Four Seasons in Hangzhou day 1: back at the lake

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A couple of months ago Mr. Chichi asked whether I would be interested in joining him on a trip to Hangzhou (杭州). Well, I had missed the opportunity to revisit the city 2 years ago during my self-imposed travel ban, and I've been wanting to tick a few restaurants off my list. Of course I said "Yes" immediately. Later on I discovered that beyond visiting a few restaurants represented by the local PR contact, the trip was also sponsored bythe two Four Seasons properties in the city, so we would be immersed in luxurious surroundings during our stay.

My morning started with meeting The Great One at the airport, where she waited for me to check-in for our flight together. Then it was a trip to the CX lounge for some breakfast. It's been a while since my last bowl of the dandan noodles (擔擔麵), and I swear they've diluted the sauce. I also took a bowl of biang-biang noodles (𰻞𰻞麵) for variety. After all, this would be better than anything I would get onboard during the flight.

We landed in Hangzhou and were whisked to Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake (杭州西子湖四季酒店) by hotel car. As I would tell everyone repeatedly over the next couple of days - including the Four Seasons team who welcomed us - Four Seasons didn't exist in Hangzhou when I last stepped foot in the city. In fact, the only international hotel brand operating in Hangzhou in 1998 was Shangri-La.

Our accommodations at the hotel were luxurious, indeed. The windows of the bathroom as well as the patio overlooked the lush greenery surrounding the property. Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of exploring the grounds of the hotel, as I needed to catch up on some work in my room before dinner started...

In addition to the very much upgraded and non-standard fruit platter which featured blueberries, raspberries, physalis, black cherries, as well as fresh lotus seeds, there was also a pretty and poetic dessert plate waiting in our rooms. Since I didn't have a proper lunch, I greedily gobbled these down while typing away on my computer.

Our first proper meal in Hangzhou would be tonight's dinner at Jin Sha (金沙厅), the signature restaurant of the hotel whose kitchen is helmed by Chef Wang Yong (王勇). We were given a tour of the restaurant by the hotel's PR team, which eventually brought us to the spacious private dining room arranged for us. This one came with a patio, and this was good news for those of us who occasionally need "a dose of fresh air".

Besides seasonal summer produce, the menu tonight from Chef Wang featured ingredients and flavors particular to nearby areas of Shaoxing (绍兴) and Xiaoshan (萧山). The locals at the table immediately spotted this, but of course us tourists weren't educated enough to know the difference. This would definitely be an interesting first meal!

We were offered a few nibbles before the onslaught of dishes:

Apricot - very likely from Xinjiang.

Peanut brittle (花生糖)

Egg crisps (蛋花酥) - with peanut filling, I believe.

And now for the show starts:

Snow crab meat, water shield, vinegar jelly, basil seed, tomato sauce (西湖莼菜, 蟹肉佐醋冻) - the presentation certainly looked very pretty, and I must admit the basil seeds were a little surprising. The water shield (莼菜) are, of course, famous as a local specialty from West Lake.

Flavor-wise the crab meat was sweet and lovely, and we've got nice amount of acidity and fruity flavors from passion fruit, tomato, and vinegar. However, the combination of snow crab with the Toza vinegar (土佐醋) tasted very Japanese to me... as crab with ponzu (ポン酢) is a popular combination. This wasn't what I was expecting here.

Shaoxing-style dried-brined geoduck clam in fermented rice leeds (干糟象拔蚌) - the geoduck was brined with Shaoxing wine lees, and the flavors here were not punchy at all, but very alluring. The thin slices of pickled lotus root brought acidity to tickle the taste buds.

Pork belly slices, shredded eggplant, garlic chili sauce (手撕茄子, 蒜泥白肉) - a really pretty presentation of the classic sliced pork belly in garlic sauce (蒜泥白肉). This version came with shredded eggplant stuffed inside the rolls of pork belly, and the added chili in the garlic sauce - along with the chili oil - gave it a little more kick.

Pickled water bamboo, shredded mustard greens (酸茭白拌芥菜丝) - water bamboo (茭白) is in season so I am always happy to enjoy its sweetness, especially when served chilled on warm days. Tonight the combination with shredded mustard greens as well as the aromatic mountain litsea oil (木姜子油) was very refreshing and delightful.

Black pepper tomato, amberjack, vinaigrette (黑椒番茄, 油醋汁章红) - I must admit I wasn't expecting to see slices of raw greater amberjack (勘八) here, but this was nicely marinated with vinaigrette and the fruity acidity from the tomato was pretty nice.

Preserved vegetable soup, stuffed eel roll, garden green (梅菜鳗方, 乡下菜蒲汤) - we see a bowl with a leafy bundle at the bottom, then the soup made with both freshly preserved radish as well as ones aged for 3 years. The savory, sometimes lightly smoky flavors of this soup is something I have grown to appreciate.

Unwrapping the pickled mustard greens (酸菜) reveals the eel stuffed inside. There were actually two layers : a piece of freshwater eel at the bottom, with all its bones meticulously removed; and a patty made with minced pork mixed with preserved mustard greens (梅乾菜). The acidity, fermentation, savory profile all blended harmoniously to create one of the biggest surprises for me tonight.

Braised minced chicken and bird's nest, night-blooming flowers, ham, winter melon (鸡米燕窝, 夜香花火腿瓜脯) - I love eating winter melon in the summer (yes, Virginia, summer is the best season for winter melon...) and this came served with a thickened sauce, and topped with its faithful companion Tonkin jasmine () as well as some finely diced bits of Cinco Jotas jamón ibérico.

The sauce was, of course, made with ham and tasted a little on the salty side, but that perfectly complemented the clean and sweet flavors of winter melon. The sauce was made with not only bird's nest that had melted but also minced chicken. This was real nice.

Steamed red king prawn, salted lemon, pork caul fat (咸柠鸡冠油蒸红魔虾) - interesting use of salted lemon here, but surprisingly the sauce on the prawn was very sweet.

Steamed wild sea fish, Jinhua ham sauce (金华腿汁蒸红瓜子斑) - surprisingly this was served out of order. The tomato grouper (红瓜子斑) was nicely done, and of course the sauce was made with Jinhua ham (金华火腿) per SOP.

OF COURSE we asked for some steamed rice to go with the sauce, but I only took a mouthful. There was simply too much food tonight, and I needed to save stomach space.

Steamed fresh termite mushroom, chicken meat, pork belly, shrimp sauce, ginger (姜丝虾酱花腩鸡片干蒸鸡枞) - it's mushroom season, and we've got terminate mushrooms steamed together with sliced chicken and pork belly.

The chicken from Xiaoshan (萧山) was pretty chewy and springy, while the pork belly was interesting in that the skin was crunchy. Nicely flavored with shrimp paste.

Egg custard, snow crab meat, green soybeans, fermented soybeans (双豆松叶蟹炖蛋) - no, this ain't your typical "chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し)" steamed egg... and not just because they've added meat from snow crab (ズワイ蟹) or crab roe.

So this was a challenging dish for me... as I never eat stinky tofu... and this featured Shaoxing's "moldy soybeans (霉毛豆)" - which are green soybeans left to fermented for a few days. This... got a little stinky, but I sucked it up and swallowed. Not terrible, but certainly not something I would order willingly.

Steamed Hanshou soft-shelled turtle, long cowpeas, vinegar and soy sauce (长豇豆醋蒸汉寿甲鱼) - exactly a week after 王八 featured on the menu, here it is again.

Tonight this came with a spicy sauce made with chili, but as this was fermented, the heat was tempered somewhat.

Sauteed garden green, garlic (蒜头炒豆苗) - a "normal" dish of pea shoots is very much appreciated, even as a palate-cleanser.

Chilled noodles, green pepper, water bamboo, bean sprout, sesame paste (青椒茭白, 麻酱冷面) - the traditional way of making chilled noodles in Shanghai means they are first steamed before actually cooking in hot water. They are not dunked in an ice bath to cool down, but rather slowly cooked by airing with a fan.

Shanghainese-style spicy minced pork sauce (上海辣肉) - likewise, the traditional topping is cooked a day earlier, then left out at room temperature to allow the flavors to soak in.

Combined togetehr with sesame sauce, bringing sweet, sour, and spicy flavors together. Really satisfying.

Coconut ice cream, lotus root (西湖藕粉, 椰子冰激凌) - we have a translucent layer of cooked lotus root starch (藕粉) on top.

The coconut ice cream with chunks of coconut flesh was nice, and interesting when coated with the starch.

Bird's nest with pineapple (凤梨官燕) - Chef Wang decided to treat us to a second dessert, this time with bird's nest.

Chilled bird's nest can be very refreshing, and this was even nicer with a pineapple sauce.

I was a little surprised that the wine selection was French and not Chinese, but I didn't particularly mind.

2022 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Choisilles - nose was very flinty and tropical, a little ripe on the palate. Also some lemon citrus.

2023 Pierre Gonon Les Iles Feray - this was very interesting with lots of spices on the nose. The wine was very young and full of really ripe fruit, and also kinda metallic and a little sharp on the nose.

This was A LOT of food, which was no surprise given Mr. Chichi's penchant for long menus. This time, though, I was very happy to partake in the feast, as it's a good introduction to the regional flavors that I'm not familiar with - despite the fact that I grew up eating Shanghainese / Jiangsu / Zhejiang cuisine. I'm very grateful for Chef Wang and the Four Seasons team for such a wonderful treat, as well as the amazing service.

Now it was time to go back to my room and continue working...