✍ 22 May 2024. Coming to Nanjing, we willy nilly pay an obligatory pilgrimage to the Fuzimiao area. There is a Confucius temple and the imperial exam museum. Nanjing used to be one of the imperial exam centres of old China where scholars were tested and the best were picked for the imperial service. Needless to say, imperial exams were extremely stressful.
But, nowadays, people throng here to relax by shopping and dining 😄
We found ourselves once again at Nanjing Impressions, the "McDonald's" of Huaiyang cuisine. There are at least two Nanjing Impressions at Fuzimiao, many more in Nanjing and across China, and one in Singapore at Plaza Singapura.
The food in Nanjing Impressions is good, and the thing I enjoy most is how the restaurant takes the buzzing vibes from the street into the dining space reminiscent of old China during the twilight of the Qing dynasty (early 1900s).
Opera music backdrop while we ate, our banter competing with the singers to be heard.
The Nanjing Impressions outlets at Fuzimiao are always full house with a queue of people waiting for their tables.
The serving stations and kitchen ring around most of the main dining hall. There are also compact private rooms.
Come to Nanjing must of course have duck. Our host Jiangsu Tourism picked 金陵烤鸭 Roast Duck (instead of the other Nanjing icon, salted duck).
The roast duck came bathed and sitting in a big pool of dark sauce. The sauce washed away any crispness in the roast duck skin.
The meat cut thick, was tender and moist, and tasted savoury ducky gamey. It felt and tasted like good braised duck but with more tender texture (than any in Singapore).
The hospitable Jiangsu people like to serve their guests 地锅小公鸡, one of Nanjing Impressions' signatures.
It's chicken cubes, groundnut and garlic cloves stewed in a thick savoury salty soy sauce, served with chewy sesame biscuits.
Had this a few times here and in Singapore, not really my cup of tea as the taste is somewhat flat in my humble opinion.
清炖狮子头 Lion head, one of the pride of Huaiyang cuisine. Of course, no lion was harmed in preparing this dish 🤭
Fatty pork is hand chopped and cooked by double boiling in chicken stock. The pork ball, slightly smaller than a tennis ball came soft tender, ready to fall apart with just gentle probing with a spoon.
Very tasty layers of savoury sweet from the pork, fat, juice and chicken stock. Must order.
八卦洲青蒿鲑鱼 A local river fish steamed and dressed with a savoury sauce, garnished with aromatics and strips of stinky tofu.
The fresh fish meat was tender and smooth, moist and gently sweet. The little slivers of stinky tofu added a subtle layer of its distinctive flavour to the dish. First time I am having this and I liked it as it complemented the mild sweet and savoury flavours of the dish well.
鸭血粉丝砂锅 Mung bean noodles with duck blood curd, tofu, squid, etc.
红烧龙虾 Crayfish was in season during our visit, so we had it at every restaurant we visited.
This was stewed in Nanjing Impressions' own signature spicy sauce.
River prawns stir fried with a savoury sauce. It is quite common for hosts to order many dishes, and some had to be stacked on top of other dishes or on an adjacent table. For the person documenting the dishes, it is so hard to keep pace! 😅
Anyway, fresh river prawns are always nice because their thin shells are relatively soft, so no need to peel, and the meat is succulent and sweet.
四季全家福 roughly translated "family of four seasons". A rich umami savoury dish of salty preserved pork, waxed sausage, bamboo shoot, bean curd, wood ear fungus, etc., in robust tasting fully loaded pork bone soup.
江米扣肉 Stewed pork belly with glutinous rice.
I had to fight hard to resist eating this forbidden temptation of fat and sugar (carbs) but I failed at least thrice.
The sweetness of the sticky rice was balanced by savoury sauces and complemented by the porcine sweetness of thick fat infused with savoury stewing stock.
Must order 🤭
金牌煎饺 Signature pan fried dumpling. It's a nice dumpling solidly packed with seasoned minced pork and aromatic greens inside.
清炒时蔬 Stir fried seasonal greens.
金牌蜜汁藕 Signature honey lotus root. I didn't try this as I was in food coma by this time 😂
古法糖芋苗 Sweet taro or yam dessert.
If you are checking in on Fuzimiao area, can try Nanjing Impressions for lunch or dinner. They serve authentic Huaiyang cuisine at competitive prices in a nostalgic setting but it can quite crowded and noisy inside. Needs reservations or be prepared to queue for tables.
Address: 3 Jiankang Road, 夫子庙地区 Qinhuai District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, 210004
Hours: 10:30am - 10pm
Written by Tony Boey on 22 May 2024
✍ 19 May 2018. I've heard good reviews of Nanjing Impressions in Plaza Singapura (Singapore) but haven't got a chance to try it. So, I was delighted to try it in Nanjing itself (near the Confucius Temple). It was one of my best memories of the beautiful historic city, capital of Jiangsu province and Old China.
The first thing that struck me about Nanjing Impressions was the ambiance and atmosphere inside. It was full house with a long queue waiting outside. Though it was indoors, it felt very much part of the hustle and bustle of the busy Nanjing Fuzimiao 夫子廟 shopping and dinning district outside.
