Great restaurants were royalty once roamed
Print Edition
IF you wander through southern Hangzhou, you can tread on the same ground where royalty once walked.
Almost 1,000 years ago, the Song Dynasty (960-1279) court established its capital at Lin’an (now Hangzhou) as it lost control of its northern half to the Jurchen people in the Jin–Song Wars.
During the century of peace that followed, the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) court built a sprawling palace complex at the foot of Phoenix Mountain. Unfortunately, most of these royal structures were burnt to ashes during later conflicts.
Today, much of the area once occupied by palace structures has been converted into space for residential or commercial use.
The area around Wuliu Lane, once home to the imperial Wuliu Garden, has been a residential neighborhood since last century.
It’s also home to a bustling food block, located on Hefeng Street, which was recently renovated by the local government. Shanghai Daily visited this block to scope out some of its best eateries.
In Coffee
In Coffee is a multi-story complex that functions as a cafe, a game room, a shop, an art school and an office area.
The menu of the first-floor cafe is what you’d probably expect, yet the sofas, tables and lights are available for sale. “Everything you see is buyable,” as the slogan there goes.
Classrooms on the second floor are used for lectures of oil painting and silver-accessory making for adults.
Address: 60 Zhijixiang Lane
Cumin Xinjiang Restaurant
Cumin is an authentic Muslim restaurant owned by Ma Junhui from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
A Muslim himself, Ma opened the restaurant because he missed the food from his home region. He serves authentic Xinjiang cuisine, including Big Plate Chicken, pepper chicken, chicken with chilli, and a variety of hand pilafs.
The Big Plate Chicken is highly recommended. It includes braised chicken, potatoes, noodles with scallions and peppers. A small portion is good for two people, and the large serving can feed four people.
Xinjiang beer is a perfect match for roasted lamb kebabs or lamb leg.
Address: No. 11, Wuliu Fangting, 52 Hefang Str
Tel: (0571) 8733-8519
Yi Yin Japanese Restaurant
Yi Yin Japanese Restaurant serves sushi, grilled dishes and Japanese sake. With only 30 seats, the restaurant is nicely decorated with bamboo and wood furniture.
Yi Yin claims that its food is made according to recipes from a Michelin one-star chef. Recommended dishes include grilled goose liver, ox tongue, and snowflake beef. A set of snowflake and ordinary beef (130 grams) is priced at 98 yuan (US$14.10).
Address: 65-1 Doufu Er’qiao
Tel: 159-8882-2692
Dragon Knights Crayfish and Beer
Peculiar decorations set Dragon Knights apart from an average Chinese crayfish restaurant. Swords and knives hang on the walls, projectors cast movies onto screens, and the chairs are similar to what one might see in a KTV parlor.
The names of crayfish dishes are also based on the knight theme. There’s Knight Fire (with garlic flavoring), Knight Light (boiled crayfish) and Knight Explosive (crayfish prepared with 13 different herbs).
Address: Bldg No. 4, Wuliu Fangting
Tel: 133-5581-3061
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