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Dining delights on new food street
By Xu Wenwen |
January 5, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
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PICTURESQUE Dadou Road, a new food street along the Grand Canal, is becoming a destination for foodies and it's not too crowded as yet.
Dadou Road retains its traditional architecture of two-story wood and brick buildings with upturned eaves, facing the canal or stone-paved lanes. In ancient times the road was a famous commercial strip.
The 1-kilometer stretch was renovated into a food street more than a year ago. It features a number of noted restaurants.
The banks of the Grand Canal are lined with red lanterns and lights that illuminate the waterway at night. Restaurants' interior decor is traditional, stylish and sometimes elaborate.
The food appeals no less than the scenery and the decor. Although the street is not downtown, the parking lot is filled after 6pm.
It's still not as crowded as restaurants near West Lake so there are very few queues.
Shanghai Daily takes a look at the new dining destination and highlights a few appealing eateries.
Super Bowl Restaurant
At the south end of Dadou Road, the restaurant features a distinctive facade - a tall, narrow white wall standing amid bamboo signs bearing the restaurant's slogan, "Meet China in the Bowl."
The decor is traditional Chinese, with wooden pillars, antique chairs, bamboo tables, artwork and blue and white lanterns.
The restaurant serves Hangzhou-style food and creative dishes. Its specialty is its Super Bowl series, including Super Bowl Fish Boiled with Pickled Cabbage and Chili, and Super Bowl Crab Boiled with Goose Feet.
The super bowl is blue and white porcelain, and it's super-sized, around 45 centimeters in diameter.
To make the Super Bowl Fish, only those weighing more than 2 kilograms are used. The restaurant uses grass carp, slicing it into fillets, then tossing it with starch. The fish bones are deep-fried until golden and then the fillets, bones, pickled cabbage, pepper and bean sprouts are made into soup in the huge bowl.
The signature dish is Super Bowl Crab Boiled with Goose Feet. Tomato is added and it's stewed for a long time until it's glutinous and the tomato puree is thick. The crab roe and fat melt deliciously in the umami soup.
Chef's picks: Super Bowl series, A'gong Fish Head, Curried Shrimp and Vintage Smoked Chicken
Address: 126 Dadou RdTel: (0571) 8832-3233
Green Tea Restaurant
At the north end of Dadou Road, Green Tea Restaurant is not a tea house, but one of the most popular chains in Hangzhou, with several branches, all with queues at dinner.
The decor is original and ethnic - wooden tables and chairs have embroidered cushions, old wooden shelves are filled with pottery vases, and puppets from Chinese shadow play; all are backlighted and silhouetted.
Dishes are creative and many are adapted from local cuisine, such as Longjing Wencha (Looking for Dragon Well Tea), which uses Longjing tea and shrimp. It is distinct from traditional Longjing Shrimp because the shrimp are preserved in Longjing tea leaves for 12 hours, then boiled with chicken soup that has been stewed for eight hours. Served with Longjing tea, the dish is mild and delicious.
A favorite is Green Tea Barbecued Pork, which uses pork preserved for four hours, so much of the fat is eliminated before baking.
The Attract Series is considered a must-order, including Attractive Beef, Attractive Fish Head and Attractive Bread for dessert.
Chef's picks: Attract Series, Green Tea Barbecued Pork, Longjing Wencha, Farmer Barbecued Fish and Barbecued ChickenAddress: 238 Dadou RdTel: (0571) 8899-8377
Weilong Sanxun Restaurant
The Weilong Sanxun Restaurant is designed like a Hakka house and it is run by three Hakka men. The Hakkas' unique weilong house typically has a pond and is built with a central axis with a north-south meridian line. Rooms are symmetrical east to west; there's at least one upper and one lower hall.
In front of the restaurant is a small pond in a garden setting with lush planting. The rooms are decorated with Hakka knickknacks and artworks; the walls are exposed brick, or simply plastered and white-washed without painting.
One of the owners used to be a designer who contributed many creative ideas, for example, all tables are made from old wooden boats and fragments of porcelain are embedded in the surface.
The menu offers traditional and creative Hakka dishes. Chicken is a must since chicken is always the first dish in a Hakka feast. Classics include Spring Chicken Braised with Pig's Tripe and Three-cup Chicken. The three cups refer to three cups of sauce - a cup of soy sauce, rice wine (sometimes mixed with Shaoxing wine) and sesame oil.
The chicken is cooked in an earthenware pot. The dish is everywhere in China but it tastes different depending on the different rice wine. The restaurant uses traditional Hakka rice wine.
Another popular dish is traditional Niang Tofu (stuffed tofu cube). It consists of cubes of tofu heaped with minced pork and herbs, then fried until it's golden-brown. Niang Sanbao is similar but stuffed with eggplant, green pepper and pork.
The outside of the tofu is deliciously crispy; inside the pork is cooked creamy consistency and the vegetables are pulpy. A "secret" sauce is added. It makes a great appetizer.
Chef's picks: Niang Tofu, Dasheen Pot, Tofu Skin Braised with Beef, Three-cup Chicken, Ginger Fish, Ginger Duck
Address: 104 Dadou RdTel: (0571) 5811-1568
(This is the first part of an article about restaurants on Dadou Road; the second and final part will be published next Thursday.)
