Despite its centrality, this “gem” is so well-concealed we almost didn’t include it. An expressionless door opens into a warren of elegant, freshly painted private rooms, where staff in Song dynasty dress (a bit startled – we hadn’t booked) usher us to a table.
The unusual food is what sets this place apart: The dishes derive from references in Song dynasty poems. Don’t worry if your memory for verse is a little rusty – the menus are fixed at RMB 100, 200 or 300 per person, so deciding your price point is the only obstacle before dishes start sailing
endlessly out of the kitchen. For RMB 100 we enjoyed a big claypot of dongpo rou, Hangzhou’s famously fatty pork (named after the poet Su Dongpo), sliced beef brisket, tender chicken with black bean, pickled turnip, fish poached in a soy milk soup flavored with pineapple, and many more.
A flask of warm almond wine was a mellow treat, though some dishes, like the “sizzling” squid with onions, looked and tasted decidedly modern. The RMB 200 and 300 menus offer more “prestige” dishes, some of them charmingly playful, like a “bear’s paw” carved skillfully out of aspic.
Call ahead to book, especially in the colder months, so they can warm up your room and prepare the menu. Spring or summer is the best time to visit, when traditional drumming and dance performances in the central courtyard play up the sense of occasion.
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