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September 17, 2015

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Restaurants receiving old-school praise

By Xu Wenwen | September 17, 2015, Thursday | Print Edition

TOURISTS coming to Hangzhou often enjoy trying the local cuisine.

There are plenty of smartphone apps that allow people to find good restaurants quickly and easily, but there are a number of well-established eateries in Hangzhou popular among locals that do not receive many online recommendations.

Locals spread word of these great eateries the old fashioned way. They take friends to these old restaurants that they have frequented for 20 or 30 years and seldom leave comments about the food on apps or websites because it seems unnecessary to evaluate an “old pal.”

Shanghai Daily introduces three old restaurants run by Hangzhou people that serve traditional local dishes.

Xiao Nan Guo

小南国

 

Baifu Road is a small strip leading to West Lake featuring a slew of restaurants.

Most restaurants here are well-decorated, but not Xiao Nan Guo, which looks rather plain, to put it nicely.

It opened 12 years ago and had only six tables. Now it has 16 tables and is frequented by celebrities such as Lin Chi-ling, Zhou Xun and Lin Xinru.

“People come for the good and seasonal dishes,” says owner Jin Hongwei the owner. “The ingredients are fresh because my mother goes to different markets every morning for the fish and vegetables.”

Jin recommends the tofu, mushroom and turtle dishes at this time of year.

 

Address: 10 Baifu Road

Lao Fang Restaurant

老方酒家

 

Dried sausages, preserved duck, and large pieces of preserved meat hang in the window, attracting customers to walk into the small restaurant that looks rather ordinary.

In business for 33 years, Lao Fang is famous for its soy sauce preserved foods, which are known as jiang huo. Every year it sells about 10,000 kilograms of soy sauce pork and 8,000 soy sauce ducks.

“Many of our customers buy our jiang huo as Chinese New Year gifts for employees,” says owner Fang Chunlin.

Few online comments can be found about the old restaurant, however, expensive cars can be seen frequently outside. Perhaps this is the best indication of the quality of food. Or perhaps they come for two specialties that only a few eateries make: soy sauce pig ear and soy sauce duck feet. Fang says every year he sells 600 pig ears and 10,000 duck feet.

The pig ear is large enough for a big dish. It’s crunchy due to the cartilage and features a salty taste.

Fang uses a variety of sauces. For the pig ear, he steams soy sauce, rice wine, and oyster sauce together and then cools it.

If you are adventurous, try the duck feet. There isn’t much meat on the duck feet, and its ankle is wrapped with duck intestines to “save the flavor.” It is served as a snack or in soups.

 

Address: 195 Fuxing Road

A-Long Lamb Soup

阿龙羊汤

 

Hangzhou locals tend to prefer milder lamb dishes and use different noodles in the soup compared to people in other parts of the country.

A-Long has been owned and operated by Han Yulong for 26 years. His small eatery is nearly full most days with he bulk of diners being loyal customers. Han is so familiar with many of his customers that he sometimes acts “lazy,” leaving a register open where they pay and take their own change.

Most come for the soup. A huge pot of lamb soup is boiled every day. Ingredients include goat head, lamb and entrails. Different organs can be added upon request including stomach and lung. Lamb meat soup is highly recommended because meat from the animal’s face is added. The meat soup is sold out every day before 11am.

Fried lamb dumplings and fried beef buns also come recommended. The beef buns are not that oily and the golden crispy crust is delicious. Every day the small eatery sells around 600 dumplings and buns, which are made by Han’s wife.

 

Address: 32 Xinyifang Street

Hangzhou


 

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