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A taste of Dali

Shanhaihui Time-Honoured Bai Cuisine (Old Town main shop)

山海汇·老字号白族菜（古城总店）

A large Bai-cuisine restaurant just outside the old town's south gate, doing the full traditional spread — Nanzhao braised chicken, dry-pot Cangshan wild mushrooms, Bai sour-and-spicy fish, water-lily stem soup — plus the local plum wine. The convenient choice if you arrive by coach, since it is beside the tourist bus station.

¥60–80 per person≈ US$8.94East side of the tourist coach station gate at the south gate of Dali Old Town (大理古城南门旅游汽车客运站). Address reported, not independently confirmed.
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Why come here

A place worth making time for

No verified award. Markets itself as a 'time-honoured' Bai restaurant; the claim is a self-description and I found no official old-brand registration for it.

The house favourites

What to order

Point at the Chinese. Staff will understand it even where the menu has no English at all.

  • Nanzhao braised chicken (南诏黄焖鸡)
  • Dry-pot Cangshan wild mushrooms (干锅苍山野菌)
  • Bai sour-and-spicy fish (大理白族酸辣鱼)
  • Water-lily stem soup (水性杨花汤)
  • Plum wine (梅子酒)

What it actually tastes like

Plum wine is sweet-sour and deceptively strong. The sour fish is heavily soured. Chicken is served on the bone.

Allergens in this kitchen

fishsoygluten/wheatsesamedairy

This is the kitchen, not one dish. Woks, fryers, blanching water and utensils are shared in almost every Chinese restaurant, so for a serious allergy treat the whole premises as the unit rather than ordering around it.