Eat
Restaurants
There are plenty of good restaurants, including many Sichuan places and some Cantonese. There are two McDonald's (Pineapple Mall Dadonghai & on pedestrian street at Jiefang Erlu) Several Burger Kings (JieFang Lu, La Floret Yalong Bay, Domestic Airport Sanya) and four branches of KFC (105 Jiefang Lu; Duojialian; 63 Guoxing Dadao; Renmin Lu). Seafood is a beach city's specialty. Inspect the tanks for freshness before eating and beware of the different charges that are often handled by different people at the restaurant (fishery, cooking fee, and sitting fee can be separate).
- No. 1 Agricultural Products Market (第一市场), Xinjian Street # 155. close midnight. This is not a restaurant, but a live seafood supermarket, and it's worth mentioning because of its popularity. You buy seafood here, take it across the street around the corner and all the restaurants will cook the food for you. They have seafood, poultry, lamb, pork - almost anything you can think of besides beef. As you are shopping for food, you will get approached by touts that give you a business card with their price list for cooking your food for you. If you agree, after you finish buying, they will take you to their restaurant around the corner and prepare the food for you. If you want to eat seafood but don't want to pay the outrageous prices at seafood restaurants, this is a great option. Varies.
- Aqua (三亚海棠湾天房洲际度假酒店), No.128, North Haitang Road, Haitang Bay, +86 898 88658888. Only open for Dinner. Great ambiance, its specialties are seafood & steak, An indoor enclosed restaurant offering spectacular views of sea creatures.
- Baan Rim Nam (Anantara Hotel Sanya 三亚半山半岛安纳塔拉度假酒店), No. 6 Xiaodonghai Road, Hedong District, Sanya, 572000 (BanShanBanDao, next to Intercontinental Hotel), +86 898 8888 5088. Lunch 12-3 pm Dinner 6-11 pm. The most authentic Thai restaurant in Sanya, great for a romantic night, not a cheap restaurant even for Sanya standards but well worth the trip as the Chef is Thai and the food is as close to Bangkok as you get in Hainan.
- The One Chinese Restaurant, Pullman Sanya Bay Hotel No 158 Sanya Bay Road (5 minutes away from Sanya Airport), +86 898 88288888. Lunch 11:00-14:00 Dinner 17:30-22:00. Cantonese style cuisine & daily Dim Sum.
- Burger King, Yalong Bay La Floret Mall, Phoenix Domestic Airport & Jiefang Lu near walking street.
- Ban Kee (Singapore Restaurant) (万记肉骨茶), 110 Tuanjie Lu (团结街110号), +86 8825 2198. Tucked away on the side street next to Wang Hao supermarket - and close to the Hospital on Tuanjie Street. This Singaporean restaurant, offers the best Laksa in Sanya and other hawker center favorites.
- Casa Mia (卡萨米亚意大利餐厅), No 88 Sanyawan Rd (Lansehaian) (Sanya Wan), +86 898 88889828. Authentic Italian cuisine.
- Continental Restaurant, 5 Hai Yun Road, +86 898 88210035. The Continental Restaurant serves a wide variety of food at very reasonable prices. Soups, salads, western food, Chinese food, the variety, and decor make this a nice dining experience.
- Dolphin Sports Bar & Grill, 99 Yuya Road, Dadonghai (Tell the cab driver to drop you off 100 meters before Summer Mall in dadonghai, and look across the main road, between a couple of Russian retails... you'll spot it.), (86) 898 88215700. Western restaurant and sports bar with a wide selection of Western favorites such as soups, salads, pasta, Tex-Mex, sandwiches, burgers and much more. There are usually good specials on imported beers and international cocktails. Check with the manager and he can probably make something off the menu for a reasonable price. Very friendly environment with countless big screen TV's showing all major sporting event listings. Also has typical bar games: pool, darts, foosball, etc.
- Double Happiness Restaurant, Jinru Mall, Hexi Lu (6fl, 100 Hexi Lu, Sanya City), +86 898 8836v9199. Cantonese Hong Kong based chain of restaurants, with another branch close to No1 market, called Pleasant. Very popular with Hong Kong expats in Sanya, has private rooms but beware people smoke inside the restaurant. Reasonable prices.
- Gourmand Restaurant (三亚半山半岛帆船港), Serenity Coast Marina (Yacht Club), +86 898 38217100, 11:30-14:30 Dinner 18:00-22:00. Malaysian & French Expensive.
- Hutaoli (胡桃里), Behind Pizza Hut (Visun Mall, Yuya Lu) 三亚河西路 & 榆亚路. 11:00-14:00/17:00-21:00. Great atmosphere. Within walking distance of Bar street on Yuya Lu.
- Marco Polo (Italian restaurant), 8 Haiyun Road, Dadonghai District (Look for the big Marco Polo sign), +86 13518095143. Offers a slightly more upscale take on Italian. There is a large, outdoor seating area and the pizzas are highly recommended. Offers pizzas, pastas, soups, meats and more! The food and the service are great.
