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Smart diners follow locals to tucked-away eateries serving the best Hangzhou fare
By Xu Wenwen and Wu Huixin |
October 25, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LOCALS always know where the best restaurants are. So in addition to searching on the Internet, visitors have another smart and quick choice - ask a local.
They may suggest some restaurants tucked away in their own communities, eateries that cannot be found on the Internet. But they are the real deal, with authentic local taste, and should not be missed.
The names of these restaurants are passed by word-of-mouth and not only locals but celebrities as well choose to dine there. Savvy tourists are discovering them as well.
Shanghai Daily visits three of them.
Zhou's Food Stall
This eatery is nestled near Hangzhou's Drum Tower, a popular scenic site with a large residential community nearby. It's a rendezvous place for residents and a spot popular with visitors.
For the past 10 years, Zhou's Food Stall has attracted a continuous stream of eaters from day to night. When it opened two branches, also in lanes hidden in communities, the crowds kept coming.
Advance booking is recommended.
It serves local Hangzhou dishes and creates new favorites by combining elements of other dishes.
Broccoli fried with XO sauce is popular and cheap. The tantalizing XO sauce is made by the chefs and cannot be purchased on the market.
Pork chops fried with corn is a new dish. The corn is pounded and fried, tasking like chips. The chops are fried over high heat until they are cooked and yet tender, not overdone.
The chef's other picks include stir-fried shrimp, crab casserole, spiced duck and thick fish head soup.
? Address: No. 3, Shiwukui Lane (behind the Drum Tower)
Tel: (0571) 8681-7810
? Address: No. 141, Hai'er Lane
Tel: (0571) 8702-9198
? Address: No. 36, Suo Lane
Tel: (0571) 8518-2506
Liuhe Chuancai Restaurant
Operating in residential communities is a principle of the restaurant, which started inside one community and opened branches in others. Today there are four branches.
Most customers are residents living nearby.
Dishes are both classical Hangzhou recipes and modern dishes. As in a good community restaurant, portions are large and prices are low.
Two signature crab dishes are recommended this season: "Drunken" crab, in which the crustacean is marinated in alcohol, spices and sauces, and Taihu Lake Pot, in which crab, shrimp, salted pork and vegetables are boiled together.
Also highly recommended is "drunken" chicken, a cold dish prepared with a traditional recipe in which the chicken smells of wine and has an umami taste of river food.
Stinky tofu is also popular.
? Addresses: 76 Daguanyuan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8833-0872
? Address: 26 Chaohui Rd
Tel: (0571) 8765-8765
? Address: 292 Huancheng Rd N.
Tel: (0571) 8891-4503
? Address: 28 Deyuan Rd, Daguan South Community
Tel: (0571) 8835-4923
Deming Restaurant
It's hard to believe, but during lunch time in a workday, luxury cars move in and out along a narrow lane leading to a small restaurant in suburban Yuhuangshan Community. De Ming Restaurant is a magnet for people all around.
This is its 16th year of operation in Hangzhou. It previously nestled in a ceramics market in the community and was like a canteen for vendors and customers, but its fame spread. This year it moved to its current location, near a community clinic.
It serves typical Hangzhou dishes using local recipes, such as sauteed shrimp, fried hairtail, sweet and sour pork ribs, and bamboo shoots sauteed with preserved vegetables. The owner Zhu Deming insists on quality.
"Unlike many other restaurants, we never make food in a huge vat of boiling oil, instead, we follow locals' homemade recipes, steaming and lightly frying," Zhu says.
Despite the location and homey dishes, prices are higher than average because "we use ingredients not found in common groceries or markets. We go direct to farmers and fishermen," he says.
A specialty and best seller is pork intestines braised in soy sauce, which may not sound appetizing but Zhu assures everyone that organs are carefully boiled. Before cooking, eight kitchen workers wash the intestines for three hours.
Opposite Fenghuangshan Road is a lane with a sign saying Yuhuangshan Community Clinic. The restaurant is 10 meters inside.
