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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Animal-themed establishments feed beast within

By Xu Wenwen | December 12, 2013, Thursday | Print Edition

When you’re feeling beastly hungry or thirsty, an animal-themed restaurant or cafe might be just the thing.

While some places may attract customers because they have animals in residence, the owner also might be an animal lover or the fare may have some link to the animal theme. 

In Hangzhou, where there is fierce competition in the dining and entertainment industries, Shanghai Daily highlights three animal-themed establishments to see why they have gone wild about animals.

Nimo Restaurant and Bar(尼莫意大利餐厅)

Welcoming customers at Italian-style Nimo Restaurant are jellyfish that pump on a screen in the restaurant’s hall and on an LED screen above bar table.

“We were looking for something to symbolize that seafood is a signature of Italian cuisines. Fish is too ordinary so we picked jellyfish,” said Xian Bo, owner of the restaurant. The local man, who is a world-traveler, said he opened an Italian restaurant because he thinks “Italian and Chinese cuisines are the best in the world.”

Also reminiscent of the ocean are the restaurant’s white lamp stands, inspired by coral, as well as mirrors that are square and round, vertical and oblique, reflecting sunlight through the French windows as if off the water’s surface.

Nimo, a homonym to Nemo as in the movie “Finding Nemo,” means “nice and modern.” The restaurant is designed in a sleek and a bit high-tech way because of the Bauhaus-style mirrors, tables and chairs, as well as the LED screen and fancy projector that casts images of white jellyfish swimming on a blue background.

“The pasta machine is pricey, too,” said the manager, Dartnell Stephen, adding that all flour used to make pizzas and pastas is imported from Italy.

The signature of the restaurant is made-from-scratch pasta (all kinds) and pizzas (sold in slices). Pasta made in the morning is served only on that day, and original sauces are made by an Italian chef.

Their pizza uses thick focaccia, a crunchy bread with a light, sweet flavor and pleasant smell, topped with Parmesan cheese and sprinkled with mozzarella.

In order not to have the restaurant thought of as a pizza joint, they serve pizza only in slices, which sell for only 15 yuan.

Other foods are inexpensive, too. The best-seller, fusilli with a variety of mushrooms, and fusilli with asparagus are 45 yuan each. Spaghetti with seafood is 56 yuan, and grilled sirloin is 158 yuan.

Address: 1-091,092, F Building, Intime City, 299 Fengdeng Rd

Tel: (0571) 8761-6211

Kafelaku Coffee(猫屎咖啡)

With one of the most expensive coffees in the town — 268 yuan for a cup ­— Kafelaku Coffee has caught Hangzhou foodies’ eyes and tongues. The coffee is kopi luwak or civet coffee, in which the beans have been eaten and excreted by the Asian palm civet, which is said to make the coffee smoother through its digestive enzymes.

But how does it taste? Well, the civet poop coffee is neither bitter nor strong, but rather tastes a bit sour and light. There also are cheaper versions including kopi luwak cappuccinos, lattes and mochas (all 128 yuan each), and also the kopi luwak coffee blended beverage (138 yuan).

Cheap ordinary coffees start at 18 yuan, brewed at your table, with the coffee ground in a glass chamber above and water boiling below. Nearly 20 kinds of cakes and muffins are available in a chiller cabinet.

Cat-shaped dolls and civet photos highlight the cafe’s theme, and comfy wooden furniture and sofas are provided for customers inside and out. The free Wi-Fi is fast.

Address: 1/F, 002, Intime City, 299 Fengdeng Rd

Tel: (0571) 8761-6466

Cats Cafe (有猫在咖啡)

Many customers come to this cafe to see the three cats that live there. Residents for many years, the felines are accustomed to an endless stream of visitors, so they are quite hospitable.

Most of the time, they lie at the doorway snoozing away, seemingly oblivious to the hubbub around them. But the owner of the cafe does not allow customers to feed her cats.

Besides the real cats, there are porcelain figures of cat, paintings of cats and photos of cats all over.

The cafe is situated near Zhejiang Gongshang University. Students are regulars here. Besides food and coffee, it provides books, from recent best-sellers to classical literature, for customers to read.

Address: 218 Jiaogong Rd

Tel: (0571) 8738-1236

 

Hangzhou


 

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