- Mee & Mian (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Sanya), 11:30 – 5:30 pm. Casual Noodle Bar.
- Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay (三亚太阳湾柏悦酒店), 5 Sunny Bay Road, Sunny Bay Yalong Bay National Reserve District. Hyatt's are famous for their restaurants and food and beverage concepts, particularly in Asia. The Park Hyatt Sanya being their most luxurious brand doesn't disappoint. Top score in Sanya.
- Pizza Corner, Herton Hotel at Dadonghai Beach-1st floor (Opposite Resort and Time Hotel), +86 898 88677995, 10:30 AM-11:00 PM. Combo store with Coffee World. Offers pizza, pastas, salads, soups and the tastiest BBQ chicken wings in Hainan. Dining on a lovely balcony which overlooks Dadonghai Beach. Tel: 0898-88677995. The restaurant delivers to customers within a 5 mile radius of Dadonghai Beach. English is spoken. Moderate price.
- Wanjunlong, Yuejin Street #86 (Corner of Shengli Road and Yuejin Street), 0898-88265889. Close when the sun comes up. Popular place for late night barbecue and beer. Not as big as Shangping Road, but a good alternative if you get sick of shangping road.
Specialties
Hainan is famous for Wenchang chicken or Hainanese Chicken Rice, only chickens raised in Hainan province can genuinely be called as such. The accruements are usually: ginger, vinegar, soy sauce all served along a small portion of rice and chicken broth. Hainan grows a great variety of tropical fruits. Mango, betel nut, pineapples, durian, jackfruit, mangosteen, lychee are very popular. Hainan is famous throughout China for its coconuts and they are worth trying, especially the red coconuts (红椰 hóng yē). Away from the beach. Prices increase as you get closer. Note that fruit price is fluctuating and cheating on its weight is common. Visit any big and well-established chain supermarkets such as Wan Hao or Nan Guo in the downtown of Sanya along Jiefang Road to check the current market price.
Street food
A bit after sunset and well into the midnight, Sanya city's streets are filled with small barbecue stands, noodle stands, and other snack vendors. There is a well-known seafood supermarket called The No. 1 Agricultural Products Market(第一市场)(See address below). You buy live seafood and then take it around the corner to a crowded street where all the restaurants will cook (Jia Gong,加工) the seafood for you for a small fee per dish. It's the most crowded night market in Sanya. You will find a constant assortment of musicians and kids that sell flowers to proposition you while you are eating. It's a great way to save money on eating seafood because there is no markup for the seafood because you purchased the seafood yourself. It's quite a lively environment with guitarists playing, saxophonists playing, customers singing, beer flowing all night long, garbage trucks to come by to pick up the garbage, and the occasional fight. This street starts dying down around the midnight and the crowds head to bar street.
After Bar Street closes, the crowds head to the night food market located at the 1st Lane of Shangping Road (商品街一巷) which is close to Jiefang Road (解放路). Most foods are at a fixed price but try to negotiate a bit for the seafood barbecue. The food and beer flow until the sun comes up.
Another popular after-hours barbecue place is at Wan Jun Long. Not as popular as Shangping Road, but somewhere different.
Night markets in Dadonghai are less impressive, but local people likely head to Xia Yang Tian(下洋田) for some quick and simple food which is usually cheap.
Drink
Coffee. The vast majority of coffee shops here open around 10 or 11 AM.
- Aunt Milk Tea, 100 Hexi Lu (Jinrun Mall). 0900-2230. Cheap.
- Cafe Bene, (International Shopping Mall, Jiefang Lu, same building as Wang Hao and KFC (across the road from #1 Market)), +86 898 31080211, 10:00-23:00. Korean franchise cafe, great waffles.
- Bud Cafe (早苗咖啡厅), Shengshixindi Building, Floor 11, intersection Jixiang Road / Sanyawan Road, Sanya Bay, 089838269388. Relaxed Coffeeshop (Taiwanese owned) with a variety of coffee drinks and some food (didn't try the food), Reggae music, etc. Nice balcony with a great view. Good internet connection, good to hang out and surf.
- Coffee World - Pizza Corner, Located on the 1st floor of the Herton Hotel opposite Intime Resort (Dadonghai), +86 88677995. 10:30-2300. The restaurant delivers to customers within a 5-mile radius of Dadonghai Beach. English is spoken. Moderate price.
- The Day, Tuanjie Street. 1330-22:30.
- M-Floral Cafe Sanya, Yuya Lu, Times Coast Bar Street (Bar Street).
- Starbucks (星巴克), Dadonghai, Jinrun Plaza, Phoenix Domestic Airport Departure lounge & Yalong Bay, 8:30-22:30. The most recognized international coffee brand in the world has opened in three locations.
- LAN 43, (20 Tuanjie Lu, Sanya). Beers, imported and on tap, great coffee!!