Address: Yuhuangshan Community
Tel: (0571) 8608-0573
They may suggest some restaurants tucked away in their own communities, eateries that cannot be found on the Internet. But they are the real deal, with authentic local taste, and should not be missed.
The names of these restaurants are passed by word-of-mouth and not only locals but celebrities as well choose to dine there. Savvy tourists are discovering them as well.
Shanghai Daily visits three of them.
Zhou's Food Stall
This eatery is nestled near Hangzhou's Drum Tower, a popular scenic site with a large residential community nearby. It's a rendezvous place for residents and a spot popular with visitors.
For the past 10 years, Zhou's Food Stall has attracted a continuous stream of eaters from day to night. When it opened two branches, also in lanes hidden in communities, the crowds kept coming.
Advance booking is recommended.
It serves local Hangzhou dishes and creates new favorites by combining elements of other dishes.
Broccoli fried with XO sauce is popular and cheap. The tantalizing XO sauce is made by the chefs and cannot be purchased on the market.
Pork chops fried with corn is a new dish. The corn is pounded and fried, tasking like chips. The chops are fried over high heat until they are cooked and yet tender, not overdone.
The chef's other picks include stir-fried shrimp, crab casserole, spiced duck and thick fish head soup.
? Address: No. 3, Shiwukui Lane (behind the Drum Tower)
Tel: (0571) 8681-7810
? Address: No. 141, Hai'er Lane
Tel: (0571) 8702-9198
? Address: No. 36, Suo Lane
Tel: (0571) 8518-2506
Liuhe Chuancai Restaurant
Operating in residential communities is a principle of the restaurant, which started inside one community and opened branches in others. Today there are four branches.
Most customers are residents living nearby.
Dishes are both classical Hangzhou recipes and modern dishes. As in a good community restaurant, portions are large and prices are low.
Two signature crab dishes are recommended this season: "Drunken" crab, in which the crustacean is marinated in alcohol, spices and sauces, and Taihu Lake Pot, in which crab, shrimp, salted pork and vegetables are boiled together.
Also highly recommended is "drunken" chicken, a cold dish prepared with a traditional recipe in which the chicken smells of wine and has an umami taste of river food.
Stinky tofu is also popular.
? Addresses: 76 Daguanyuan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8833-0872
? Address: 26 Chaohui Rd
Tel: (0571) 8765-8765
? Address: 292 Huancheng Rd N.
Tel: (0571) 8891-4503
? Address: 28 Deyuan Rd, Daguan South Community
Tel: (0571) 8835-4923
Deming Restaurant
It's hard to believe, but during lunch time in a workday, luxury cars move in and out along a narrow lane leading to a small restaurant in suburban Yuhuangshan Community. De Ming Restaurant is a magnet for people all around.
This is its 16th year of operation in Hangzhou. It previously nestled in a ceramics market in the community and was like a canteen for vendors and customers, but its fame spread. This year it moved to its current location, near a community clinic.
It serves typical Hangzhou dishes using local recipes, such as sauteed shrimp, fried hairtail, sweet and sour pork ribs, and bamboo shoots sauteed with preserved vegetables. The owner Zhu Deming insists on quality.
"Unlike many other restaurants, we never make food in a huge vat of boiling oil, instead, we follow locals' homemade recipes, steaming and lightly frying," Zhu says.
Despite the location and homey dishes, prices are higher than average because "we use ingredients not found in common groceries or markets. We go direct to farmers and fishermen," he says.
A specialty and best seller is pork intestines braised in soy sauce, which may not sound appetizing but Zhu assures everyone that organs are carefully boiled. Before cooking, eight kitchen workers wash the intestines for three hours.
Opposite Fenghuangshan Road is a lane with a sign saying Yuhuangshan Community Clinic. The restaurant is 10 meters inside.
Address: Yuhuangshan Community
Tel: (0571) 8608-0573
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