Kunming cuisine can be traced back approximately 4,000 years ago to a rich array of various local flavors of the numerous minority ethnic groups dwelling in the surrounding valleys and riverside. Since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), with inland people moving into Kunming area in government relocation programs, Kunming cuisine began to absorb other flavors from the rest of China, giving birth to the current style of cuisine, which is characterized by its moderately hot, mildly spicy, sour and oily tastes.
The most well known local dishes are Qiguoji (Steamed Chicken), Honey Ham, Fresh Mashed Broad Bean, Fried Meat of Barking Deer, Stewed Chicken in Brown Sauce, Fried Pork slices with Rose and Rutabaga, and Kunming Braised Duck.
Kunming is also rich in local snack food and delicacies. The top ten delicacies are: Across the Bridge Rice Noodles, Four Happiness Rice Balls, Buckwheat Buns, Taishi Pie, Dudu Dumplings, Shepherd's Purse Dumplings, Braised Rice with Ham and Beans, Small-pot Rice Noodles, Stewed Mushrooms, and Assorted Cool Rice Noodles.
For a taste of ethnic cuisine, such as Dai or Bai, there are many good restaurants in Kunming. Laozhiqing Restaurant is well known for its authentic, delicious Dai food. The Huguo Restaurant serves typical Yunnan dishes, the Shiyan Restaurant and the Dexinyuan Restaurant enjoy prominent fame for the famous Across the Bridge Rice Noodles. The Dongfeng Restaurant boasts Steamed Chicken, while the Xingheyuan Restaurant prepares Muslim food, and the Guanshengyuan Restaurant is revered for its Cantonese dishes. Jixinyuan Yunnan Flavor Food City is a food center that houses a selection of dishes of 26 ethnic groups, including the Han, Dai, Bai, Yi, Wa and Jingpo. The city can seat 1,500 diners at any one time, and more than a dozen first-class chefs cook hundreds of kinds of Yunnan dishes.
There are also numerous western restaurants in Kunming, for example, Face to Face, Journey To the East, Blue Bird, Jack In The Box, and Teresa Pizza. The Thai Kitchen located in the center of the city, while not Western food per se, is another of Kunming's best Chinese restaurants.