Shan Shi Liu (山石榴) is a casual Guizhou restaurant chain founded in 2018. The brand currently has eight locations in Shanghai and one in Suzhou.
All the venues are wildly popular; one of those “go early, get a number, and wait” places. The Maoming Lu flagship is also listed as a Michelin Selected Restaurant.
The newest location is in MixC Suzhou Creek, where they start divvying out numbers for lunch at 10:30am. There were sooo many people queuing! Commentary on Dianping praises the restaurant for being not only delicious but good value for money. And almost all the venues hold a 4.6+ rating. Let’s say, my interest was piqued.
Turns out, everything was delicious, and the average check for food is about ¥140. Worth it in my book—give it a try! As it goes with Chinese food, best way to enjoy it is with a big table.
As for the space, interiors are tasteful with wall fabrics featuring designs that are iconic of Guizhou ethnic minorities, of which there are more than a dozen of, but mainly Miao, Dong, Buyi, Yi, and Tujia. Oh, and the walls are lined with bottles of Maotai, the most famous bajiu in China and the pride of Guizhou.
Acidity and spice are the defining features of Guizhou cuisine, so if you don’t like sour-fiery foods, maybe this isn’t for you. But it’s not a “burn your face off spice”, rather a flavorful spice. The use of vinegars and pickling originates from the scarcity of salt back in the day, where transportation through the mountainous landscape proved difficult. It is also said that every household has at least one jar of house made pickles fermenting at any given time, and those pickles are then used to flavor dishes.
The busiest location is their flagship and Michelin-listed venue on Maoming Lu in Fengsheng Li. There’s also one at 1000 Trees, K11, MixC Suzhou Creek (the one I went to), and Qiantan Taikoo Li.
Shan Shi Liu 山石榴
View the Maoming Lu listing here.
View the Suzhou Creek listing here.
View the K11 listing here.
