A good half of the bar is outside – large downstairs terrace and good outdoor space above lets you see out easily. The location is on the way back from the Qiantang River on the Hupao Road junction with Jiuyaoshan Tunnel and so makes a fitting stop on the way home from your Meijiawu bicycle trip. The pints came a little slow – that’s only important for the first pint I guess, but the first is the most important… And the din that is Hupao Road can be a little oppressive at first. But if you have been in China for more than a week I bet you can block that out with a little mental effort.

At night there is supposed to be a band and a good vibe.

I dreamt about a Chateaubriand last night. 20 centimeters long, it was the whole tail end of  a filet of beef. Slightly blackened on the outside, this gargantuan piece of beef cleaved open, almost poetically, to show the soft juicy pink centre. I woke up just as that first piece was about to be gently and lovingly savoured. What a dream.

Actually, it wasnt a dream. It’s much better than that; we can all enjoy it. It was a flashback from dinner last night at Angelo’s new restaurant – Angelo’s New York Italian Restaurant and Bar, and that huge piece – 400g or about 10oz – of seriously delicious steak can also be yours.

Angelo’s is tucked up No.2 Side Street of Baochu Road. No2 Street is quite old Hangzhou – lots of little restaurants with doors wide open despite the advertised -4‘C, neon signs selling shrimps, groups of people stuck well into their baijiu screaming numbers at each other. Further in you might start to doubt that any western restaurant could be possibly be here, and Lo, the house of Chateaubriand appears next to the Minsu Hotel.

The restaurant is simple and slick inside. Plain white walls with dark furniture, large frameless black and white prints of old New York on the walls, and black laser-cut lampshades showing the New York skyline provide a modern clean feeling without being minimalist. The small bar at the end is a hive of activity as the barman, an old friend of Angelo, is doing something aggressive with a cocktail shaker – out comes a large Dry Martini, which has my name written all over it. “I’ll have one of those too please”. The drink is 3 minutes in the waiting. Good start.

Angelo is excited. It is only the second day of the soft opening period and people are coming in. “Too busy too busy we are still learning how to do things!” He grabs a menu and talks about it as if it is a list of his child’s A+ school grades. The menu looks good and feels good – has the feel of James Taylor’s handiwork. There seems to be a good range of stuff with obviously a strong American bent, not limited to New York. I didnt see the Reuben Sandwich on there (isnt that a New York staple?) But lots of other tasty looking things – mini burgers, crab cake burgers, pizzas galore, fish and chips, deep-fried calamari and mozzarella. Salads soups. Pasta. And of course that Chateaubriand. This restaurant is going to take a few visits.

And lest I forget to mention, the Martini is good too.

Three of us had the mini-burgers and fried calamari to share as a starter, both from the Share section of the menu. Personally, I felt the calamari were a shade overcooked, but the covering was delicious. Perhaps a slightly smaller, younger squid would be better. Over the table, the Chateaubriand was served in all its glory, alone, on the white plate. On the side were fried potatoes, mushrooms and few other veg served in their own small dishes. The waiter offered to carve the meat, but my friend preferred to do that himself. On my right, the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich looked and tasted perfect – so many restaurants make the mistake of substituting poor beef and cheap cheese into sandwiches, but that did not happen here. My Fish and Chips were not really the British style I was expecting, rather fingers of fish deep fried in batter, tossed together with fries in a tall, paper wrapped cone. The batter was delicious and fish cooked til it was just firm.

I didnt get too far into the wine list – Angelo suggested a great bottle. Will have a go at updating this page soon.

After dinner, we got stuck into the Grappa and Limoncello, perhaps a little too much of it. But hey, there is little better way to cap a very fine dinner than a few shots of grappa.

-

-

-

Few events are so seminal that they actually change the course of the human condition as we know it. Early man’s harnessing of fire. The invention of the wheel. The CIA’s staged moon landings. Each one pushing man’s creative and technological abilities further into the unknown. Starting at 9:30pm, on Saturday, December 12th, an event will take place at Eudora Station on par with the greatest achievements of mankind. The stars will align, planets will shift, and Jingjing, Eddie, and Bong will reunite to sing all your favorite songs as only they can. Be sure to not miss what will surely be described as our generation’s Kennedy assassination. (Text with thanks to morehangzhou.com)

This lot havent played together since the crazy days of Paradise Rock. Saturday will be a big night in Eudora Station. 12th December 2009, for now one night only.

-

The secret of success is Ye Dan, the erstwhile owner. He’s been running bars, in a seemingly hands-off approach for years. He makes sure staff are good, prices are cheap, and puts on good tunes with visiting DJs. And some great chicken wings too – order 2 or 3 portions to save you ordering more.

It’s a little tricky to see from the road, and when you do find it, you’ll kick yourself for not noticing the 4 foot number 7 in bright red neon just outside the door. As a hint, if you are coming from the Yellow Dragon Stadium, go past the Dragon Hotel, and you will see a flower shop on the right just after the bus stop. 7 Club is behind the flower shop.

Supremely relaxed place.

5pm – 2am
-

The Shangri-la Garden Bar probably isnt going to be a destination for the evening unless you are staying in the Shang, or tucked into dinner at one of their restaurants, Peppino’s or the Coffee Garden, but if you are ever after a quiet good cocktail with a bit of live background jazz, you cant go far wrong with Garden bar. When the weather allows, not very often admittedly, the terrace outside is definitely a pace to kick back.

There is wireless internet and you have to ask for a temporary, free, hotel logon.

