Restaurant in Guangzhou, China
Credentialed Hunanese dining for occasions that count.
Cicada is Guangzhou's most credentialed Hunanese restaurant, holding both a Michelin Plate and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond in 2025. At ¥¥¥¥ pricing with easy booking availability, it is the right choice for a business dinner or special occasion where you want bold regional cooking in a formal setting. For a lower-cost benchmark of the cuisine, consider Hunan Cuisine instead.
Yes, if you want Hunanese cooking taken seriously at a formal price point in Guangzhou. Cicada holds both a Michelin Plate (2025) and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025), two of the more credible independent validation signals in mainland China's restaurant space, and its Google rating of 4.5 across 384 reviews suggests those credentials translate into consistent real-world satisfaction. At ¥¥¥¥ pricing, it sits at the top tier for Hunanese dining in the city, so the question is not whether the food is good — the awards settle that — but whether the service and atmosphere justify the spend for your specific occasion.
Cicada reads as a venue built for occasions that matter: business dinners, celebrations, or a date where you need the room to do some of the work. Hunanese cuisine is not quiet food , the cuisine's signature bold, chile-driven intensity and its traditionally social table format tend to generate energy in the dining room. At Cicada's price tier, you should expect that energy to be managed rather than amplified: considered lighting, enough space between tables for conversation, and a pace of service that does not rush the table. For diners who want the heat of Hunan cooking without the noise ceiling of a mid-market Hunanese canteen, Cicada is the right call. If you want something more contemplative, the French Contemporary room at Rêver operates in a different register entirely.
This is where Cicada either earns its ¥¥¥¥ ticket or does not. The Black Pearl Diamond designation, which skews heavily toward overall dining experience rather than food alone, implies that service is taken seriously here. At this price, you should expect staff who can walk you through the menu with genuine knowledge of Hunanese preparations, who time courses to the table rather than the kitchen, and who handle special-occasion requests , wine service, a birthday setup, dietary adjustments , without friction. A 4.5 Google average across nearly 400 reviews at a high-price-point venue is a credible signal that the experience holds up across repeat visits and different party types, not just press nights. If service consistency matters as much as the food to you, Cicada's dual-award status in 2025 makes it a lower-risk choice than a newer ¥¥¥¥ entrant with thinner credentials.
Hunanese cooking is one of China's eight canonical regional traditions, and it is frequently misread outside the region as simply spicy. The cuisine's actual complexity lies in its use of cured and smoked ingredients, fermented black beans, dried chiles, and a sour-spicy profile distinct from the numbing heat of Sichuan food. At a Michelin Plate level in Guangzhou , a city whose restaurant scene is anchored in Cantonese technique , a Hunanese kitchen has to be doing something technically defensible to earn that recognition. Guangzhou diners are not easily impressed by imported regional cuisines, which makes Cicada's sustained recognition across 2024 and 2025 a meaningful signal. For a direct comparison in the Hunanese category, Hunan Cuisine offers a lower price tier if you want to benchmark the category before committing to the ¥¥¥¥ spend. Hunanese dining elsewhere in China , Furong in Beijing and In Love on Gongti East Road , give a sense of how the cuisine performs at different price tiers in other cities.
Cicada works leading for: a business dinner where you need a credentialed room that is not Cantonese (useful if your guests eat Cantonese frequently and you want to offer something different); a celebratory dinner for two or a small group where the occasion needs a formal container; or a food-first visit by someone who wants to explore Hunanese cooking at its most considered in Guangzhou. It is a less obvious fit if you want a casual, high-energy group dinner , for that, the lower price tier and relaxed format at Cheers (Kaichuang Avenue) or Guo Fan Jia Yan will serve you better.
