The West Lake State Guesthouse has a history of more than 100 years, and as the "Diaoyutai" of Hangzhou that receives many domestic and foreign dignitaries, it is both familiar and mysterious in the eyes of ordinary people. The café in Building 8 is a buffet restaurant that has only opened to the public in recent years, and it has gradually come to prominence after unveiling the unattainable mystery, and has won the recognition of many diners for its outstanding quality and unparalleled views.

The interior of the café is a regular rectangle, and on the right hand side of the entrance is a row of eating areas that occupy a third of the restaurant's area. Among them, the dinner market has a seafood area, a Japanese sashimi sushi area, a Chinese food area, a Western food area, a barbecue area, a dessert area and a steamed stall area, which are very diverse. The seafood section offers standard seafood such as jade snails, shrimps, king crab legs, sun and moon shells and mussels, all of which are relatively cleanly processed. The Japanese sashimi sushi section serves popular sashimi such as salmon and flounder, which are freshly cut by the chef. There are more than 10 kinds of Chinese and Western dishes in each area, and the dishes are adjusted according to the season. Freshly grilled steaks and lamb kebabs are served in the barbecue area, as well as grilled pork chops and Orleans chicken wings. In the dessert section, you can feast your eyes on the colorful presentation, with mousses, panna cotta cups, cheesecakes, French cream gratin, puffs, white brownies and other classic pastries all on offer.

The most recommended is the "steamed seafood" in the steaming stall, which has two steamers and different cooking times controlled by the chef, which is rare in the city buffet. In addition to small yellow croaker, pomfret, rice fish, hot collapse fish, tiger head fish and other eastern seafood, as well as clams, razor clams, hairy crabs, small green lobster and other popular seafood, diners need to order on the spot, and the chef will notify you after steaming. Freshly baked seafood is steaming hot, allowing diners to taste the most original fresh flavors, which is highly acclaimed.

The restaurant is located next to the lake, following the quiet and elegant character of the West Lake State Guesthouse. The opposite side of the floor-to-ceiling windows is the dining area, and the diners are in the middle. The entire dining hall is open and bright, with bright yellow lighting and wooden furnishings showing an elegant style, and the traditional Chinese elements are modernly stylized, which is also a model of the combination of space creation and lighting art.

The café in Building 8 not only has a noble and elegant internal environment, but also a rare quiet garden by the West Lake. The State Guest House is located on the west side of the core scenic spot of West Lake in Hangzhou, facing the lake on three sides, far away from the crowded Nanshan and Beishan streets, which is quite detached from the city. The architecture of the Jiangnan garden style is exquisite, the small bridge in the courtyard is flowing water, the curved corridor is quiet, and there are also "ten views of the garden" such as Nantai Favor, Shengguan Santai, and the famous garden nostalgia, and it is crowned as the "first garden of West Lake" because of its unique cultural landscape. Due to its unique and beautiful landscape, Building 8 Cafe will inevitably be labeled as a "eating environment" restaurant, and many diners will come for the style and landscape of the restaurant, so they can also get more surprises.

Although there are public restaurants open to the public in the State Guesthouse, its vigilance has not been relaxed. The middle gate is guarded by armed police all day, and guests entering the restaurant need to enter through the south gate. After entering the park, you can see the patrol convoy coming and going, and the road surface is almost immaculate, showing a solemn atmosphere. Each building has a reception doorman and a 24-hour complimentary courtesy car to pick up and drop off guests. Compared with the high quality of the overall reception staff of the State Guesthouse, the service level of the café in Building 8 is somewhat unsatisfactory, and some of the service staff treat the guests with inconsistent attitudes towards foreign individual guests, and the basic services such as closing and refilling the water are not meticulous in place, which is difficult to match with the high-end grade of the State Guesthouse, and the 15% service fee is not satisfactory.

It is worth mentioning that almost every cafeteria in Hangzhou will set up group purchase coupons on the review website, and most of them encourage group purchases, and the group purchase price will include service fees, and diners who dine with coupons do not need to pay extra. The group purchase price of the café in Building 8 is 268 yuan for lunch and 328 yuan for dinner.