HANGZHOU - IMARIGAWA FOR VALENTINES DAY: beverly

beverly

HANGZHOU - IMARIGAWA FOR VALENTINES DAY

Feb 18, 2009 21:17

Imarigawa Japanese Restaurant
Grand Metro Park Hotel,
2 Pinghai Road
Hangzhou, China
元元元元-

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 ;) 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 ;) 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