DINE & WINE
As a result of hundreds of years of culinary experimentation, Suzhou cuisine has developed a unique flavor and a famed reputation. Each course is individually prepared and the emphasis is on the use of quality ingredients, tender meat, fresh vegetables and care in preparation. The result is a selection of fabulous dishes that are unique in color, aroma, shape and taste. Suzhou cuisine is often sweet to taste and beautifully presented.
The fish and vegetable dishes of the area are well known throughout China and some of the best local dishes to try are; Songshu Guiyu (Mandarin Fish, stewed and fried), Qingtang Yuchi (braised shark's fin in a clear soup), Xiangyou Shanhu (stewed shredded eel) and Xigua Ji (young chicken buried in watermelon rind and steamed). The best places to try for good and authentic Suzhou cuisine are on Guangzhou Lu and around the middle of Renmin Lu.
The Songhelou Caiguan, on the south side of Guanqian Jie, a couple of hundred metres east of Renmin Lu, is the most famous restaurant in town - it claims to be old enough to have served Emperor Qianlong. The menu is elaborate and long on fish (crab, eel and squirrel fish and the like), and it's an interesting if not cheap place to dine. A short walk farther east brings you to a small alley, leading south, called Taijian Long, where a number of traditional Chinese restaurants are located, including the excellent Gongdelin, which serves vegetarian dishes only.
You can find more reasonably priced Suzhou specialities either at the Zhenhe Restaurant on Daichengqiao Lu just south of the Shiquan Jie intersection, or along Xi Er Lu running parallel to the outer moat just east of Panwen and south of the Sheraton Hotel, including yinyu ("silver fish") and kaobing (grilled pancakes with sweet filling).
The snacks in Suzhou are also tasty. Try the bean curd cakes with honey, pine nuts in syrup, melon seeds fried with rose juice and sesame cake with mashed date.
International cuisine has made its way to the city restaurants, largely thanks to the fact that Suzhou is a tourist town. The big hotels do some great western food and there are even a couple of smaller independent restaurants around town branching into the continental cuisine area. KFC and McDonalds are already well established.
Back on Guanqian Jie, just south of Taijian Nong, one block east of Renmin Lu, is the Xibu Pijiu Niupa Cheng, signposted in English as "Western B&B City", and dressed up as an outpost of the American Wild West; there's a menu in English, with pizza and other Western foods, and it's good value. Down in the southeast of town, diagonally across the intersection from the Youyi Hotel, is a good place for cheap, quick Chinese dishes, the Zhuyuan Canting. East along Zhuhui Lu from the Youyi Hotel is the Jiangnan Phoenix Chicken, a large and reasonably priced Shanghainese restaurant at 210 Zhuhui Lu, marked in English by a large sign with a goofy chicken in the front and offering dishes like "Big Emperor Snake" and "Pepper Crab" at reasonable prices. The best Korean restaurant in town is the uncreatively named Korean Restaurant next to the Zhenhe Restaurant on Daichengqiao Lu, just south of Shiquan Jie. The Yonghe Doujiang Xiaochi, right in front of the entrance to Wangshi Yuan, serves up inexpensive snacks, dumplings, noodle soups and doujiang (soybean milk) 24 hours a day.
