Shenyang is the capital of dongbei (northeast Chinese) cuisine — hearty, unpretentious food built for cold winters, with an emphasis on pork, noodles, dumplings, and pickled vegetables. This is not the cuisine of dim sum halls or Sichuan hotpot chains; it is rougher, more satisfying, and underrated by Chinese food standards. Guo bao rou (crispy pork in sweet and sour sauce), dumplings (jiaozi) stuffed with pork and Chinese cabbage, and dongbei-style noodles are the things to eat.
The Zhongjie pedestrian area in Shenhe district is lined with restaurants, including several established dongbei houses that have been operating for decades. The area around the Imperial Palace has a concentration of tourist-oriented but decent restaurants. For something more local, the market streets in the western parts of the city have small restaurants serving workers and residents at very low prices.