Everyone loves food. But only real foodies have a secret app list that they share with companions.
AllChinaTech gives you a glimpse of China’s foodie world with a handpicked list of the five most popular Chinese apps and their unique features. Read on for the details!
Xiachufang (Go to the Kitchen)
On Xiachufang, users share their own interesting and innovative recipes, and also post demonstrations for discussion and exchange of ideas. Xiachufang has gained in popularity because there’s never a standard recipe on Xiachufang. A quote by Xiachufang CEO Tony Wang may best describe the diversity on Xiachufang,“for shredded pork with chilli sauce, there’s no such thing as politically correct.”
Shredded pork with chilli sauce is one of the most popular dishes from Sichuan Province, China. Everyone claims their way of cooking it is the most authentic, but on Xiachufang, every recipe is authentic in its own way.
Xiachufang means Go to the Kitchen in Chinese. It’s based on the philosophy that food made by yourself is always the best with the app hoping to encourage users to revisit the kitchen!
Every foodie has a dream of being a chef someday, but only a few have the time and resources to realise their ambitions. For those with the inclination but without the resources, Flavors may be your next best choice.
Flavors, in comparison with Xiachufang, is a cookbook featuring professionals. The app invites master cooks from high-end restaurants to give tutorials for their signature cooking styles. Cooks you can find on Flavors include celebrity chef Dong Zhenxiang from the Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant and the renowned chef of the Ritz Carlton Beijing. The kitchens of first-class restaurants, mysterious sacred temples for foodies, have never been so reachable!
App users can also post attempts at signature dishes to show off their own skills. Popular users have the chance to make tutorials just as chefs do. Now you’re one step closer to being a chef!
Apart from tutorials by master chefs, Flavors also provides restaurant guides featuring top-notch Michelin-starred restaurants, some of which are alien to average Chinese customers, giving users a preview before setting sail.
How do reserved Chinese people say “would you like to join us for dinner?” Sometimes it comes as “I’ve got food” – with ‘would you like to come?’ implied. That’s exactly what the Chinese name of Youfan Club means.
Youfan Club, literally translated as I’ve got food, is an invitation to all foodies for a private dinner hosted by amateur cooks. If you’re confident in your cooking skills, you can join Youfan Club as a host, showcase your best menu and then invite other users of Youfan Club to a homely but tasty dinner at your place. While receiving some applause for your cooking skills, you can also meet interesting new friends and make a night of it.
Normally sized between 6-8 people, dinners hosted on Youfan Club are more of a social gathering. Considering the price (about USD 25 for a four- six-course meal with appetizers and beverages) and low frequency (normally once or twice a week at most), a dinner with Youfan Club may likely be a worthwhile experience for foodies and amateur cooks.
If you already feel a bit like a chef and have received praise from admirers over at Youfan Club, then Wonder World is probably the next step for you.
Wonder World is a restaurant guide with inspiring life stories of featured restaurant owners (who for the most part are also chefs). But it isn’t a regular restaurant guide. It’s actually a restaurant incubator.
Wonder World helps people who dream to cook for living, but are less handy on the management side of things, to set up their own business. All restaurants listed on Wonder World are supported by the Wonder World team for logistics and venue management. Cooks can focus on cooking and leave all the other hassles to Wonder World. Working as a professional chef in your own establishment is now made much easier with Wonder World.
On Wonder World, you can also find exclusive snacks and cooking ingredients from Wonder World contractors. The experience of booking a place and purchasing distinguished cooking ingredients through the app is a real venture into the wonder world.
ENJOY’s slogan is perhaps the best description of the app: “Life’s too short to be bored.” The app is a combination of restaurant guide, table reservation service and also online retailer of stylish food and beverages.
The dining experience with ENJOY isn’t only about food. While ENJOY’s well-selected food and beverage offerings deliver distinctive experiences for Chinese foodies, they also appeal to your intellect.
Through ENJOY, you can reserve a dinner with Taiwan folk master Ara Kimbo to discuss the relationship between music and society; or perhaps enjoy a feast in the showroom of a newly-emerged designer and chat about the latest trends in the fashion world; or even appreciate an artistic afternoon tea at a cafe designed in the style of legendary choreographer Pina Bausch.