As one of the earliest sea ports opened to the world, Quanzhou played an important role in introducing western style food into China. Quanzhou food is most noted for its wide range of 'Dim sum', which are not too oily or spicy. Some of the palatable dishes won the titles of 'Chinese Most Famous Snacks', such as the Green Bean Cake (Lvdou bing), Sticky Rice (Nuomi), Rice Glue Ball (Yuanxiao), Radish Cake (Luobo gao) and  Peanut Soap (Huasheng tang).

Many restaurants can be found on East Street (Dong jie), West Street (Xi jie) and the Zhongshan Rd