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Culinary treats to sample by the canal
By Xu Wenwen |
June 21, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
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WHILE the must-visit site in Hangzhou is West Lake, for frequent visitors looking for other places to explore, the city section of the Grand Canal is well-worth seeing.
With parts dating as far back as the 5th century BC, the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou is the longest canal in the world, stretching 1,776 kilometers.
The 20-kilometer Hangzhou section features beautiful scenery, historic architecture, places to cycle and stroll, as well as tea houses and restaurants.
Now it is a good season to discover the uptown area, as the willows along the banks swaying in the warm breeze are in full leaf, and beneath them are plenty benches on which to take a seat and admire the scenery.
Since 2007, a major facelift project has renovated buildings, parks, promenades, temples, 12 bridges and other structures. At night, the canal and bridges are festooned with twinkling lights.
Qiaoxizhi Street - near Gongchen Bridge, a stone arch bridge built in 1631 - is home to museums, fashion and cosmetics stores, bookstores, restaurants, cafes, TCM clinics and a ceramics workshop.
Growing numbers of visitors come to Qiaoxizhi Street, attracted by its pristine look, plus its reputation for good restaurants. Here are three recommended by Shanghai Daily.
Tongyuanli Garden Restaurant
同源里院子餐厅
Customers in Tongyuanli Garden Restaurant have three choices where to dine: a glass house, a wooden house and a garden between the two houses.
The glass house features French windows, a glass ceiling and white decor and is decked out white rattan plaited birdcage lamps and plenty of plants.
The wooden house features, appropriately enough, wooden furniture. It is said that the old wooden chairs were collected from local people who used to live there, which is why no two are exactly the same.
Ethnic decorations, oil paintings of the Peking Opera and rattan chimney lamps add to the atmosphere.
The owners are designers and give their creativity free rein in the restaurant. For example, bulbs are hung at various heights, creating a vivid, artistic vibe.
Creativity also features on the menu with dishes like ribs braised with preserved plum - featuring pork that is at once sweet, salty and sour, fish head and rice cake soup and purple sweet potato baked with cheese.
The food is tasty with average prices for each person around 50 to 80 yuan.
Address: No. 64-73 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8819-4788
Recommended dishes: shrimp curry, ribs braised with preserved plum, braised pig feet, fish head and rice cake soup, chicken soup with mushrooms and water chestnuts, purple sweet potato baked with cheese
Horseradish Japanese Restaurant
山葵家日本料理寿司吧
Horseradish Japanese Restaurant is about 100 meters from Gongchen Bridge, a stone-and-wood house entered through a low-profile small gate.
It offers standard Japanese cuisine such as sushi, tempura and sashimi, washed down with sake. To produce light and delicate Japanese cuisine requires the freshest materials, and the texture and sweetness of salmon, shrimps and other sashimi on offer show that this restaurant does indeed get its produce fresh.
It also offers salad made from organic vegetables and fresh horseradish - the raw ingredient of wasabi mustard. This can be made by customers into wasabi paste and is much lesser pungent than wasabi from tubes.
Prices are a bit higher - a 10-piece sushi set costs 98 yuan, while crab tempura is 88 yuan - but the chefs turn out good, tasty food, with salmon cut into generous slices and really fresh shrimps used not only in sashimi but also tempura.
The first floor of the restaurant has ordinary wooden tables and grey sofas, while upstairs are Japanese-style low tables. Both floors have views of Qiaoxizhi Street and feature Japanese-style decoration, such as posters of popular animations.
Address: No. 5 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8722-7867
Recommended dishes: sashimi, sushi, broiled tuna collar, BBQ snowflake beef
Shu Yu Cafe
舒羽咖啡
Nestling in an old traditional Chinese-style building, Shu Yu Cafe offers a sweeping view of the canal and is right next to Gongchen Bridge.
The two-story wood and stone structure features a Chinese-style tiled roof with upturned eaves, with carvings around the windows. A brown signboard with a feather logo advertises the cafe's presence.
Customers can take a table upstairs near the window overlooking the bridge or sit on the terrace beside the river.
Run by local poet Shu Yu, the cafe sometimes holds poetry readings and other cultural activities. Bookshelves on the first floor contain volumes of Shu's poetry and books by other local writers and poets, while on the walls hang artworks by local artists.
Knick-knacks on display include Bohemian-style lights and tea pots from Shu's own collection.
The menu includes coffee, snacks and main dishes. Coffee is made by the cup by a barista with more than eight years' experience.
A wide range of varieties include Colombian and Blue Mountain, while the signature house blend, Shu Yu coffee, is pleasantly sweet.
Address: No. 1 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8809-0555
Recommended dish: stir-fried rice noodles with beef, T-bone steak, BBQ chicken wings, Shu Yu coffee
If you go
If you plan to visit Qiaoxizhi Street, it is strongly recommended you go by ferry. It shuttles between Wulinmen Dock (100 meter east to the D Mansion of Hangzhou Tower) and Gongchen Bridge Dock and tickets cost 3 yuan (47 US cents).
