Guangzhou Restaurant

What it is

'Guangzhou Restaurant' — the house locals still call 'the first restaurant of the food capital', serving Cantonese canon since the 1930s: the yum-cha ritual done properly, from the tea leaves up.

How to order like a local

Take a table, check off the dim sum sheet before it's whisked away: har gow, siu mai, cheung fun, egg tarts, in that order of importance. Rinse your bowl and chopsticks with the first pot of tea — the ritual everyone performs. One pot of pu'er or chrysanthemum per table is the correct base.

Good to know

Morning to early afternoon is yum cha hours; go at 9am for the full theatre of retirees with newspapers. One hundred yuan per person eats like a small banquet.