South Sea Fishing Village Restaurant, Guangzhou, China

Reviewer: Foodnut.com South Sea Fishing Village No. 903, Liu Hua Hu Park, Renming Rd North Guangzhou, China

We finished up our latest culinary tour of China in the Summer of 2011 at South Sea Fishing Village for lunch. They have  2 locations here. Guangzhou is the origination point for Cantonese Chinese cuisine, making it a must visit for those serious about Chinese food. In late 2014 we returned for dinner.

Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at. We feel this will be useful as more people visit this up-and-coming area. We found few reviews on Trip Advisor and Dianping.

If a restaurant does not have a website, we link to their Dianping page if available.

Tons of Live Seafood – Very Impressive

Why did we dine here? – South Sea Fishing Village was a favorite restaurant of a friend who insisted we needed to visit. This restaurant is known for authentic Cantonese food created in Canton itself, now known as Guangzhou.
The restaurant features clean modern decor with many private rooms which had fancy art, multiple televisions, bathrooms, and  even comfortable waiting areas. The restaurant features a massive array of live seafood in tanks outside.

In 2014 they were running a BBQ grill outside with even more seafood and meats on display. North Korea frozen Snow Crab too. (¥108 for 1pc) Crazy selection of goodies, but the beef in the US still rules. 25 different ways to cook the seafood!

Insider Tip – Make reservations ahead of time.

Cuisine – Cantonese Chinese cuisine
Location – Guangzhou, China
Opened – 1986

Service – South Sea Fishing Village had excellent service with lots of tea refills, plate changes, and expert menu guidance.Because we were in a private room, service was exceptionally good.
Verdict – South Sea Fishing Village is a must visit for foodies. The food quality is high, the decor and service is top notch. An excellent restaurant to learn the origin of Cantonese Chinese Food.

Dianping

Signature Dishes – Abalone, Shark’s Fin, Dim Sum

South Sea Fishing Village’s Menu features a long list of dim sum at lunch, and an extensive selection of items for both dinner and lunch. It changes from season to season.

Fresh Seafood display:

North Korea Snow Crab

Lobster, King Crab, and other items

Scallop, Clams, King Prawns, Oysters and more

Fresh Fish of the Day

Dinner Picks:

US$1 = ¥6.2

Jellyfish with vinegar – An okay small appetizer with lots of vinegar flavor, inconsistent texture.

Water cress soup – Long boiled with lots of pork and other ingredients. Bold flavor.

Crispy Pigeon Village Style (38) – Perfection. Crispy, juicy, reminded us of legendary Shi Qi Lao in Zhongshan, China.

Sharks fin soup – Part of the 3 Treasures trio. Unfortunately this was ordered. Gotta say it was pretty stellar with tons of strong flavor.

Roast Pork (78) – Thick, crispy, juicy, as usual a dish on another planet compared to the USA.

Braised Abalone – Part of the 3 Treasures trio. Chewy, lots of gravy, very good but not up to excellent.  We are starting to prefer fresh abalone, even though it is cheaper, at this stage.

Roast Boneless Goose with Plum (98) – Crispy and boney dish but still excellent.

Crispy Chicken with minced Garlic – Far too much poultry but again it is ridiculously good. Includes a nice side dipping sauce.

Stir fried Cauliflower broccoli – Nice small fresh veggies in a lite sauce.

Hot Birds Nest Dessert – Part of the 3 Treasures trio. We were extremely full at this stage, but this was stellar. Cooked in the room, it comes with ginger, red date, chicken, corn, and coconut sauce. This made for some weird combinations.

Silver Thread Cookies (6) – Condensed Milk was on the side. Crunchy, dense, sweet when dunked. Wow this is the first time we encountered this dessert.

Deep Fried Spring Onion Pancakes (8) – Not what you think. Big thin puffy air balls that still had lots of flavor. Unique to this restaurant.

Dinner Skip it:

Sauteed French Goose Liver – Was cooked right outside our room. Huge piece, but overcooked. Came with pickles!

Lunch Picks:

Home-style BBQ Combo (¥68) A combination of suckling pig, very good roast goose with an excellent skin.

Crispy Pigeon (28) was very good and extremely juicy, but featured spices we had not encountered before.

Crispy Sandy Chicken Village Style (70 half) was an excellent chicken with a super crisp skin and some smokey flavored meat.

Three Treasures Combo (550) This dish featured three items. Steamed scallops with minced garlic and vermicelli noodles was very good and fresh but not as good as Sai Kung, Hong Kong.
Abalone and goose feet was outrageously good. A rich gravy, tender abalone made this a must order. The best version we have had.
Yam vegetables were fresh and very good.

Sesame Balls were hot and very good with lots of black colored interior goodness.

Deep Fried Pork Dumplings were also very hot, crispy, and excellent.

Turnip Cake had three cubes featuring excellent turnip flavors.

Green Onion Pancake was an unusual version that featured a inflated balloon-like structure. Soft but not too crunchy.

Restaurant Map: