FOOD, Food reviews, Hangzhou, Uncategorized, Valentines Day HANGZHOU – IMARIGAWA FOR VALENTINES DAY 18 February 2009


Imarigawa Japanese Restaurant
Grand Metro Park Hotel,
2 Pinghai Road
Hangzhou, China
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Chris decided that Japanese was the way to go for our Valentines Day dinner.. and he picked Imarigawa Japanese Restaurant, which was touted to be a very traditional Japanese restaurant in Hangzhou. However, we (okay, it was me) were very silly and thought that the massive Grand Metro Park Hotel (where the restaurant is in) was in the city, “just around the corner”.. and so walked there. And walked. And walked. And walked. OK my defense is that when we asked a girl, she said it was only 10 mins away! YEAH RIGHT. 1.5 hours of walking later, we finally found ourselves there. Cripes.

All we wanted to do was zonk out after that unintended exercise, but at least we’d worked up quite the appetite πŸ˜‰ The restaurant is actually reasonably priced (for Western standards) but fairly expensive (for local standards). Fantastic, attentive service though, and the food was served promptly. To be honest, I actually thought it’d be more unique or romantic.. as when I heard it was “traditional” I expected loads of very Japanese dishes and sitting down on the floor. But it was regular dining and their menu was fairly restrictive.

The food was very good, but not spectacular – which I’d (fairly or unfairly) expected in such a fancy hotel. The star dish for me was this sort of rice soup with seaweed, salmon and floating crispies. It was a novel concept and totally hit the mark. Cooked rice in a tasty broth, with floating bits of shredded seaweed and salmon. We were fascinated with the generous portion of little balls floating on the top, which we couldn’t figure out what they were πŸ˜‰ It was a delicious dish – satisfying and oh so tasty. I’m going to try and hunt it down in Shanghai!


The impressive Grand Metro Park Hotel

A little Japanese garden at the restaurant entrance

Pinewood interior

Bottles and bottles of sake and other liquor

Pretty (and English!) menu

Asahi (it’s better than the Asahi in Australia, weirdly) and edamame

Some bean jelly thing, crispy lotus chips and prawn

Salmon sashimi!

Assorted pickles

Tempura

Cod fish

A sort of rice soup with seaweed, salmon and floating crispies.
First time I’ve ever seen it but it was so so so good!

A very cool spade-spoon πŸ˜›

Writing Chinese words in chalk on the street. Are they proverbs or something??

Taking a stroll after dinner through the city

Downtown Hangzhou… a far cry from the bamboo forest just 20mins away πŸ˜‰


Let’s Chat!




Let's Chat!

Why did the girl say it was only 10 minutes away? Did she mean 10 minutes by car?

Anyhow, even if you walked 5km/h – it should have only taken you 50 minutes. The restaurant looked nice.

I thik that’s what she meant.. but we were walking on the street when we asked her, weird! And we were walking pretty quickly too cos it was cooooold

the rice soup thing…looks like ochazuke. aka japanese porridge. no idea what the crispies are though. mebbe mini rice crakers?

cool u sorted out your lj access?

oh yehh! I grew up eating ochazuke hehe it’s like comfort food or hangover food like congee I suppose.
and yep they usually sprinkle rice crackers on the top and it soaks up the green tea. LOVE IT my favourite is umeboshi ochazuke

you can buy instant ochazuke packets too! Just need like leftover rice and pour hot water over the sachet.

Why did the girl say it was only 10 minutes away? Did she mean 10 minutes by car?

Anyhow, even if you walked 5km/h – it should have only taken you 50 minutes. The restaurant looked nice.

I thik that’s what she meant.. but we were walking on the street when we asked her, weird! And we were walking pretty quickly too cos it was cooooold

the rice soup thing…looks like ochazuke. aka japanese porridge. no idea what the crispies are though. mebbe mini rice crakers?

cool u sorted out your lj access?

oh yehh! I grew up eating ochazuke hehe it’s like comfort food or hangover food like congee I suppose.
and yep they usually sprinkle rice crackers on the top and it soaks up the green tea. LOVE IT my favourite is umeboshi ochazuke

you can buy instant ochazuke packets too! Just need like leftover rice and pour hot water over the sachet.