Continuing from before
Green Tea Restaurant
The Green Tea Longjing branch is the oldest location and the only one nestled against mountains and water. The entire structure is wooden and built over the lake. Although the lake water isn’t particularly clean, having mountains, water, and tea plantations right outside the window is a rare treat. Overall, the menu focuses mainly on grilled dishes; the food tastes great and prices are reasonable—truly good value for money.
West Lake Lotus Root Rhyme: Finally got to try this dish! It’s a classic Jiangnan dessert, and Green Tea does it justice.
Chicken Wings: Pretty straightforward grilled chicken wings; taste was average.
Green Tea Roasted Pork: Their signature dish. Both in terms of ingredients and flavor, it’s far superior to Grandma’s Home’s version.
Grilled Corn: Another favorite dish of mine. The corn is sweet, with a perfect texture—not tough or hard, yet not too soft either.
Flaming Shrimp: A very theatrical dish. The cooked shrimp are wrapped in foil, and once served, the alcohol on the plate is lit, creating blue flames.
This is what it looks like after opening. Honestly, the flaming step isn’t really that important~~~~
Dry Pot Baby Cabbage: I was a bit disappointed the first time I had this dish—I thought vegetable dishes should be prepared more lightly. Unexpectedly, I found myself craving its flavor afterward.
Bread Temptation: A signature dessert. Not many restaurants in Hangzhou offer this dish, but in Shanghai, it has long been popularized by Hong Kong-style cafés like Gangli.
Xin Jufeng
Located on Taijian Lane next to Guanqian Street, this street is lined entirely with restaurants. Because Suzhou has a large Taiwanese population, many Taiwanese restaurant chains have opened branches here. Xin Jufeng is also a century-old establishment serving Su-style cuisine. This was my second time trying Su-style dishes; last time at Wumen Renjia, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Cherry Pork and Eel Paste with Sizzling Oil, so I decided to try a different restaurant this time.
Cherry Pork: The meat wasn’t as tender as I expected, but neither the fatty part nor the skin felt greasy, and the flavor was similar to what I’d had before.
Eel Paste with Sizzling Oil: Tasted exactly the same as the one at Wumen Renjia—both were delicious~~~
Indian Clover with Rice Wine: Called “Jiu Xiang Cao Tou” in Shanghai. It was pretty well done, though actually, the greens lining the plate beside the Cherry Pork seemed to be clover too…
Jujube Paste Cake: Advertised as an award-winning dish at this restaurant. It was indeed very well made—slightly sweet with a rich jujube aroma.
Meet Fresh
I didn’t expect my first Meet Fresh experience to be in Suzhou. A bowl like this costs 22 yuan in Beijing, 18 in Shanghai, and 16 in Suzhou. Ordering the sweet potato version after a full meal turned out to be quite a mistake. Plus, there was too much ice at the bottom, which lacked flavor. If I were in Shanghai, I’d definitely go to Yu Gui Ren instead—it’s cheaper and even comes with ice cream on top.
Sanwei Health Restaurant
Cafés are everywhere along Pingjiang Road, but finding a proper restaurant is surprisingly difficult. Since we were set on having Chinese food, this was the closest option, so we went in. They claim to serve health-conscious dishes, but honestly, there’s nothing particularly special about them—you can find most of these dishes elsewhere. The only difference is a few items featuring fruit as side garnishes. Overall, the taste was fairly average, though prices weren’t high.
Green Tea Crucian Carp Stew: Crucian carp rarely appears on restaurant menus nowadays because it’s very cheap and extremely bony. In this dish, the fish itself tasted ordinary, but the soup was incredibly savory, enriched with preserved egg, tofu, and pork ribs, topped with scallions and tomatoes added at the end.
Dragon Fruit Duck Breast: Stir-fried duck breast tasted decent enough, though not particularly healthy despite the name. Dragon fruit was scooped out and placed alongside, but roughly 1/5 of the fruit remained inside—probably just to make room for less duck breast~~
Asparagus in Superior Broth: Made with salted pork, ham, shrimp, and asparagus. Quite tasty—even if it counts as a vegetable dish.
Osmanthus Taro Balls: Many dishes here use osmanthus syrup, lending a sweet taste with a subtle floral fragrance. This dish serves as a staple.
Photos taken with iPhone 4S / 5D Mark II + 16-35 f2.8L / 24-70 f2.8L, post-processed in Lightroom 4
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