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An enormous amount of flavor and culture on Xiaohezhi Street
By Xu Wenwen |
February 1, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
XIAOHEZHI Street features a mixture of restaurants and teahouses. In northern Hangzhou, east of the Grand Canal, the street is known for its traditional two-story black-and-white houses, cobblestone walkways, oriental style bridges and buildings that reflect the styles of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
People have lived on the commercial and residential street as early as the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).
Xiaohezhi Street is next to the Xiao River, a branch of the Grand Canal. Many residents in the area have opened small teahouses, noodle restaurants, or mahjong rooms in their homes. With simple signs hanging at gates, they welcome visitors to experience authentic folk culture.
When Xiaohezhi Street reopened in 2009, a bunch of restaurants, teahouses and bars opened, but half of them have closed down because the area doesn't get enough visitors as it is somewhat far away from urban Hangzhou.
Still, the area is a welcome respite from more hectic urban areas. Shanghai Daily grabs a bite at a Yunnan restaurant, an Inner Mongolian restaurant and a noodle restaurant known for its authentic Hangzhou flavor.
Lao Qiao Tou Noodle Restaurant
Twenty years ago, this small noodle restaurant only had a few tables and no sign or logo. And the way people ate was an eye-opener - customers mostly put noodles on a stool and sat on a smaller stool.
These days, the small shop's reputation has grown due to its cheap and tasty noodles. The business is thriving. Despite its cheap price many of the customers jammed in the small shop are wearing expensive clothes, while their BMWs or Mercedes are parked outside.
The menu is the same as 20 years ago - noodles simmering in a mystery broth and topped with pig's liver, pig's kidney, pork, tofu, fried eggs, scallions, seafood or other savory treats.
Address: 1-6 Xiaohezhi Street
Yun Shui Yao Theme Restaurant
Yun Shui Yao Theme Restaurant serves food from Yunnan and Guizhou, two provinces known for their ethnic minority populations.
The restaurant features Yunnan and Guizhou-style knickknacks everywhere including tablecloths with colorful strips, square paper lanterns, bonsai trees, Buddha statues and photos of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
Many Yunnan bars paint slogans about romance on the wall such as "All pretty women are paper tigers." This restaurant does likewise.
Yunnan has a great variety of food, and many Yunnanese dishes are quite spicy, while mushrooms feature prominently. There's also pork ribs with pineapple and fruit tarts.
The restaurant's specialties include spicy frog and the intriguing eggs. For this dish, the eggs are whisked and poured directly onto heated cobblestones. In a few seconds, the liquid turns solid, sending forth a special smell, while the high temperature ensures the egg stays soft and tender.
On sunny days, they recommend seats in the open-air corridor next to the Xiao River. The view of the water, bridge and old houses can be quite relaxing.
Address: No. 17-23 Donghexia, Xiaohezhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8694-9407
Xiang Yu Guan Restaurant
This Inner Mongolian restaurant is also next to the river. The menu primarily consists of dairy products, meat and animal fats.
The best seller here is hand-picked mutton. In northwestern China, many foods are eaten with the hands, yet the name, hand-picked mutton, is used to inform diners that this is a delicacy.
The large serving of mutton is lightly stewed, but served dry, and with cumin and soy oil. Foodies say the mutton is tender with a slight raw meat flavor.
Other dishes include grilled mutton with cumin, roasted mutton chop and mutton shaomai (a dumpling).
Its best dairy dish is fried ice cream - a milky ice cream ball is sliced into five pieces and fried until it has a golden crust.
This is not as odd as you may first think as the earliest form of ice cream, which was far different from what we call ice cream today, was invented in the late 1200s by Genghis Kahn, the founder and emperor of the Mongol Empire.
Other recommended dishes include beef stewed with tomato, pineapple and watermelon stewed with pork and salty milk tea.
Address: No. 25 Donghexia, Xiaohezhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8883-0802
People have lived on the commercial and residential street as early as the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).
Xiaohezhi Street is next to the Xiao River, a branch of the Grand Canal. Many residents in the area have opened small teahouses, noodle restaurants, or mahjong rooms in their homes. With simple signs hanging at gates, they welcome visitors to experience authentic folk culture.
When Xiaohezhi Street reopened in 2009, a bunch of restaurants, teahouses and bars opened, but half of them have closed down because the area doesn't get enough visitors as it is somewhat far away from urban Hangzhou.
Still, the area is a welcome respite from more hectic urban areas. Shanghai Daily grabs a bite at a Yunnan restaurant, an Inner Mongolian restaurant and a noodle restaurant known for its authentic Hangzhou flavor.
Lao Qiao Tou Noodle Restaurant
Twenty years ago, this small noodle restaurant only had a few tables and no sign or logo. And the way people ate was an eye-opener - customers mostly put noodles on a stool and sat on a smaller stool.
These days, the small shop's reputation has grown due to its cheap and tasty noodles. The business is thriving. Despite its cheap price many of the customers jammed in the small shop are wearing expensive clothes, while their BMWs or Mercedes are parked outside.
The menu is the same as 20 years ago - noodles simmering in a mystery broth and topped with pig's liver, pig's kidney, pork, tofu, fried eggs, scallions, seafood or other savory treats.
Address: 1-6 Xiaohezhi Street
Yun Shui Yao Theme Restaurant
Yun Shui Yao Theme Restaurant serves food from Yunnan and Guizhou, two provinces known for their ethnic minority populations.
The restaurant features Yunnan and Guizhou-style knickknacks everywhere including tablecloths with colorful strips, square paper lanterns, bonsai trees, Buddha statues and photos of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
Many Yunnan bars paint slogans about romance on the wall such as "All pretty women are paper tigers." This restaurant does likewise.
Yunnan has a great variety of food, and many Yunnanese dishes are quite spicy, while mushrooms feature prominently. There's also pork ribs with pineapple and fruit tarts.
The restaurant's specialties include spicy frog and the intriguing eggs. For this dish, the eggs are whisked and poured directly onto heated cobblestones. In a few seconds, the liquid turns solid, sending forth a special smell, while the high temperature ensures the egg stays soft and tender.
On sunny days, they recommend seats in the open-air corridor next to the Xiao River. The view of the water, bridge and old houses can be quite relaxing.
Address: No. 17-23 Donghexia, Xiaohezhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8694-9407
Xiang Yu Guan Restaurant
This Inner Mongolian restaurant is also next to the river. The menu primarily consists of dairy products, meat and animal fats.
The best seller here is hand-picked mutton. In northwestern China, many foods are eaten with the hands, yet the name, hand-picked mutton, is used to inform diners that this is a delicacy.
The large serving of mutton is lightly stewed, but served dry, and with cumin and soy oil. Foodies say the mutton is tender with a slight raw meat flavor.
Other dishes include grilled mutton with cumin, roasted mutton chop and mutton shaomai (a dumpling).
Its best dairy dish is fried ice cream - a milky ice cream ball is sliced into five pieces and fried until it has a golden crust.
This is not as odd as you may first think as the earliest form of ice cream, which was far different from what we call ice cream today, was invented in the late 1200s by Genghis Kahn, the founder and emperor of the Mongol Empire.
Other recommended dishes include beef stewed with tomato, pineapple and watermelon stewed with pork and salty milk tea.
Address: No. 25 Donghexia, Xiaohezhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8883-0802
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