Booking difficulty at Cicada is rated Easy, which is notable for a dual-award venue. You should not need to plan weeks ahead, but for a specific date , Friday or Saturday evening, or a holiday period , booking a week or more in advance is sensible. The ¥¥¥¥ price tier with relatively accessible reservation availability is a combination that rewards planning without punishing spontaneity during quieter periods. No phone or website data is available in Pearl's current record; contact via the venue directly or through a hotel concierge is the recommended path for group or special-occasion bookings.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cicada | Hunanese | ¥¥¥¥ | Easy | Michelin Plate 2025, Black Pearl 1 Diamond 2025 |
| Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine | Cantonese | ¥¥¥ | Moderate | , |
| Rêver | French Contemporary | ¥¥¥¥ | Moderate | , |
| Chōwa | Innovative | ¥¥¥ | Moderate | , |
| Hunan Cuisine | Hunanese | ¥¥ | Easy | , |
Cicada's menu specifics are not published in Pearl's current data, so we cannot name dishes. What the Michelin Plate and Black Pearl recognitions do tell you is that the kitchen is performing at a level where signature Hunanese preparations , cured and smoked meats, fermented black bean dishes, dry-wok preparations , are likely to be executed with more precision than at mid-market Hunanese venues. Ask the staff for their current recommendations and for anything they describe as house specialities; at this price tier, that kind of guidance should be readily available and reliable.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so last-minute tables are plausible during the week. For Friday or Saturday evenings, or around public holidays, book at least one week ahead. If you are planning a group dinner or a special-occasion table, book two weeks out and communicate your requirements at the time of reservation. Cicada's ¥¥¥¥ pricing means the dining room is not turning tables at volume, which works in your favour for availability outside peak periods.
No dress code is listed in Pearl's data, but a Michelin Plate, Black Pearl 1 Diamond venue at ¥¥¥¥ pricing in Guangzhou strongly implies smart-casual at minimum. For a business dinner or celebration, err toward smart. You will not be turned away in clean, well-fitted casual clothing, but the room and the price point both lean toward guests who have dressed for the occasion. Treat it the way you would any formal Chinese restaurant at this tier.
Seat count is not available in Pearl's current data, but at ¥¥¥¥ pricing with Black Pearl recognition, private dining rooms for groups are common at venues of this tier in Guangzhou. Contact the venue directly , or via your hotel concierge , to confirm private room availability and minimum spend requirements for groups of six or more. Do not assume walk-in group seating at this price level; request in advance and confirm arrangements.
Come with an appetite for bold flavours: Hunanese cuisine runs chile-forward, sour-spicy, and rich with preserved and fermented ingredients , it is a significant departure from the Cantonese cooking that dominates Guangzhou's restaurant scene. At ¥¥¥¥ with dual 2025 awards, Cicada is the right entry point if you want to experience Hunanese cooking at its most considered in the city. If you are unfamiliar with the cuisine and want to calibrate before spending at this tier, Hunan Cuisine offers a lower-cost benchmark. Go to Cicada for a special occasion or a food-first dinner; it is not the venue for a casual, experimental first encounter with the regional tradition.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cicada | Hunanese | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin Plate (2025); Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine | Cantonese | ¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Taian Table | Modern European, European Contemporary | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Song | Sichuan | ¥¥ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Chōwa | Innovative | ¥¥¥ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Rêver | French Contemporary | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Cicada and alternatives.
Specific menu details are not available in our current data, but Cicada's Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms consistent kitchen quality. Hunanese cooking here centres on bold, layered spicing rather than pure heat — the cuisine is one of China's eight canonical regional traditions. Ask the service team for the kitchen's current signatures; at ¥¥¥¥, guided ordering from staff is a reasonable expectation.
Booking difficulty at Cicada is rated Easy, so you are unlikely to need weeks of lead time. That said, for a specific date on a Friday or Saturday, or for a private business dinner, book at least several days ahead to secure your preferred seating. The dual Michelin Plate and Black Pearl Diamond status means demand can spike for high-profile dates.
Cicada's price point (¥¥¥¥) and dual-award credentials place it firmly in the formal-occasion bracket, so dress on the smarter side of business casual. A dual-diamond-level room in Guangzhou will draw guests in business attire for corporate dinners; arriving in sportswear or very casual dress would be out of place.
Cicada is positioned for business dinners and celebrations, which suggests it handles groups, but private room availability and group capacity are not confirmed in our current data. check the venue's official channels to confirm arrangements for parties larger than four, particularly if a private setting is a requirement for your dinner.
Cicada is a Hunanese restaurant, not Cantonese — which is deliberate and worth understanding before you book. If your guests regularly eat Cantonese in Guangzhou, this is a useful change of register that still carries real credentials: Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025, plus a Black Pearl 1 Diamond. Booking is rated Easy, so last-minute reservations are possible, but the ¥¥¥¥ price means this is not a casual drop-in; come with an occasion in mind.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