But if you want something that isnt tasteless mainstream, you have to look a little harder. Right at the top of your research list will be JZ. It is certainly one of the most sophisticated places in Hangzhou. Well decorated in a darkened modern way and with huge velvet curtain backed stage showing off a Yamaha Grand. A long wine list, cigars, a range of single malts, cocktails galore and well dressed (mostly) clientele all add to the impression that you might possibly have teleported out of China when you walked in.

JZ is really a jazz bar. They are tightly linked with the famous JZ in Shanghai, and they share music acts. Normally there is house band playing a month or 2 run, and on some weekends JZ pulls in touring bands from all over the world. The man responsible for this real escape in Hangzhou is Zhang Zheng, who has a long history in music in China and in the bar scene cut his teach in a wildly popular rock music pub, Traveller’s on Shuguang Road, (旅行者曙光路) which now in its umpteenth year is still packed every night.

The bands start at about 9.30 and the place will probably be full by then, so try booking a table – unlike many places in Hangzhou, they do respect your reservation as long as you’re nearly on time. Or try going a little earlier and getting a little something to eat. It is mostly Italian food.

Downstairs was already packed. Champagne and tidbits rushed around the room by an army of waiters. Little chunks of pate de foie gras on crunchy toast, prawns in a Chinese spoon dressed in a ginger and yellow wine (?) drizzle. And more Champagne.

The theme this year was red and black and the dining room was indeed red and black. As always the Hyatt table decoration was spectacular, with under table lighting, enough glistening wine glasses to make any experienced drunk know there was more than enough to go around.

Speeches went on a little long, but hey, it is a charity event and sponsors need to be recognised. FInally food to soak up all those drinks. The menu was slightly strange given the event: The prawn with green tea sauce tasted great, but pumpkin and sharks fin soup for 300 at a charity event? Heavy tasting braised beef cheek in China? An awful lot of Chinese poeple dont eat steak at all. It was good, but most of my table guests didnt touch it.

Speaking of table guests. I was invited by a woman who owns a spectacularly smart spa on Jianguo Road and she brought many of her staff with her. Surrounded by girls.

At the end of the meal the raffle gave away weekend getaways in many of the hotels around east Asia – I was hoping for the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong. No such luck… As usual the room emptied so fast after the raffle somebody could have walked in screaming, “I have swine flu!” Left us lot to the music. Little grooving to just dead Michael Jackson and back to Bellevue.

Hangzhou Hyatt Regency Summer Ball, 27th June 2009

JZ Bar is busy. And Bellevue isnt, really, which is a great pity. It sometimes gets a good buzz on, but on the whole it is the sort of place to kick back in huge leather sofas and drink your 3oz Martini with a large cigar. The inside is opulent and designed with thick carpet, black, granite. Sofas and tables are low, and loads of room between tables. Three sides of the room are plate glass with views out over Hubin Road and a bit of West Lake. The main entrance of the hotel is just below so there is always the chance of having a good laugh at somebody who really can’t drive parking his Ferrari.

Many of you might think, hey no way am I going to hang out in a hotel bar. The sentiment is understandable. But 5 star hotels do have their advantages too. The cocktails here are really worth the effort, and the price tag. 65Y a drink on average seems like a lot, especially for Hangzhou, but the drinks come quick, and they are good. Cosmpolitans, Mai Tais, Caipirinhas, James Bond Martinis. All good. And they are large too – a couple of those Dry Martini’s fix all of the world’s most intractable problems. Another great advantage of a 5 star is the kitchen. Few places in Hangzhou offer anything but the most rudimentary snacks, and they are usually of the spicy duck neck variety. Hyatt has a menu full of all sorts of real food.

Afternoons are pretty good too – although check what time they open, perhaps earlier over the weekends. This bar has wickedly quick wifi – I go there for my Mac OS updates. What would 2 days at home to download, the Hyatt handles quicker than you slurp a cappuccino.

The meal is a slightly unusual format – buffet for starters and desserts and a la carte main courses. The buffet start is a quite a spread all by itself with loads of antipasti, tomato and mozzarella salad, salami, shrimp cocktails, carpaccio, Gravadlax and cheese and more. 2 or 3 plates of that and you have to start to wonder if there is any room left for main course. And the Shang hasnt held back on those either. There are perhaps 6 to choose from, not including build your own pizzas and pastas, with grilled cod, Roman-style veal escalope (which was amazing), ossobucco, spring chicken. You get the message.

While the food is worth a visit just for that, the real fun is the free flow martinis. Yup. Free flow. There are perhaps 20 of them on the menu, and it is tempting to challenge yourself to try them all, although I think that is taking hair of the dog a little far…

Jamaica has some pretty good eats too – the photo here doesn’t really do it justice, but this Jamaica Club Sandwich is full of cheese, pork loin and bacon, and is oozing with mayo and butter. The bread is fresh and soft with a little chew and a crisp outside. It is definitely worth the trek to Xihu Tiandi just for that. Jamaica has several other tasties on the menu, meatballs, paella pasta and some more sandwiches.

Jamaica does not seem that busy in the afternoons, although the booze on the menu may help fill the place up of an evening. Without the Quaker-ism of Starbucks etcetc, you can smoke eat and drink all at the same time. For now anyway – there is a rumour that China is going non-smoking too.

To find Jamaica, wander into Xihu Tiandi – I prefer the northern most entrance just after the Dahua Hotel and follow the lake bank to the cafe – but there are good signs all over the area.

If somebody ever gets there at night, let me know how busy it is.

-