Plum Garden (梅苑)

No restaurant in town cooks better Huaiyang dishes, a regional cuisine from Nanjing and neighboring cities, than the Plum Garden. The 150-seat space in Jinling Hotel is where the local government sets up banquets for impressing visiting officials.

The layout and décor are exactly what you might expect of a classy Chinese restaurant: square mahogany chairs are placed carefully around big round tables covered with finely-woven tablecloths; potted pines and orchids adorn the marble-floored dining hall, which is divided into smaller sections by rosewood screens with exquisite carvings.

Most dishes are light-flavoured and beautifully presented. Salted duck chops, or yanshuiya (盐水鸭, RMB 198 per duck), is a star starter. Must-try hot dishes include tofu cooked with crab meat (蟹粉豆腐, RMB 188) and de-shelled shrimps fried with gingko fruit (银杏虾仁, RMB 188).