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February 4, 2015

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Queen’s Park offers food in ex-fashion area

By Xu Wenwen | February 4, 2015, Wednesday | Print Edition

WULIN Road in Hangzhou’s center has long been considered the “women’s street” due to its hundreds of boutique fashion stores. Now, with e-commerce making it so easy to buy clothes online conveniently and cheaply, Wulin Road has been turning into more of a food strip.

While some fashion stores along the street has morphed into cheap eateries, Queen’s Park appeared in the middle of Wulin Road two years ago and retains a higher-end feel. It has stylish cafes, bars and restaurants, as well as hairdressers.

The “park” occupies a small square block, with the entrance facing Wulin Road. Shanghai Daily recently took a stroll in the park to find some interesting places. Addresses are not listed because to tour the center takes only about three minutes, and it is recommended to do so.

Maan Coffee 漫咖啡

Maan Coffee is a famous South Korean chain brand with branches across China, now including Hangzhou. In Queen’s Park, Maan Coffee is designed as a huge glass box coupled with steel and red bricks, guaranteed to catch the eye of any passer-by.

Outside, customers can sip their coffee under sunshades, and inside the cafe offers plenty of space for each customer on the first and second floors.

To create a natural atmosphere, small trees have been planted among tables. Even in this season when the trees have few if any leaves, the woods complements the wooden tables, red bricks and cement floor quite well.

A highlight is the crystal chandeliers. Spectacular large examples hang from the ceilings, while smaller crystal shades separate different areas of the cafe, creating a romantic atmosphere.

Art Gallery No. 2 艺术馆2号

If you are a discriminating Hangzhou tourist dissatisfied with common, similar and barely satisfying souvenirs, this high-end gallery might be the place for you.

Items showcased in the gallery are mainly of three kinds, woodblock paintings, porcelain, and small commodities from designer brands. The paintings by young and sophisticated Chinese and Japanese artists cost from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan.

The porcelain goods, a Hangzhou specialty, go for tens to thousands of yuan, depending on size and quality. Porcelain here is much more than just teapots; items include earrings, necklaces and stamps.

There are also items affordable to almost anyone. Practical commodities of neat style like clocks and pins are tens of yuan, while postcards, as derivatives of the woodblock paintings, are sold for 5 yuan (80 US cents) each.

Metoo Cafe 蜜桃咖啡

One of the representative cafes of Hangzhou, Metoo Cafe, opened its third branch in Queen’s Park. The brand Metoo is defined by a distinctive style of philosophy, such as taking advantage of the potential of existing decor and construction, and then integrating modern design and furniture.

The designers, also the owners, have retained the coarse brick walls and concrete stairway, but decorated them with abstract paintings. Old wooden doors plucked from the former residential buildings create another quirky touch.

In the center of the cafe, exhibited on an illuminated glass shelf, sits a display of delicate silver table service items, with gleaming plates and bowls engraved with exquisite floral patterns.

Tangpin Dessert 糖品

Tangpin is a place to eat durian, whether it’s durian meat balls, ice cream, rolls or shakes.

The “meatballs” are purely meat scooped from three selected durians, with flavors that gradually gain in strength. So customers are directed in what sequence to eat them by the wait staff — from light to medium to strong — so they can feel “the strong milky flavor at last.”

Another featured product includes durian changfen (steamed rice roll). Changfen is a Cantonese cuisine that usually wraps salty fillings like pork and shrimp, but at Tangpin the roll wraps durian and is served cold.

Borox Salad 布露克沙拉

The city’s only restaurant with a salad theme, Borox provides over 20 sorts of salads from seafood or ham to pasta and fruit. All, of course, are low in fat and are great for salad fans and people on a diet.

Its menu notes that patrons “don’t need to worry that salads aren’t filling” because the restaurant also has burritos, shortbread and sandwiches. A salad goes for 24 to 34 yuan, and a set including a salad, a glass of juice and a burrito is 50 yuan.

Focusing on “healthy foods,” the salad eatery boasts a light decor, and two walls are doodled with vegetable cartoon figures, which are also on
the menu.

Queen’s Park Boutique Hotel

This city center hotel offers a scenic view and boasts good facilities for a fair price of from 300 to 500 yuan. It’s a good option for tourists who need to stay downtown.

L’occitane bathroom goods, and solid wood furniture are standard in rooms, as well as a teapot, a tea table, a large bottle of Hupao spring water and some Longjing tea, along with a sofa. The spring water and the green tea are both Hangzhou’s specialties, which are believed a perfect match.

There are 25 rooms, and the hotel is equipped with an outdoor terrace facing the bustling Wulin Road.

Hangzhou


 

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