The story appears on

Page A9

April 26, 2012

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeCity specialsHangzhou

Alfresco options spring to mind

EATING lunch outside on a fine spring day, as sunlight splashes on the table, it almost seems as though when you take a spoonful of soup you can take a sip of sunshine with it. After the gloomy months of winter, spring sun is something to be enjoyed - and what better way than with good food.

Alfresco dining lets diners enjoy delicacies accompanied by sunshine, a spring breeze and beautiful scenery, and Hangzhou offers plenty of options, among woodland, in the hills or beside a temple. Shanghai Daily discovers three of them.

Mandolin Garden Restaurant



At the end of Yuhuangshan Road is a path extending into Yuhuang Hill. Nestled at the foot of the hill are dozens of restaurants, mostly nongjiale - literally, happy farmer's house - providing simple food and accommodation.

Also located here is Mandolin, a youth hostel with European-style decor, that features a renowned garden restaurant.

The garden is filled with plants and flowers and offers a great view.

Behind the garden is the restaurant itself, decked out with white sofas, white cupboards, white window frames, white lace curtains, plus many paintings and photographs.

The menu is characterized by creative cuisine, and recommendations include duck stewed in soy sauce - capturing the strong sweetness of duck meat but without the grease - and savory beef, which sees the meat undergo a dozen processes before cooking, and a favorite with fans of garlic.

Fusion dishes include cheese and sesame balls and crispy yam rolls.

As Mandolin Garden Restaurant is opposite a former air-raid shelter, now opened in summer as a place where citizens can come to escape the heat, the air temperature is slightly lower in the surrounding area.



Address: 43 Yuhuangshan Rd

Tel: (0571) 8702-2902

Chef's picks: spicy and hot fish, blues beef rib, cheese and sesame balls, duck stewed in soy sauce, savory beef, porridge served in a stone pot.

Decade Theme Garden Restaurant

It would seem easy to miss this three-story white building on Tianzhu Road, near Lingyin Temple, as it is set among lofty trees and tea bushes. But diners know where to find it and it is usually packed at weekends.

In spring, many customers prefer to dine in large, open-sided tents in the grounds, among the fragrance of flower and light breezes.

The name hints at the restaurant's vintage style, and the interior features green walls, carmine bricks, pink sofas, antique furniture, posters of old Shanghai in the 1930s, as well as enamel tableware popular in China two and three decades ago.

The menu features creative cuisine that combines Western and local food - such as mashed potato covered in a Chinese-style broth of peas and bacon, local-style goose liver and shrimp stewed with preserved plum.

Decade Theme Garden Restaurant also provides mellow rice wine brewed by staff, and rice water - water in which rice has been cooked - both as a beverage and ingredient in dishes.



Address: 215 Tianzhu Rd

Tel: (0571) 8799-0001

Chef's picks: specialty fish, seafood in French bread, Chinese-Style mashed potato, rice water.

7080 Garden Style Restaurant

A simple sign stating "7080" on the white facade advertises the presence of 7080 Garden Style Restaurant at West Lake.

Set among woodland behind Nanshan Road, 7080 is a stunning single-story wood and glass building, so much at one with nature that several mature parasol trees are enclosed by the building and grow through the roof. The architects had been reluctant to cut down the trees, so adapted the building to accommodate them.

With its unusual grid ceiling, French windows and white-painted rooms, the restaurant is often filled with sunshine and boasts a roof terrace where diners can soak up the rays.

A vintage theme runs through the fittings, with table and chairs made from recycled wood, a semi-transparent glass chandelier, as well as toys and other knick-knacks from the 1970s and 1980s - providing the restaurant with its 7080 name.

The menu provides both local cuisine and the chef's own creations - including cheese-based fusion food, such as seafood and cheese served in a hollowed-out loaf.

Fish and shrimp are the restaurant's specialty, and fried perch covered in distillers grains is a bestseller - its crispy skin and tender flesh complementing the sweet, sour and spicy flavor from the distillers grains, and soft, succulent fermented rice.



Address: 97 Nanshan Rd

Tel: (0571) 8777-0078

Chef's picks: fried perch covered with distillers grains, fried shrimp, millet cake.


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend