Detour to Hangzhou day 1: dinner by the lake

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On my trip to Hangzhou last month, I kept telling people that the first (and previous) time I was in Hangzhou had been in 1998. At that time, the only international hotel in existence was Shangri-La, and what was then Hyatt Regency Hangzhou hadn’t even opened. Well, tonight I’m staying on the shores of West Lake (西湖) for the first time, and using this opportunity to dine at what has become a Hangzhou institution - 28 Hubin Road (湖滨28).

Chef Fu Yueliang (傅月良) – who now helms the kitchen at the amazng Ruyuan (如院) - had been the executive chef here when this restaurant opened. He had modernized and made the pagoda-shaped braised pork belly into an iconic dish. Since he didn’t serve us the dish when we were at Ruyuan last month, I was determined to have it here.

The restaurant offered us two small dishes to nibble on: broad beans (蠶豆) and Chinese napa cabbage (白菜).

I ordered a nice pot of Ming Qian Longjing tea (明前龙井) for us in lieu of wine. We are in Hangzhou, after all.

Poached lotus roots, glutinous rice, osmanthus (西湖藕韵) – this was very meh. This is a dish I love, even the very humble ones found in old school restos in Shanghai and elsewhere. I don’t understand why I paid a premium to have this… the osmanthus flowers aren’t worth THAT much.

Wok-fried termite mushroom, cane shoots, homemade preserved vegetable sauce (自制酸菜酱炝鸡枞菌) – it's mushroom season, so Imma order up more termite mushroom (雞樅菌) when I get the chance. The sauce with pickles was pretty decent, as the acidity helps to whet the appetite in this cold dish. There’s also garlic that adds some kick.

Braised “Dongpo” pork, chestnut pancakes, traditional “Hangzhou” style (金牌扣肉) - BABY, THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME FOR! This may not be coming from Chef Fu, but hey, at least I'm having it where he first put the dish on the menu!

Chestnut pancakes (栗子饼) - this was pretty dry and hard. Not sure why this was the preferred side.

The dish is a test of a chef’s knife skills, as the pork must be cut into thins slices but stay connected without breaking, then shaped into a pyramid / pagoda (煙雨樓臺) with 19 levels. That's not so easy when you consider how many sides that takes...

The pork is meant to be enjoyed with dried bamboo shoots from 天目山, with or without thin pancakes made with chestnuts.

Deep-fried jumbo scallop, ganbajun mushroom (干巴菌配酥炸一头扇贝王) - here I go again... I see the word "ganbajun (干巴菌)" on the menu and I start drooling like Pavlov's dog.

They apparently use jumbo scallops that weigh 500 grams, hence the description of "one head (一头)"... but that's gotta be weighing with the shell. Well, the scallop was OK, and despite using 20 grams of the fungus, the ganbajun flavors weren't as intense as I would have liked.

Double-boiled duck broth, clam, scallop, bamboo shoots (西湖笋干老鸭汤氽漳港蚌) - I had just enjoyed some of the short-necked clams (西施舌) from Fuzhou (福州) last month, so I thought I would order this soup. I thought the double-boiled duck soup was pretty tasty.

The scallop was pretty decent sized, too.

Wok-fried lotus root, fresh lotus seeds, water caltrop, water-chestnut (炎夏湖畔小炒) - this was very, very nice... especially the lotus seeds and the caltrop. So fresh and crunchy.

We were too full by now, and happy to call it a night. Grateful for Nicemo's company for this. I'm glad I only have to roll back up to my room...

Well, I didn't stay there for long. I haven't walked along the shores of West Lake (西湖) since 1998, and as my hotel is literally on the lake front, I figured I'd take a little after-dinner stroll. Of course, things are very different now. Next to my hotel is the big, modern shopping mall by Yintai (银泰), with boutiques like Hermès and a big Apple Store. It's past 10pm on a Sunday night, but there were still plenty of people around.