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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I was down in the hood smoking d’ crack
When the coppers broke in and grabbed d’sac
So I punched him d’face and told him d’rules
For coppers d aint no buffet at D’Cafe

Seriously though. D’Cafe isn’t actually a hotdog place in the Projects. Far from it. With the marble clad reception of the Dragon Hotel large enough to park a whole NBA teams’s worth of Hummers this place is more fitting to be seen drinking Crystal Champagne than chasing the dragon. With all this awe and glory and chandelier on the way in, it is slightly surprising that D’Cafe isn’t done up to the nines as well. This restaurant is simply comfortable, with a huge amount of light coming in the floor to ceiling glass walls, leaving views of the gardens outside. Coming in from busy dirty Hangda Road, the peace and simple clean lines and light of this dining room is perhaps the restaurant’s greatest success.

We had a table for 18 people booked for 11am Sunday Brunch. Traipsing in at 11 or 11.15 we were greeted by every single member of staff, of which there is a veritable gang, every which one of whom wanted to ask about the weather, enquire where I was going, say hello, Welcome, have I been the the new Dragon before that by the time I made it across the foyer and around the Veranda Restaurant to D’Cafe, I was out of breath from replying to all the pleasantries. All sweet and polite but doesn’t a nod and smile suffice?

And after all the niceties we get to business: claiming our 11am booking.
“So sorry Sir, but the restaurant doesn’t open until 11.30am,” said the receptionist
“But we have an 11am booking”
“Yes Sir, I know”
“Nobody thought to warn us that we wouldn’t be allowed into the dining room until 11.30?” Without an invitation to take a table, we sat in the hall.

Gigantic is a word that Dragon seems to have taken to heart. There is a gigantic amount of money being spent on the renovation. The hotel is gigantic with 500 rooms and 2 serviced apartment blocks; D’Cafe is gigantic; and you guessed it, the spread of food is gigantic. But it isn’t laid out very well, pretty but not very logical. And very Chinese choices to eat. Nothing wrong with that, but I was hoping for some good sunday brunch goodness. Fish bar is the best in town without a doubt, with oysters galore, huge crab legs, mussels and more. Roast beef, if you could find it nestled amongst the bread section, was pretty tasty too. There’s a parma ham to slice (mangle) yourself, a chocolate fountain and then of course all the Asian stuff. Gigantic too is the wine list, pages of it all at surprisingly low prices.

I am sure I will be back at D’Cafe. I might not choose it myself, but while there are free-flow oysters included in the 140Y set buffet, somebody will want to go.

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There is something to be said for those street side crappy pool tables you occasionally see  outside a small shop on the edge of Hangzhou. The beer is cheap, the tables are nearly free, and the worn out rubber, cracked slate (warped wood) and disfigured balls (gulp) means that seriously handicapped pool players like myself can compete a little with the pros. A little.

But there is also something to be said for a real pool bar. It’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer, the tables are flat and while the beer isn’t quite so cheap, it is at least cold. There are many middle of the road places that help bridge the gap between street-side and real place, and you’ll have to find those yourself. But for a real table, Colors Pool Bar is probably the best pool in Hangzhou.

Colors Pool was opened two or three years ago by a Singaporean pool champion. Dont know why he chose Hangzhou – maybe he thinks us lot have a trick (shot) or two to learn. But once here he found a great spot on three floors in a small street running north from the Hyatt hotel. It’s pretty obvious that he knows a lot more about pool than interior design: the place is nice to look at but the tables are goooood. So are the sticks.

There are two tables on each floor, when he could probably have fitted three. The furniture is haphazard, the walls dark red and the bar looks like a pill-box machine gun slit. But hey, we’re here to play pool, not diagnose the owner’s design health. And in any case, for those  waiting to play, Colors is still way more comfortable than any other pool bar in the town.

After a game or ten, you can retire to the roof. There is little outdoor seating in Hangzhou – sitting outside in Hangzhou, until recently, was not considered fitting for modern urban dwellers – and colors does this well, with a large roof terrace overlooking remnants of old Hangzhou.

Tables are about 65Y an hour so you can play 8 or 9 ball. The guys rack the tables in seconds so there isnt much of a delay between games. Beer gets big discounts if you buy by the bucket.

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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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For first timers, the place is a little tricky to find, but it is right next door to the Tea Museum (Lake direction), and if you are turning up in the evening, you’ll find it hard to miss the wood buildings with huge green neon sign outside. There’ll be plenty of badly parked cars scattered around the main entrance. On the way in the din will increase and you’ll realise your effort to arrive late, or early so as to get a table has failed. This place is always full. You can book a table, but all that only really means is that you’ll jump the queue of those waiting who didn’t book. (Book anyway). The menu is on a blackboard and other miscellaneous notice boards littering the entrance and so there will be staff taking orders, delivering food, moving chairs and tables and herding guests onwards all going on in seeming chaos right there when you walk in. With a bit of luck you’ll also soon be herded through a series of rooms and verandas and companion ways to your table. On the way there’ll be fire pots burning, smells of dorian fruit being dismembered, the whiz of blenders making somebody some sort of fresh juice, weird looking toasted whole breads with ice-cream careering past, and when you make to your table, it’ll be clear to you that the chaos is only skin deep. The previous 12 guests haven’t yet put on their coats, but your setting is already spic and span.

