Jianxiaoshe 简小舍@ Wuhan

Princess and I were in Wuhan for a graduation tour and we had spent the whole morning visiting the nearby Gude Temple. Time for lunch.

Jianxiaoshe infuses its nostalgia for its homeland into its dishes, meticulously crafting a culinary experience that captures the essence of life and variety of tastes it offers. A taste of Wuhan, a legacy of tradition, a community of neighbours – that’s what the food in Jianxiaoshe is about.

I always enjoy the food ordering process in many parts of China (like Shandong and Shanxi), where the ingredients that go into each dish are presented. You can look at the spread and decide what you fancy for that day. Alternatively, you may order from the app by scanning the QR code on your table.

The decor is very Japandi, and the tables are spread out in the vast second floor dining area, with private rooms available on one side and upper floors. We arrived around 2pm so the lunchtime crowd had left, and we can choose whichever table. Despite picking away from the rest of the table, we cannot but help ourselves to the conversations in the other tables; the aunties do not speak softly in these occasions.

Dayao orange flavoured soft drink 大窑 is a popular Chinese carbonated soft drink known for its nostalgic, crisp, and refreshing citrus taste, often described as a “childhood taste” and a nuclear luminescence colour that one should not drink too much. This drink has survived foreign competition and is somewhat of a revival recently. The most popular flavour is actually lychee, but that is too much (artificial and sweet) for me.

And if you checked in with the app, you get a free appetiser, which we picked their steamed sakura cake. It tasted like the steam sugar cake 白糖糕 that we used to get when we were small. A nod to a simpler time with less pressures from life and more joy from simple pleasures.

Shepherd’s purse and water chestnut spring rolls 地菜马蹄春卷

We ordered some spring rolls as an appetiser as Princess was craving for some deep fried stuff. Shepherd’s purse 荠菜 is referred to here as 地菜 in Hubei as it sounded similar to the Mandarin name. The shepherd’s purse heralds in springtime and is usually made into a broth. Here, it is chopped up with water chestnuts and made into a filling for the spring roll. The herby taste made the deep fried appetiser less greasy and I was surprised the restaurant did not provide any condiments to dip the spring roll, no chilli or vinegar. I asked for some vinegar.

Tomato, loofah, and egg stew 番茄丝瓜烧鸡蛋

This combination of vegetables and egg was delightful and so easy to make, so it would be easy to replicate at home. The loofah was really crunchy and sweet and not fibrous (ie young and bouncy). We could do with more tomato flavour though.

Braised Huangshan Stinky Mandarin Fish 干烧黄山臭桂鱼

Stinky mandarin fish 臭鳜鱼 is an Anhui specialty, but being a port city, Wuhan shares this specialty as many of these tribute fish pass through this city on its way to the capital of China, be it Beijing or Nanjing. It is a fermented fish dish known for its pungent odour, similar to blue cheese, yet a tender, savoury taste. And surprisingly the fish retained its flaky texture of a fresh fish despite being dead for a while (and smelled like it).

Stir-fried water bamboo shoots with shredded pork 茭白炒肉丝

Water bamboo 茭白 is primarily a cultivated plant, rarely found in the wild these days. But wild ones are harvested in spring and they can be quite tasty. Water bamboo shoots are a source of vitamin C to strengthen the immune system, iron to develop the protein haemoglobin for oxygen transport through the bloodstream, calcium to build strong bones and teeth, and vitamin A to maintain healthy organ functioning.

It is almost a safe bet if you choose a chain restaurant like this one when you do not know where to go in these Tier-2/3 cities as these chains offer a clean environment that is on par with the bigger cities to dine and reliable menu that is nice. But do not expect a Michelin experience, even if they have been awarded many local awards (which are mostly paid for by the owners anyway).

We had an enjoyable lunch for RMB 265 total. If we replaced the fish for another dish (the fish was RMB 138), it would have been much lower. Taste was OK, and more importantly these are not processed meals 预制菜 that have thrown many of these chain restaurants into disrepute. Stores all around Wuhan near the tourist spots.

Jianxiaoshe (Gude Temple Shop) 简小舍· 民间手艺菜·武汉地标美食(古德寺店)
武汉江汉区二七街道工农兵路126号（汉铁小学右侧30米）

Visited Apr 2026