Nanjing Impressions seemed to bring the excitement and energy of the streets of Nanjing Fuzimiao 夫子廟 inside.
Nanjing Impressions is a relatively young restaurant founded in 1994. It successfully recreated the dining experience of early 1900 (late Qing) Nanjing in ambiance, atmosphere, service and most importantly in taste and feel of traditional Jiangnan 江南 and Jiangsu 江苏 dishes. Nanjing Impressions now has over 40 outlets throughout China and overseas, including in Singapore.
The action in the open kitchen was frenetic but it was well organised and well oiled. Despite the crushing crowd, the orders were taken quickly and dishes served promptly.
We had one of the several private rooms inside Nanjing Impressions. A bit compact but still comfortable for 10 people.
招牌盐水鸭 Jinling Salted Duck is to Nanjing folks like Hainanese chicken to Singaporeans. Salted ducks are served in many restaurants and there are many salted duck specialty shops.
The Jinling duck is seasoned by hand rubbing with salt and spices, rested for 3 hours, poached in stock with spices for 2 hours, and then hang dried for 5 days before serving (at room temperature).
After trying a few salted ducks during my Jiangsu trip, I like Nanjing Impression's rendition of this iconic dish.
The meat was tender but firm with juice in its fibres. It was mildly savoury salty with no duck gaminess at all. The skin added a slightly different layer of salty-savoury flavour to the duck.
金牌响油鳝糊 Small eels cooked in a sizzling bubbling thick savoury stock. These small eels are very popular with locals (you will see them sold everywhere). The pencil shaped eels deboned with skin on were tender but still had a slight spring. The savoury sauce was quite robust but there was still a subtle earthly taste in the eels. The savoury stock and eel's natural taste combined well to make a tasty dish that is perfect with boiled rice.
老坛酱香肉 Pork belly with a thick layer of fat served in thin slices. The meat and fat were tender and juicy, and deeply infused with savoury sauce flavour. I can still taste a bit of natural sweetness in the fat.
清炖狮子头 I have eaten many "Lion Head" which is a large minced pork ball but this is the first time I tried it served in a clear soup - it is usually cooked in a savoury brown broth.
I like Nanjing Impressions' version the most as I can taste the natural sweetness of the pork. The finely chopped pork ball was pillow soft as there was a rather high proportion of fat inside. But, the pork was fresh and delicious.
天王烤鸭包 This was my first time eating a xiao long bao filled with chopped roast duck with minced pork (instead of pure mince pork). The stock filled "Heavenly King of Roast Duck Dumpling" was tender and delicious. The roast duck dumpling tasted savoury in layers which was more intense (and more delicious) than its pure pork counterparts.
金牌煎饺 Meaty minced pork pan fried dumplings.
鸡汁长江白鱼 Fresh white fish from the Yangtze River that runs beside Nanjing, steamed with chicken stock and splashed with hot oil just before serving. The gently savoury sweet chicken stock complements the soft white fish's natural sweetness. As it is a river fish, it is boney and there is a subtle earthy flavour. I like it.
地锅小公鸡 Baby Rooster Stew with Special Sauce served with Crispy Sesame Bun. Can't remember much of this dish except that the bite size pieces of chicken were quite fibrous and had quite intense salty-savoury taste. The sesame bun was salty-sweetish.
江米扣肉 Although the glutinous rice was done a little too soft for me, I like the layers of savoury sweetness from the brown stock and melt-in-your-mouth stewed juicy pork belly slices embedded inside.
招牌虾黄豆腐 Tofu with savoury sauce and shrimp roe. Interesting layers of savouriness from gentle (tofu) to robust (shrimp roe).
玉带丝瓜 Sautéed Silky Gourd with Garlic. I love this humble dish of thick strips of loofah gourd sautéed with garlic and brown stock.
The limp, floppy bands of loofah gourd were soft yet had a nice springy crunch. The loofah was sweet with a green taste which was complemented by the gentle layers of savouriness from the garlic and brown stock. I love loofah gourd.
渔舟唱晚 Deep fried small battered fish. Nice crunchy savoury nibbles.
Traditional Sweet Taro Seedling in Lotus Starch with Osmanthus... . What can I say... nice sweet "soup" to round up the lunch on a sweet note.
4-Star (out of 5). Nanjing Impressions is one of the best memories from my short stop in Nanjing (7 cities in 7 days trip to Jiangsu). Awesome ambiance (if you are OK with crowds), delicious old school Jiangnan/ Jiangsu food, efficient service, great location right there at Fuzimiao 夫子廟 pedestrian street. A recommended food stop in Nanjing.
Restaurant: Nanjing Impressions 南京大牌档
Address: Qinhuai Qu, Fuzimiao, Nanjing, China 大石坝街 48号 (5 minutes walks from the Confucius Temple & within the pedestrian street beside China Construction Bank)
GPS: 32°01'15.2"N 118°47'34.0"E | 32.020891, 118.792763
Tel: 400 1877 177 | 025-68216777
Hours: 11:00am - 14:30pm | 17:00pm - 23:00pm (11:00am - 23:00pm on Sat & Sun)
Date visited: 12 May 2018
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