Green Tea used to be a little more difficult to find when it was stuck up a mud track near Linyin Temple. The new one is heavily modeled from the last one, with the brick terracing, copious use of pine and batiques. The original Green Tea was a youth hostel and had a few youth-ish maybe hostel-ish trappings; a small pool, climbing wall. Some rooms too. The success was maybe a little too much for the local government who pulled down the building and turned it into tea fields. Sad irony in that.

Thomas, the owner is a bit of foodie. He travels much around China, and whenever he finds something he likes, he takes it back to Green Tea. If the chefs cannot make it according to his instructions, they are sent to the far-flung corner to learn how to make it. So keep an eye out for what the neighbours are eating or otherwise it is easy to miss something special. The core of the menu is based around the duck oven. Thomas cooks lots of things in the oven. Delicious pork belly of perfect succulence, spatchcocked chickens, leg or back of lamb. Fish. Maybe even some duck. It’s a real BBQ. There are other truly delicious things – the fish head in pickled chillies is a house special. And dont forget the booze. Qingmeijiu is baijiu flavoured with qingmei, or plum. It’s only served by the pint, so make sure you have a few hardies to drink it with you as it kicks like an angry mule. The hongmeijiu is a little less fundamentalist, but no less good. And the beer comes in kegs and miniature glasses, so you’ll quickly lose count over how many you’ve had. No harm in that.

The food is surprisingly superb, and the unusual offering of booze, combined with the disarming informality of Green Tea makes for a laid-back evening kick-off for two or three friends, or a gathering much larger. I don’t forget lunch, Green Tea is a great way to have lunch then settle back with some fresh tea and soak up a little afternoon sun.

It isnt the easiest place to find for the first time, so print out this map! If you are going south down Yanggongdi, take a right into Longjing Zhilu. Go over the T junction and on about 200 metres. It’s on the right, before the Tea Museum.

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.

Viewhangzhou seems to write pretty positive reviews about places. There are too many good known restaurants to canvas and comment about to bother re-visiting a crappy one, but I am just keen to go to a restaurant never before visited and have a terrible time eating inedible food so that I can rant about how awful the place is. Well, the Locomotive, sadly, yet again isnt that place.

The place doesn’t get any real prizes for the decoration, although there is nothing wrong with it. The big heavy black granite tables look good, and the banks of benches and chairs are comfortable. The restaurant hasn’t yet finished it’s soft opening phase and the menu is not yet completed – still some photos to go and so ours was a simple bound photocopy. And there seems to be a lot of stuff on there – loads of milkshakes and other fruity looking things, not really my thing so skipped on to the beer. Thank God that came quick and cold.

They’d had a big evening when we got there, typically late. Much of the curries were gone and I am not sure that our noodles really were the famous Pho. What we got came fast and was good; spring rolls were great and came with a spicy sauce, clams in a Thai style Tom Yung Gong that packed in the heat, and some other bits and pieces.

The owner is Chinese, but has lived for years in Vietnam and owns restaurants there too. The food was pretty good and well priced, but, despite never having been to Vietnam I just got a small feeling that the grub wasnt amazingly authentic. However it’s right behind Vineyard Cafe, so it might be worthwhile popping in there before one of Wade’s bashes.

The Locomotive Vietnamese Restaurant | Xixi Road, behind Zhongtian Building
火车头越南饭店西溪路

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The restaurant is an old style Chinese building set in a Qingsha Park, sandwiched between Lishui Lu and the Grand Canal. White walls, bamboo tile roofs and all those pert upturned roof corners. Inside this courtyard building is modern. Pale stone walls, lots of glass. On the left is the sushi bar, on the right the bar. Under the temperature controlled wine room and up the glass stairs and you arrive at the main dining room and private rooms, including a large private teppanyaki room kitted with sofas. The restaurant is so perfectly laid out I still cant figure out if this place really is a converted old house, or a purpose built restaurant. The downlighting in the main dining room is a little harsh, but shows of the minimalist place settings. The huge fish tank (decorative for a change) dominates the room.

Hatsune has one of those menus you look through thinking, ‘One of those’ for every item. There were only two of us, so sadly we couldnt do that. Nevertheless, we ended up ordering way too much. Crab Roe Salad, and beef carpaccio came first along with the tuna and salmon sashimi. We got the Motorola Roll – somebody will have to explain why its called Motorola, I thought that was an overpriced cell phone – and deepfried breaded chicken and bacon rolls. Hatsune is famous for its rolls and there are 10 or so of them on the menu. Sadly they are big, and while you might want to order all of them, you cant. Overpriced cellphone or not, Motorola is delicious. Teriyaki salmon, asparagus in butter. And we only dented the menu.

The Japanese made Saki was a little dear for me, so we had a local one, and for a change left the beer in the fridge. Sipping ice cold saki and warm tea seemed to fit perfectly with the food, and dinner stretched on for a long time, in a flash. I’ll be back at Hatsune in no time.

Related links

Hatsune | Sherpa’s Hangzhou

Hatsune | AbsoluteChinaTours

Hatsune | Yoyoor

Hatsune | InHangzhou

Hatsune Shanghai | Best Food in China

Hatsune Beijing | Asiarooms

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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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.