Tuzao Guan

[ 2009-04-14 08:41:04 | Author: Admin ]

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Tuzao Guan
土灶馆
10:30am - 9pm
68-77 Pingjiang Rd.
平江路68-77号
0512 6770 8777
We’ve been aware of this hidden, little gem for some time now, as it’s one of our favorites. We would have told you sooner, but we just weren’t ready to spill the beans. We are now ready to spill them. Since it opened, it has been a hotspot for locals “in the know,” but the counter outside that sells impossibly old and dry looking chunks of mystery meat has obviously been putting off some of the less adventurous. We are here to assure you to have no fear.

By the time we grew the requisite pair you need to get past the counter, we had assumed that we would need our dictionaries and palm pilots on the ready to translate dishes so we could list all the foods you see pictured here, but it was unnecessary because Tuzaoguan has every dish available either in its raw or freshly cooked form on display. They don’t even bother with a menu. Despite the lack of English, all of the prices are clearly marked and you need only point to the dishes that you want to try. It’s better than working with a picture menu.

Another thing that makes this a favorite is the fact that it’s Zhejiang cuisine. Zhejiang cuisine is similar in some ways to the food in Suzhou but unique in its own way. It’s delicate but not sweet and the food is almost always incredibly fresh. So after we picked out our dishes on the first floor we headed upstairs to grab a table. The seating is either sturdy benches or straight-backed chairs that are not great for lounging or smoking in, but they’re perfect for leaning forward and paying full attention to your food, which is exactly what we did when it started to arrive. The serving dishes are elegantly shaped and the presentation was even better than what we saw in the simulated dishes downstairs. We didn’t manage to decipher the name because of the sloppy hand writing but our top recommendation goes to a vegetable dish that resembles in taste and appearance Japanese tempura. Dinner with drinks usually runs 50 RMB per person.