently growing everywhere.
The food is decent, serving South Asian cuisines from Thai, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Service is quick, and if you dine at special times of the day you will treated to a song and dance routine from some of the Thai staff. Be warned - if you want a quiet dinner then seat yourself away from the centre otherwise you run the risk of being coerced to join in!
Bellagio is one of Guangzhou's most famous Taiwanese restaurants. For prices ranging mid-high you get served delicious food by an army of short-haired girls in a modern blood-red environment.
This place is very popular and that brings with it a lot of noise. Probably more suited to an evening of fun with friends than any romance. Of particular note are the fruit juices.
Chuan Guo Yan Yi is a 'hot-pot' restaurant for those that want their dishes hot enough to melt tongues. The food is good, although the prices tend towards the high side.
Ba Shu Xuan is a 'Hot Pot' restaurant serving Chinese hot pot. If you are unfamiliar with this term it is a popular Northern Chinese dish in which you sit at a round table with a small stove in the middle. A large dish of molten lava (aka spicy soup) is placed on the stove. The menu consists of a selection of meats and vegetables which are brought to you raw, and you cook them yourself in the soup.
Prices here are reasonable and the spices range from medium to nuclear holocaust. Food is good and staff are polite, although none speak English. This would make a great place to bring friends where you can all sit around the table and eat and talk.
Guangzhou's only Russian restaurant has everything from vodka, music, and dancing, as well as its large menu of Russian cuisine. Perfect for Russian expats.
Although the quality of food is generally good, the staff are not friendly and do hover incessantly, to the point of outright watching you as you eat. It will help if you have a familiarity with Russian food as the menu gives you no help as to what combinations you should pick. Try and come later in the evening as before 8pm the place is dead and very uncomfortable.
Macau Street Restaurant serves most Asian foods, including curries, BBQ meats, and even some Asian-styled pizzas. Their speciality is the Zhu Zai bread (small French bread rolls), and the Zhu Jing Rou (BBQ pork). There's a lot to choose from here.
The food is decent enough, although it tends towards a generic Thai/Malay curry that seems to be popular in Guangzhou, yet bears only a passing resemblance to real dishes.
Senses is a newly opened restaurant specialising in oysters and wine, and aiming at the higher end of the market. Wrapped in red-brick walls, covered in art deco paintings, with three different 'chill-out' areas, a wine & chocolate room, and even Hoegaarden on tap, you can expect a very luxurious evening.
The food is provided by Canadian Chef Jackon Qiu, and is of Western style, supplemented with a very wide selection of wines and cocktails. There is a weekend brunch starting at 9am, and a UK DJ on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (10PM - 2AM).
For those who just can't get enough meat in their diet, the Samba BBQ's evening buffet is perfect. You can even add a sprinkling of salad and ice cream to the mix (although, we hope, not at the same time).
The BBQ is very good and compared with the Latin BBQ, Samba is better.
Like it's sibling Italian Restaurant, the Mexican Restaurant is ingeniously named. Here you will find all the essential Mexican and Tex-mex favourites in a clean and comfortable atmosphere.
Not as popular as Italian Restaurant, but food is good (although portions are a little small). Apparently a lot of ingredients are imported from Mexico.
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The Spaghetti House is another franchised restaurant chain that has taken Hong Kong by storm, and has now recently opened in Guangzhou.
Food and prices are not bad, although the sauces tend to be too rich, and it is no substitute for a 'real' Italian restaurant. It makes for a popular venue for young people.
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