Budget
A Bing Cangshu Mutton Soup
People in Suzhou like the soup very much.
Harbin Dumplings
The dumplings are much cheaper than the better-known Yang Yang Dumplings, and just as good.
Let's Rock Hong Kong Restaurant
A fun, modern little restaurant with great Hong Kong/Cantonese food. Good dim sum- these folks make a serious Barbecued Pork Bun Cha Shao Bao. The menu offers lots of quick, inexpensive dishes. - recent name change but same owners & chef
Nanjing Duck Noodle
Traditional duck noodle where the more you pay, the more body parts you get. Some of the non-duck part dishes are worth a bite too.
Sicily
Very good Italian food at near Chinese prices.
Vegetarian Food
Vegetarian menu with relatively low prices
Midrange
Song He Lou
The "Pine and Crane" is not just the most famous restaurant in town, but reputedly the oldest in all of China about 250 years old.
Da Mario
Global 188 building in sip. good italian food. there really is a mario, and he really is italian. the pasta dish "rosetta della mamma" is a mario's original and absolutely not to be missed.
The Southern Cross Restaurant
In the guan qian area facing lin dun road, has very respectable tex-mex food, steaks, and a wide range of belgian ales as well as some belgian food specialties.
Tomato Kitchen Cafe (çªè主æ)
At æå ¬æ, near haagen daz. fantastic ambience, very value-for-money set meals, international cuisine. make reservations if you want a window seat.
Yun-Gei (Ren Ji) Cantonese Restaurant
Intersection of fenghuang street and shi quan street. a sometimes-raucous local favorite for great cantonese food.
Suzhou has its own unique, slightly sweet cuisine that tends to have very light and delicate flavors. Locals are very fond of freshwater fish and shellfish. Sweets made from glutinous rice paste are an old tradition here; these will generally baffle most Western palates. A Suzhou specialty popular with many visitors is Song Shu Gui Yu, often rendered in English something like "Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish": the meat of a large fish is delicately cut into strips, breaded in flour, fried, and served covered with pine nuts and a sweet-and-sour sauce. It looks a little like a squirrel's tail...if you've drunk enough of the local rice wine.