This afternoon, we are spending a little bit of time at Hefang Street (河坊街), an ancient street in the heart of Hangzhou packed with shops selling snacks, antiques, paintings and more. It's the perfect spot for us to shop for our souvenirs.
Guess who we bumped into at a pastry shop!? Little nugget bumped into his classmate and his family. What a small world!
Dinner was next. Our venue, Jiujiali Innovative Hangzhou Cuisine (九甲里·创意杭帮菜) right around the corner of the pedestrian street, is best known for its modern take on traditional Hangzhou dishes, affordable prices and long queues that often form outside the shop.
Online reservation is available through a number of apps including the popular dianping (大众点评) and that's how we got our table for tonight.
"Dongpo" Pork (東坡肉) (¥25) – After all the "dongpo" pork he had in Ningbo and Hangzhou this week, little nugget declared that he has had enough of it for 2025, leaving me with the task of finishing it off all by myself.
.JPG "Jiujiali Innovative Hangzhou Cuisine 九甲里·創意杭幫菜 河坊街店 (Hangzhou, CHINA) - Zhejiang restaurant known for its modern take on traditional Hangzhou dishes, affordable prices and long queues that often form outside the shop - \"Dongpo\" Pork (東坡肉)")
This was a pretty classic interpretation of the dish featuring a thick square chunk of pork belly, with skin, fat, and lean layers intact. The savory-sweet and slightly acidic sauce made with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar, vinegar and ginger helped to cut through the richness of the incredibly tender, almost gelatinous pork belly.
Another nice thing about this dish was the steamed bun. It was so soft and pillowy. We ended up getting an extra one to share.
.JPG "Jiujiali Innovative Hangzhou Cuisine 九甲里·創意杭幫菜 河坊街店 (Hangzhou, CHINA) - Zhejiang restaurant known for its modern take on traditional Hangzhou dishes, affordable prices and long queues that often form outside the shop - \"Dongpo\" Pork (東坡肉)")
Sweet and sour pork ribs (糖醋里脊) (¥36) – A little different than the version we had in Hong Kong where the pork was never deep-fried and the sauce leaned more towards the sweet side. I trust that this was the authentic recipe which I thought tasted quite similar to our Cantonese sweet and sour pork (but our Cantonese version was more tasty!).
.JPG "Jiujiali Innovative Hangzhou Cuisine 九甲里·創意杭幫菜 河坊街店 (Hangzhou, CHINA) - Zhejiang restaurant known for its modern take on traditional Hangzhou dishes, affordable prices and long queues that often form outside the shop.")
Sautéed lettuce hearts with garlic (蒜泥油麥菜) (¥25) – We haven't had much vegetables on this trip so something green to go with the meat tonight.
.JPG "Jiujiali Innovative Hangzhou Cuisine 九甲里·創意杭幫菜 河坊街店 (Hangzhou, CHINA) - Zhejiang restaurant known for its modern take on traditional Hangzhou dishes, affordable prices and long queues that often form outside the shop.")
Deep-fried tofu bells (乾炸響鈴) (¥38) – Another specialty in Hangzhou cuisine. The tofu bells were filled with minced pork in the middle and deep-fried into golden brown color like a mini spring roll. Not bad.
.JPG "Jiujiali Innovative Hangzhou Cuisine 九甲里·創意杭幫菜 河坊街店 (Hangzhou, CHINA) - Zhejiang restaurant known for its modern take on traditional Hangzhou dishes, affordable prices and long queues that often form outside the shop.")
It was a decent casual meal with some hearty dishes, but for a restaurant that prides itself on offering innovative Hangzhou cuisine, there was very little innovation to be found in the dishes we tried.
Food Rating: 5.2/10
Price: ¥¥
Address: 29 Gaoyin Street, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
浙江省杭州市上城区高银街29号
Closest Metro Station: Jiangcheng Road (江城路) / Wushan Square (吴山广场)
Tel: +86 (571) 8535-5205
Opening Hours: 10:00am - 11:00pm daily
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