Nanjing has a relatively wide selection of local, regional Chinese and foreign foods, often at much more reasonable prices than their counterparts in nearby Shanghai. It's an especially great place to sample Jiangsu cuisine , most notably yanshui ya (salted duck), so renowned that it has now become a country-wide favourite. The duck is first pressed and salted, then steeped in brine and baked - the skin should be creamy-coloured and the flesh red and tender. Other Jiangsu dishes worth trying include majiang yaopian (pork intestines), jiwei xia (a lake crustacean vaguely resembling a lobster, but much better tasting, locals affirm) and paxiang jiao (a type of vegetable that resembles banana leaves). The best areas of town to sample Jiangsu food are in the north of town, north of Gulou along Zhongyang Lu and northwest along Zhongshan Bei Lu.

The presence of a heavy contingent of foreign students in the city, as well as a growing population of expatriate and home-grown business people, ensures a scattering of highly Westernized restaurants and bars , which are not always that expensive. There are, in particular, a number of places around the Nanjing University Foreign Students' Residence that cater to Western palates. Otherwise Xinjiekou and Fuzi Miao are generally good districts to browse for restaurants. For standard Chinese snacks - noodles, Sichuan hotpot, jiaozi and wonton soup - promising areas include Ninghai Lu, just north from the main entrance of the Normal University, the area just west of Fuzi Miao, and the area immediately southeast of Xinjiekou.