The Ziwei Hall of the West Lake State Guesthouse, which has been rated as one of the "Top 50 Restaurants in China" for consecutive years, is no stranger to locals. The hotel itself is a semi-open garden, facing the lake on three sides, one side of the mountain, the best environment is natural, it condenses the beautiful scenery of the West Lake, the history and humanity of Hangzhou in its own body, and the excellent image makes the West Lake State Guesthouse a business card with sufficient weight.

Looking back on the past, the predecessor of the West Lake State Guesthouse was composed of private gardens such as Liu Zhuang and Kangzhuang, Liu Zhuang was the residence of Liu Xuexun, a Jinshi of the late Qing Dynasty, and Kangzhuang was the former residence of Kang Youwei, which has a history of more than 100 years, and was redesigned by the famous garden design master Mr. Dai Nianci, the exquisite and elegant building is hidden and integrated in nature, or leaning on the mountain, or near the water, the ancient charm is leisurely; Curved corridor and bamboo, one step at a time, the vast courtyard layout is exquisite, looking at it is refreshing and pleasant, coupled with the rich cultural landscape, the West Lake State Guesthouse is the crown of "the first garden in West Lake". It has hosted many domestic and foreign leaders, such as former U.S. President Richard Nixon and South African President Nelson Mandela. In the hotel, you can see the "Spring Dawn of Su Causeway" up close, overlook the "Lei Feng Sunset" in the distance, and the quiet and hazy West Lake in the childhood memory of Hangzhou people can still be seen in the State Guesthouse.

As a hotel restaurant with a "national" name, Ziwei Hall is also a Hangzhou dish at the level of a state banquet. The state banquet has been produced for several generations, and the classic dishes have always been the pride of Ziwei Hall. Here you can eat very traditional Hangzhou cuisine, as well as other Jiangsu and Zhejiang dishes around Hangzhou, by the young chef in charge, the selection of ingredients and cooking techniques are quite exquisite, the taste retains the traditional original taste, and does not lose the novelty, restrained, delicate but unassuming.

Crape Myrtle Hall has put a lot of effort into finding high-quality ingredients, such as selecting Wuchang rice and homemade matsutake sauce to make matsutake rice with Hupao Spring Water, bringing fresh bamboo shoots with thick meat and sweet, white and crisp from Lin'an in early spring, and introducing fresh seafood from the East China Sea in autumn and winter. The restaurant attaches great importance to the excavation of local ingredients in Zhejiang, and provides the most authentic local flavors on this basis.

For example, Hangzhou's famous West Lake vinegar fish, because of its simple seasoning composition but not easy to grasp, this dish has almost become a dark dish in the eyes of foreign tourists. The traditional vinegar fish is the West Lake grass carp, and the restaurant needs to have a special fish pond, and the grass carp should be starved for a day or two to remove the earthy smell, and then proceed to the next process, otherwise there will be an obvious earthy smell. In order to avoid trouble, high-end restaurants often use more expensive bamboo shell fish or yellow croaker, which are not fishy, but the meat is loose and hard, which deviates slightly from the traditional taste. In order to maintain the traditional flavor of the vinegar fish in the West Lake, the crape myrtle hall insists on choosing the soft and delicate taste of the Kaihua Qingshui grass carp to make this dish, the Kaihua Qingshui fish is self-raised by the villagers of Hetian, and the fish raised in the cold mountain spring is almost no muddy smell, the meat is firm and grows slowly, and the fish raised by the villagers themselves are of high quality but the quantity is limited, and it is currently only supplied to the West Lake State Guesthouse.

The vinegared fish made by Ziwei Hall is very well controlled by the heat, and the chef kills the fish alive and then quickly cooks it in boiling water, and the taste is exceptionally fresh and tender. Most restaurants use a lot of soy sauce and thick sauce when making, and the taste is thick and sticky, while the thin sauce of crape myrtle hall with sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and minced ginger is particularly refreshing and flavorful, with a large amount of vinegar and proper proportions, the taste of vinegar is natural and pure, the sweetness is also very soft, and the overall taste is rare and bright.

In addition to Hangzhou's "No. 1 West Lake Vinegar Fish", Hangzhou's classic dishes such as Song Sister-in-law fish soup, braised duck, and Longjing shrimp are also praised. Crape Myrtle Hall is good at innovating in the classics, such as the bayberry wine prawns, which are smaller, easy-to-taste river prawns, which are served with tin foil and can still be felt beating, and can be eaten after sitting for three minutes. After the lid is lifted, the overflowing aroma of wine, garlic and spicy brings out the saltiness and freshness of the shrimp, and then the sweetness of the shrimp and the fruity acidity of the bayberry wine are blended together, and the taste is rich and the alcohol content is not high, even if the amount of alcohol is not good, it does not affect the taste. For groups of four or more, we recommend trying the Hupao Spring Water Matsutake Rice, a simple but delicious staple dish with a long aftertaste, using an evenly heated enameled cast iron pot to cook Yunnan matsutake mushrooms and selected Wuchang rice in Hupao Spring Water, and finally add chopped green onions and sesame seeds.

Not limited to Hangzhou cuisine, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou people can also taste the flavor of their hometown in Ziwei Hall, except for a few dishes such as bad food and dried vegetables and stewed meat, the restaurant specially launched Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou style cold dishes and delight plates for guests from different regions to taste.

Overall, dining in the crape myrtle room was a pleasant experience. The classical-style lobby is simple and spacious, and the waiters are courteous and ask guests if they have special needs for taste when ordering, but compared to the 15% service charge, there is still room for improvement in proactive and meticulous care. The lobby does not accept reservations, only the restaurant can be lined, seats are tight during dinner, and the store may not be open after 6 o'clock due to full customers, so please call in advance if you want to eat. The private room is served by the head chef, and it is not free to order, and the consumption starts from 10,000 within 10 people, and if you need to dine in the private room, you should book one day in advance.