Founded in 1913, Hangzhou Zhiweiguan, a century-old famous store known as "Knowing the Taste of Parking, Smelling the Fragrance and Dismounting", is one of the first batch of time-honored Chinese brands recognized by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, and is currently one of the most well-known catering enterprises in Hangzhou.
If you want to explore this century-old brand, we recommend going to the Zhiweiguan Lakeside Main Store. The main store of Zhiweiguan is large, with a total of five floors, the first floor faces the street, mainly serving authentic and exquisite Hangzhou dim sum snacks; The second floor is a spacious hall for individual visitors; The third floor is a variety of private rooms, which are more delicately decorated; On the fourth floor is the Grand Ballroom, decorated with crystal chandeliers and bright windows, but it is currently open to individual guests in the afternoon. The small banquet hall on the fifth floor is responsible for banquets and other activities. The dishes on the second and fourth floors are the same, and the private rooms on the third floor are more elaborate and slightly more expensive.
Zhiweiguan is based on the traditional dishes of Hangzhou, and at the same time introduces dishes from all over the world, its menu is very rich, the main famous dishes are West Lake vinegar fish, Longjing shrimp, Zhaohua Tong chicken, West Lake Ulva soup, etc., cold dishes, brine, seafood, stir-fried, soup is also diverse, there are also Cantonese claypot and Japanese sashimi, which can meet the needs of customers such as treats or home-cooked gatherings and other different scenes of dining.
As a time-honored brand with a large chain operation and rich processing lines, Zhiweiguan is no longer dedicated to cooking, and the taste and texture of the products are not delicate and authentic enough, and the stability is also insufficient. If you are picky about the taste of the food, you may be disappointed when you order the freshly prepared food. Such as Dongpo meat, called Huatong chicken, Hangzhou braised duck and other famous dishes, Zhiweiguan has an assembly line to produce and sell their vacuum packaging products, the dishes served to the table may be these heated products, although the seasoning is not bad, but it loses a lot of taste, and the hot dishes just out of the pot are not the same after all. If you like these famous dishes of Hangzhou, you might as well go to other restaurants to try them. However, if you are a tourist here, it is still very suitable to buy some souvenirs of famous dishes and places to take home.
Zhiweiguan is famous for its famous snacks, the most famous of which are xiaolongbao and cat ears. The boutique xiaolongbao has always firmly occupied the first place in popularity, and the xiaolong, which has strict production specifications, 9 grams of skin, 19.5 grams of meat filling, and 18 distinct folds of the xiaolong, which is closed like a crucian carp's mouth. After steaming, the soup inside the bun is delicious, and the meat filling is tender and delicious, but occasionally the taste is not fresh enough. As for cat ears, the traditional method is to make flour, and then with shiitake mushrooms, dried scallops, shrimp, bamboo shoots and other ingredients to cook together, the version of Zhiweiguan only has noodles, diced ham, diced chicken and peas, its surface quality is light and smooth, the taste is better, but the pea fragrance and ham umami are lighter, and the overall taste is slightly poor.
Although the dishes are not satisfactory, the dim sum on the first floor of Zhiweiguan is a must, the materials are simple and real, the taste is very delicate, sweet but not greasy, fragrant and delicious. Boxed mung bean cake, Longjing tea cake and other dim sum, as well as bulk bean paste balls, double brewed dough and other sweets, thin skin and filling are fragrant, which makes people feel very good, its sweetness is not high, it does not affect the fragrance of the food itself at all, it is worth buying and tasting or giving to relatives and friends as a souvenir.
If you want to dine at Zhiweiguan, you may wish to choose a private room with more refined dishes and tastes, and the minimum number of private rooms is six. As for the production of the hall, it depends on luck if you want to eat satisfactorily, and the waiter is busy with work, and the attitude is relatively cold, it is difficult to provide thoughtful service, if someone nearby orders stinky tofu, then the smell in the restaurant will become very unpleasant, affecting the mood of the meal.
The time-honored building that also stands in Hangzhou's traditional famous dishes is similar to Zhiweiguan, because it is located in the prosperous part of the scenic spot, and has a perennial reputation, but the products and services are really ordinary and cost-effective, so it is not recommended.
