Hakka rice wine chicken — braised pieces of chicken cooked slowly in locally fermented rice wine with ginger — is the defining dish of Longyan cuisine and one of the most distinctive things you can eat in western Fujian. The dish has a golden colour from the wine reduction and a mild sweetness quite unlike the chilli-forward cooking of nearby Sichuan or the soy-heavy preparations of Cantonese Hakka food. It is served at virtually every restaurant in the city but quality varies considerably — look for places where the chicken is clearly braised rather than quickly fried.
The central restaurant strip on Longyan Road and the back streets near Longshan Park have the best options. Many restaurants post their menus in photographs outside, making ordering manageable without Mandarin. Lunch and dinner services typically run until well past 9pm, with the evening session being busier and livelier.