During the National Day Holiday, local people and tourists all gathered in Chongqing to experience the spicy side of life in this mountain metropolis. Here is what I recommend you to experience an eating route for the holiday mood. As a local person who doesn't prefer spicy food and likes more fresh taste, including Cantonese, Western, Asian cuisine, it will give you a different taste flavor.

I would like to ask everyone to go to Ziwei Street （紫薇路） in Huangnibang （黄泥磅） for their first stop to discover Chongqing's fusion food. This street is full of fun shops, restaurants, lounges, and bars, which are also named the "little Bangkok" of Chongqing.

Popular choices like Truman, Trip Smith, Cas Cas, and Eat Me Brunch are worth trying.

poster and photo by Rui Hu/iChongqing

Truman and Trip Smith have similar styles featured with light food and cocktails. Their environment is really suitable for a small party or after-hour drinks. 

 Cas Cas is a Thai-style street food restaurant liked by many local foodies, whereas their food is spicy. 

Cas Cas served street food like seafood salad (which is extremely hot with chili on) and curry rice, fried shrimp crisp, photo by Rui Hu/iChongqing.

Eat Me Brunch is a fusion restaurant that mainly serves Taiwan-style rice bowls, fried chicken, and so on. Its signature rice bowl tastes so good with yummy curry. 

Another foodie place will be the Times Paradise Walk, where there are many hidden restaurants with a diversity of flavors. 

Salad's top recommendation: Wagas at Times Paradise Walk

For salad lovers and vegetarians, Wagas will definitely be your choice. The energy bowl with honey mustard sauce comes with Asian flavor including flavored kimchi, dried seaweed, and roasted salmon is highly recommended. I loved Wagas once I tried it in Shanghai. It was a restaurant chain in Shanghai and opened its 1st store at Times Paradise Walk （时代天街）in Daping.

As a popular Cantonese restaurant that specially offered the Dim Sum (or pastry) from the morning to dusk, Dim-Dou-Duk （點都德）recently opened its flagship restaurants at Times Paradise Walk （时代天街）and MixC Mall （万象城）and brought its traditional Cantonese cuisine to Chongqing. 

Fried You Tiao and shrimp covered with red rice skin, comes with sesame sauce and soy sauce, photo by Rui Hu/iChongqing

Fried Dim Sum with liquid durian inside, photo by Rui Hu/iChongqing

Other Dim Sum shops like Yuexiaoman （粤小满）at Chongqing Tiandi （重庆天地）have a quiet environment and serve good food as well if you want to skip the long wait line at Dim-Dou-Duk （點都德）, it's another choice you have in downtown Chongqing for authentic Cantonese cuisine.

Dim Sum combo by Yuexiaoman, photo by Rui Hu/iChongqing

Me eating dim sum, I am a fan of Cantonese cuisine, photo by Rui Hu/iChongqing