Dadou Road retains its traditional architecture of two-story wood and brick buildings with upturned eaves, facing the canal or stone-paved lanes. In ancient times the road was a famous commercial strip.
The 1-kilometer stretch was renovated into a food street more than a year ago. It features a number of noted restaurants.
The banks of the Grand Canal are lined with red lanterns and lights that illuminate the waterway at night. Restaurants' interior decor is traditional, stylish and sometimes elaborate.
The food appeals no less than the scenery and the decor. Although the street is not downtown, the parking lot is filled after 6pm.
It's still not as crowded as restaurants near West Lake so there are very few queues.
Shanghai Daily takes a look at the new dining destination and highlights a few appealing eateries.
Super Bowl Restaurant
At the south end of Dadou Road, the restaurant features a distinctive facade - a tall, narrow white wall standing amid bamboo signs bearing the restaurant's slogan, "Meet China in the Bowl."
The decor is traditional Chinese, with wooden pillars, antique chairs, bamboo tables, artwork and blue and white lanterns.
The restaurant serves Hangzhou-style food and creative dishes. Its specialty is its Super Bowl series, including Super Bowl Fish Boiled with Pickled Cabbage and Chili, and Super Bowl Crab Boiled with Goose Feet.
The super bowl is blue and white porcelain, and it's super-sized, around 45 centimeters in diameter.
To make the Super Bowl Fish, only those weighing more than 2 kilograms are used. The restaurant uses grass carp, slicing it into fillets, then tossing it with starch. The fish bones are deep-fried until golden and then the fillets, bones, pickled cabbage, pepper and bean sprouts are made into soup in the huge bowl.
The signature dish is Super Bowl Crab Boiled with Goose Feet. Tomato is added and it's stewed for a long time until it's glutinous and the tomato puree is thick. The crab roe and fat melt deliciously in the umami soup.
Chef's picks: Super Bowl series, A'gong Fish Head, Curried Shrimp and Vintage Smoked Chicken
Address: 126 Dadou RdTel: (0571) 8832-3233
Green Tea Restaurant
At the north end of Dadou Road, Green Tea Restaurant is not a tea house, but one of the most popular chains in Hangzhou, with several branches, all with queues at dinner.
The decor is original and ethnic - wooden tables and chairs have embroidered cushions, old wooden shelves are filled with pottery vases, and puppets from Chinese shadow play; all are backlighted and silhouetted.
Dishes are creative and many are adapted from local cuisine, such as Longjing Wencha (Looking for Dragon Well Tea), which uses Longjing tea and shrimp. It is distinct from traditional Longjing Shrimp because the shrimp are preserved in Longjing tea leaves for 12 hours, then boiled with chicken soup that has been stewed for eight hours. Served with Longjing tea, the dish is mild and delicious.
A favorite is Green Tea Barbecued Pork, which uses pork preserved for four hours, so much of the fat is eliminated before baking.
The Attract Series is considered a must-order, including Attractive Beef, Attractive Fish Head and Attractive Bread for dessert.
Chef's picks: Attract Series, Green Tea Barbecued Pork, Longjing Wencha, Farmer Barbecued Fish and Barbecued ChickenAddress: 238 Dadou RdTel: (0571) 8899-8377
Weilong Sanxun Restaurant
The Weilong Sanxun Restaurant is designed like a Hakka house and it is run by three Hakka men. The Hakkas' unique weilong house typically has a pond and is built with a central axis with a north-south meridian line. Rooms are symmetrical east to west; there's at least one upper and one lower hall.
In front of the restaurant is a small pond in a garden setting with lush planting. The rooms are decorated with Hakka knickknacks and artworks; the walls are exposed brick, or simply plastered and white-washed without painting.
One of the owners used to be a designer who contributed many creative ideas, for example, all tables are made from old wooden boats and fragments of porcelain are embedded in the surface.
The menu offers traditional and creative Hakka dishes. Chicken is a must since chicken is always the first dish in a Hakka feast. Classics include Spring Chicken Braised with Pig's Tripe and Three-cup Chicken. The three cups refer to three cups of sauce - a cup of soy sauce, rice wine (sometimes mixed with Shaoxing wine) and sesame oil.
The chicken is cooked in an earthenware pot. The dish is everywhere in China but it tastes different depending on the different rice wine. The restaurant uses traditional Hakka rice wine.
Another popular dish is traditional Niang Tofu (stuffed tofu cube). It consists of cubes of tofu heaped with minced pork and herbs, then fried until it's golden-brown. Niang Sanbao is similar but stuffed with eggplant, green pepper and pork.
The outside of the tofu is deliciously crispy; inside the pork is cooked creamy consistency and the vegetables are pulpy. A "secret" sauce is added. It makes a great appetizer.
Chef's picks: Niang Tofu, Dasheen Pot, Tofu Skin Braised with Beef, Three-cup Chicken, Ginger Fish, Ginger Duck
Address: 104 Dadou RdTel: (0571) 5811-1568
(This is the first part of an article about restaurants on Dadou Road; the second and final part will be published next Thursday.)
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