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.

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Panini also has a good selection of beers. Did anybody go in the evening?

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Paradise was the first bar I ever went to in Hangzhou. And in it I met many people who are still good friends today. If you only knew how long ago that was, and me, you would be amazed. Paradise went through many phases, some good and some bad, mostly something to do with what manager the owner had hired for that month. (Not kidding, she was a psycho and staff lasted less that a month, most of them.) Perhaps the most successful time was during Kana’s tenure that actually lasted, to his credit, two or three years. The place was packed pretty much every day of the week, with new drinks and shots, great live music (The Honeys, Huhumamas, to name two) and bashes held for all known countries party days. And then some. It was a great place, and I am obviously biased.

The restaurants are different, for sure, but the concept of Paradise whether intended or not, was great. Good music, good food, a happy laid-back place with no pretensions is a base for building a good crowd of loyal fans. Paradise had that gift and the fans, and Eudora has it too, while at the same time, they surpass Paradise in most ways, from food and decor, to staff, and it’s debatable, but the location too.

Eudora is a smart place. Well-lit and spacious with a long bar on the ground floor, its long and narrow lay-out draws you in. I am sure the bar area is always busy, but if you want a quieter drink, slip towards the rear. Upstairs is all restaurant in bright colours, but not garish, and the roof is simply unbeatable for any bar. The menu is eclectic, but strongly European and American. Schnitzels, pastas, great burger, pizzas, local and imported steaks, sausage and more. (The chocolate truffle cake, oh god.) The beer list is extravagant, and while the wine list has some lesser offerings for us poor writers, it is weighted towards those who like wine. The music is superb; Pink Floyd was playing when I walked in the first time and immediately lifted the spirits. Being opposite the artschool and a 45 second walk from the lake and Xihutiandi, you cant knock the location.

What doesn’t Eudora have? Hmmm. I wish it didn’t have the TVs showing 3 or 4 different sports channels, and it doesn’t have 15 years as a central meeting point for all Hangzhouvians. Well, it does take 15 years for the first case, but Eudora will become central much quickly than that. And if the owner were to read this, he might switch off the TVs outside of game time, (doubtful) but he wont read it. “Amateur reviews are not much good for the reviewer, the reviewee, or the viewer.?.” Gulp.

Other Links
Eudora Station
Eudora Station Hangzhou
MOREHangzhou
Eudora Station Beijing
10Best
CityWeekend
TheBeijinger

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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.

He is always desperately punctual, so I made an effort to be on time by turning up 10 minutes early. Buona looks like somebody couldn’t make up their mind if they wanted to copy MacDonald’s or Pizza Hut, so hey, lets copy them both.

I text him, “The pizza here had better be good, this joint looks like the bastard child of Ronald MacDonald and Ms Hut.”

“Just arriving, let’s give it a spin.”

Good job I listened.

The place is decked out in plastic chairs, and the colour scheme looks like something out of Gymboree – all sunshine yellow and white and fire engine red, and unbreakable. Not the place for a hangover. And no smoking…

But that 50 cm pizza – yup fifty centimeter pizza – was made with whole wheat dough and was not adulterated with all those healthy things like vegetables. Ours came with pepperoni and parma ham. The 2 of us ate the whole thing. It was pretty bloody good. And the espresso, thick strong. Menu scan

Something must have changed. Maybe a new manager discovered the Cinderella in Hangzhou. The last few times, dinner has been a great foody evening, and while the bill, for a full meal with wine and after dinner drinks, is not as palatable as the Milanese, you leave feeling it was cash wisely spent.

To look at, Va Bene is a bit of a show-off to take your date. Small cosy rooms in mottled dark reds and wood, low even lighting, beautifully laid-up tables and racks of wine give an air of confident comfort. At last sitting, the beef carpaccio with rocket and parmesan followed by the scaloppini alla Milanese were both exactly right. One cant go too wrong with with carpaccio, but the generous escalopes were crispy without overdoing the perfectly sliced veal. Over the table my friend had a mixed seafood grill with seabass, prawn and squid. Even the squid was cooked al dente.

And after dinner. Not talking about desserts, no sweet tooth here, but the grappa. Shoot down a thick espresso and pour the grappa into the cup. Swill it around and savour. Limoncella served thick from the freezer will have your date swooning…

Va Bene is upstairs from Pizza Pazza, same group of restaurants, and you can enter from there or via Va Bene’s own door behind Pizza Pazza.

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You cant really see the place as you go in the main entrances of departures. So trust me, look for the big section number signs on the huge columns holding up that amazing roof, and follow around the departures ring until you get to 14. It’s up the stairs behind you.

Bricco Cafe, Shanghai South Railway Station, departures ring section 14.

Me Too used to advertise itself as being on Lishui Road 丽水路, but nobody could find the place, so now they tell everybody they are on Jinhua Road 金华路 which makes everything much simpler. You’ll probably walk in the front into a bright conservatory style room and this is where you’ll want to sit if not full already. The big room behind, through some high arches, is a little darker, and chairs a little harder and more upright, great for a laptop. I was armed with one so that was area of choice, and in any case a mate was sat on the corner of the conservatory with a very pretty girl, and I didn’t want to disturb them. I am sure it was business…

There’s pasta on the menu, along with pizza and a load of ‘business set menus’ – you know the things, Hainan chicken and rice, black pepper fried beef over rice, probably some curry as well. I munched hungrily a bowl bolognaise spaghetti  – nothing much to write home about but tasty, and drank loads of some no-brand soda water and constant stream of delicious Illy coffee (second cup is half price). All good. Double Star got written up quickly over the fast wifi before another mate walked in (this one luckily unaccompanied) and more coffee came. It would seem that Me Too has a quite a crowd of Hangzhou north and west friends.

The place is no smoking and there are signs up ‘SShhhhh!’, so providing there is a chair spare, you can get on with work.

IFE Cafe, 418 Xixi Road | 西溪路418号