Restaurant in Xiamen, China
Bib Gourmand Fujian cooking at mid-range prices.
Chic 1699 is Xiamen's clearest mid-range argument for serious Minnan cooking: two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands (2024 and 2025) and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond at a ¥¥ price point, with ocean views and a menu anchored by local seafood, Buddha jumps over the wall, and sa cha shrimp. Book a few days ahead and visit in autumn for crab roe season.
If you are looking for a single restaurant in Xiamen that makes the case for Minnan cuisine as a serious culinary tradition, Chic 1699 is where to go. This is the flagship of a local restaurant chain, which means it carries both the polish and the consistency that comes with that status. The recognition stack tells a clear story: back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand awards in 2024 and 2025, plus a Black Pearl 1 Diamond in 2025. At a ¥¥ price point, that is a compelling combination. The question for most visitors is not whether the food is good — it is , but whether the full experience justifies the trip out to the eastern ring road. It does, with some caveats worth knowing before you go.
The room sits on the third floor of JFC品尚中心C馆, and the faux-industrial decor is handled well: raw materials and structural elements softened by greenery, with ocean views that give the space genuine character without veering into tourist-trap territory. The atmosphere reads as energetic without being loud enough to kill conversation , this is a lively Xiamen dining room rather than a quiet contemplative one, so calibrate accordingly. If you want calm, come at lunch or on a weekday evening. Weekend dinner service runs busy.
The menu is anchored in Minnan and broader Fujian cooking, which means you are dealing with a cuisine that prizes seafood, slow-cooked soups, and the layered umami of fermented and preserved ingredients. The dishes cited in the Michelin record include shrimps in sa cha sauce (firm texture, mild heat, deep nutty flavour), Buddha jumps over the wall, crab roe stewed rice, Angus beef in mustard sauce, and Chic's sea perch thick soup with fish maw. Sa cha sauce is a Minnan staple with roots in the coastal trade routes connecting Fujian to Southeast Asia , the shrimp dish is a good entry point if you are new to the flavour profile. Buddha jumps over the wall is the kind of prestige slow-braise you find at far more expensive restaurants; at ¥¥, it represents genuine value. Order it if it is available.
Fujian seafood is at its most interesting from late spring through autumn, when the South China Sea haul is at its broadest. If you are visiting between May and October, the live seafood section of the menu warrants attention , the kitchen's handling of local catch is where Bib Gourmand recognition at this price point makes the most sense. Winter visits are not a reason to skip the restaurant, but the menu emphasis shifts toward slower-cooked preparations: the fish maw soup and the braised dishes are winter-appropriate and consistently available. The crab roe stewed rice is a seasonal highlight worth asking about specifically , crab roe peaks in autumn, and if you are here in October or November, it is the dish to prioritise.
Chic 1699 has held Michelin recognition across multiple consecutive years, which suggests the kitchen is stable rather than chasing a single review cycle. For an explorer visiting Xiamen specifically for its food culture, this is meaningful: you are not gambling on a restaurant riding one good season. The chain structure that some diners view with scepticism here works in your favour , sourcing and execution are standardised in ways that independent restaurants in the same tier often are not.
Xiamen's Fujian restaurant scene skews toward either high-end hotel dining or casual street-level eating, with a narrower middle band than cities like Fuzhou or Guangzhou. Chic 1699 occupies that middle band with more confidence than most. For Fujian cooking at a comparable award level elsewhere in China, Wenru No.9 in Fuzhou is worth knowing about if your trip extends north, and Hokkien Cuisine in Chengdu represents how the tradition travels inland. Within Xiamen, Hokklo and Yanyu on Jiahe Road are worth comparing if you want more than one Minnan-focused meal during your stay. For the broader Xiamen dining picture, see our full Xiamen restaurants guide.
If you are building a longer China itinerary around serious Chinese regional cooking, the Fujian tradition appears in strong form at Xin Rong Ji in Beijing and connects to the broader southern Chinese fine-dining circuit at venues like Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau and Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou. Chic 1699 sits several price tiers below those, but the core ingredient quality and technique are close enough that the comparison is meaningful rather than flattering.
For context on the wider city, our Xiamen hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the full picture. If you are eating well in the historic parts of the city, 1927 Dong Yuan Si Chu and A Zhong Shi Fang are worth adding to your shortlist for different meal types.
See the comparison section below for how Chic 1699 stacks up against its peers in Xiamen.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chic 1699 | ¥¥ | Easy | — |
| Bai Jia Chun Hao De Lai Jiang Mu Ya (Zhongxing Road) | ¥ | Unknown | — |
| Dai Tai | ¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Fu Yu Da Tong Ya Rou Zhou | ¥ | Unknown | — |
| Hao Shi Lai | ¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Lai Cuo Cheng Bian Shi Dian | ¥ | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Xiamen for this tier.
Chic 1699 is the flagship of a local chain and holds both a Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024 and 2025) and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025), which is a strong endorsement for value at the ¥¥ price point. The menu leans heavily on Minnan staples — sa cha shrimp, Buddha jumps over the wall, crab roe stewed rice, and sea perch thick soup with fish maw — so if those formats appeal, the kitchen delivers them with clear technique. If you want a broader Chinese fine-dining tasting format, look elsewhere; this is a regional specialist.
Booking details are not publicly listed, but a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant with waterfront views in a popular tourist city like Xiamen will fill quickly, especially on weekends. Book at least a week in advance for weekday visits and two weeks or more for weekend evenings. Arriving early in the service or opting for a weekday lunch will give you the most flexibility.
It works for solo dining, particularly if you want to work through single-portion Minnan dishes like the sa cha shrimp or the sea perch thick soup. The ¥¥ price range keeps the bill manageable for one. Group dishes like Buddha jumps over the wall are designed for sharing and are harder to justify solo, so order around the individual plates.
For Fujian duck and congee, Fu Yu Da Tong Ya Rou Zhou is a practical alternative at a lower price point. Bai Jia Chun Hao De Lai Jiang Mu Ya on Zhongxing Road covers the roast duck side of the spectrum. Dai Tai and Hao Shi Lai offer different angles on local Xiamen cooking. Lai Cuo Cheng Bian Shi Dian rounds out the casual local options. None carry Chic 1699's combination of Michelin and Black Pearl recognition at the same price tier.
At ¥¥, yes — two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands and a Black Pearl 1 Diamond (2025) confirm the kitchen punches above its price class. The Bib Gourmand designation is specifically awarded for good food at moderate prices, so the value case is externally validated, not just implied. For Minnan seafood at this level of recognition, Chic 1699 is the clear answer in Xiamen.
Chic 1699 is a regional Fujian specialist, not a pan-Chinese restaurant. First-timers should anchor their order around the shrimps in sa cha sauce, the crab roe stewed rice, and the sea perch thick soup with fish maw — those dishes define what the kitchen does. The faux-industrial interior pairs with ocean views at the JFC品尚中心 location on Huandao East Road, so a window seat is worth requesting. It is the first flagship of a local chain, which means the service and kitchen are set up to handle volume without sacrificing consistency.
It works for a celebratory dinner if you want Fujian-focused cooking rather than a full fine-dining format. The ocean views and the prestige of back-to-back Michelin recognition make the case, but the ¥¥ pricing and casual-leaning faux-industrial setting mean it reads more as a confident local restaurant than a formal occasion venue. For a milestone dinner requiring private rooms or elaborate service, a hotel fine-dining option in Xiamen would be a better fit.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
