Food in Hangzhou

Hangzhou is a city with a visible and sizable economic class disparity, and so it is able to support a wide range of lifestyles. While traditional teahouses, small eateries and inexpensive outdoor markets abound, Western fast-food establishments like KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds and upscale restaurants serving Japanese, Korean, Thai, Argentine, Italian, Indian, French, and Fusion cuisine cooked by foreign chefs can also be found throughout the city.

The new Hong Kong development by the Shui On Group called West Lake Frontier (Xihu Tiandi), for example, has a Häagen-Dazs and a Starbucks Coffee that command one of the most beautiful lake views of any in the world. At the same time, it is easy to find a good meal in town for less than a dollar, even in the gentrified districts around the lake, ranging from Hangzhou-style snack food like crab dumplings, or eastern Turkistani mutton kabab and nan bread, to a moldy Hangzhou specialty that only few foreigners enjoy: "stinky tofu."

Plenty of inexpensive and delicious noodles, dumplings, and Sichuan dishes can be found near the university, and Zhejiang is famous for its innovative cuisine, such as that delicious salt and pepper corn dish that is a favorite with students during their home-stay in Suichang County. Friends World students living in the International Students Dormitory have access to a cafeteria located on the premises as well as a nearby cafeteria for regular Chinese students, where students can select from a range of inexpensive and healthy Chinese cuisine (an average student will spend less than USD 2.00 per meal).

Students living in the off-campus university apartments, who prefer to cook their own food, can choose from inexpensive local vegetable markets to foreign supermarkets like the nearby Trust Mart (Haoyouduo), located in the Yellow Dragon Sports Stadium. The ground floor of the Yellow Dragon Sports Stadium, just a block from campus, also offers a wide variety of shopping and fast-food restaurants, including Mc Donald’s, Pizza Hut and even Ajisen Ramen (Ch. Weiqian Lamian), a Japanese franchise that serves inexpensive curry-flavored Kumamoto style noodles, as well as donburi and tonkatsu. Hangzhou also has a Carrefour (Ch. Jialefu), a French hypermarket second only to Wal-Mart in worldwide sales that is Europe's largest retailer. Conveniently located downtown on the east side of West Lake, Carrefour offers a large range of imported foodstuffs, from breakfast cereal to organic vegetables. The largest selection of imported foodstuffs in Hangzhou, however, is found at the German cash and carry wholesale hypermarket, Metro (Chi. Maidelong), although its location is relatively far from the university campus. For those on a more generous food allowance, City Supermarket, located in Shanghai Center near the exclusive Portman Ritz-Carlton, makes free weekly deliveries of luxury and imported foods to your door.

For specific recommendations and contact information please see Local Listings in this site.

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