With parts dating as far back as the 5th century BC, the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou is the longest canal in the world, stretching 1,776 kilometers.
The 20-kilometer Hangzhou section features beautiful scenery, historic architecture, places to cycle and stroll, as well as tea houses and restaurants.
Now it is a good season to discover the uptown area, as the willows along the banks swaying in the warm breeze are in full leaf, and beneath them are plenty benches on which to take a seat and admire the scenery.
Since 2007, a major facelift project has renovated buildings, parks, promenades, temples, 12 bridges and other structures. At night, the canal and bridges are festooned with twinkling lights.
Qiaoxizhi Street - near Gongchen Bridge, a stone arch bridge built in 1631 - is home to museums, fashion and cosmetics stores, bookstores, restaurants, cafes, TCM clinics and a ceramics workshop.
Growing numbers of visitors come to Qiaoxizhi Street, attracted by its pristine look, plus its reputation for good restaurants. Here are three recommended by Shanghai Daily.
Tongyuanli Garden Restaurant
同源里院子餐厅
Customers in Tongyuanli Garden Restaurant have three choices where to dine: a glass house, a wooden house and a garden between the two houses.
The glass house features French windows, a glass ceiling and white decor and is decked out white rattan plaited birdcage lamps and plenty of plants.
The wooden house features, appropriately enough, wooden furniture. It is said that the old wooden chairs were collected from local people who used to live there, which is why no two are exactly the same.
Ethnic decorations, oil paintings of the Peking Opera and rattan chimney lamps add to the atmosphere.
The owners are designers and give their creativity free rein in the restaurant. For example, bulbs are hung at various heights, creating a vivid, artistic vibe.
Creativity also features on the menu with dishes like ribs braised with preserved plum - featuring pork that is at once sweet, salty and sour, fish head and rice cake soup and purple sweet potato baked with cheese.
The food is tasty with average prices for each person around 50 to 80 yuan.
Address: No. 64-73 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8819-4788
Recommended dishes: shrimp curry, ribs braised with preserved plum, braised pig feet, fish head and rice cake soup, chicken soup with mushrooms and water chestnuts, purple sweet potato baked with cheese
Horseradish Japanese Restaurant
山葵家日本料理寿司吧
Horseradish Japanese Restaurant is about 100 meters from Gongchen Bridge, a stone-and-wood house entered through a low-profile small gate.
It offers standard Japanese cuisine such as sushi, tempura and sashimi, washed down with sake. To produce light and delicate Japanese cuisine requires the freshest materials, and the texture and sweetness of salmon, shrimps and other sashimi on offer show that this restaurant does indeed get its produce fresh.
It also offers salad made from organic vegetables and fresh horseradish - the raw ingredient of wasabi mustard. This can be made by customers into wasabi paste and is much lesser pungent than wasabi from tubes.
Prices are a bit higher - a 10-piece sushi set costs 98 yuan, while crab tempura is 88 yuan - but the chefs turn out good, tasty food, with salmon cut into generous slices and really fresh shrimps used not only in sashimi but also tempura.
The first floor of the restaurant has ordinary wooden tables and grey sofas, while upstairs are Japanese-style low tables. Both floors have views of Qiaoxizhi Street and feature Japanese-style decoration, such as posters of popular animations.
Address: No. 5 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8722-7867
Recommended dishes: sashimi, sushi, broiled tuna collar, BBQ snowflake beef
Shu Yu Cafe
舒羽咖啡
Nestling in an old traditional Chinese-style building, Shu Yu Cafe offers a sweeping view of the canal and is right next to Gongchen Bridge.
The two-story wood and stone structure features a Chinese-style tiled roof with upturned eaves, with carvings around the windows. A brown signboard with a feather logo advertises the cafe's presence.
Customers can take a table upstairs near the window overlooking the bridge or sit on the terrace beside the river.
Run by local poet Shu Yu, the cafe sometimes holds poetry readings and other cultural activities. Bookshelves on the first floor contain volumes of Shu's poetry and books by other local writers and poets, while on the walls hang artworks by local artists.
Knick-knacks on display include Bohemian-style lights and tea pots from Shu's own collection.
The menu includes coffee, snacks and main dishes. Coffee is made by the cup by a barista with more than eight years' experience.
A wide range of varieties include Colombian and Blue Mountain, while the signature house blend, Shu Yu coffee, is pleasantly sweet.
Address: No. 1 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8809-0555
Recommended dish: stir-fried rice noodles with beef, T-bone steak, BBQ chicken wings, Shu Yu coffee
If you go
If you plan to visit Qiaoxizhi Street, it is strongly recommended you go by ferry. It shuttles between Wulinmen Dock (100 meter east to the D Mansion of Hangzhou Tower) and Gongchen Bridge Dock and tickets cost 3 yuan (47 US cents).
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