What’s better than a breakfast of noodles and buns? And where to find better noodles and buns than Zhi Wei Guan, the most important name in Hangzhou snacks? The restaurant has been in existence for over 100 years and still keeps some of its traditions. At the counter near the door, you exchange money for these 1RMB coupons that you then give to the waitstaff at each food station. The food station are divided by categories of food such as noodles, buns, seafood, cold dishes, etc… It’s quite a scene to fight to the front of the line at each food station.
Cat ear noodles (猫耳朵). The texture was surprisingly pleasant as most places tend to overcook the thinly cut noodles. The soup base is probably pork or chicken.
Stir-fried snails (炒田螺). Unlike the French version, you pick away the shell with a toothpick and dig out the slightly spicy snail meat. Some of the snails were pregnant and had baby snails. I didn’t pay attention and ate an entire snail. That was quite disgusting.
Wonton soup （混沌汤). More flavorful than your average wonton soup. I thought the wonton filling was tastier as well.
Steamed buns (小笼包). These were the best! Just the perfect amount of soup in each bun, and not the least bit oily. I wish I can have some of these right now.
A great place for breakfast as one can get a variety of authentic Hangzhou snack items. While no single dish really stood out, all the dishes were consistently good. I wish Beijing had a place like this near my apartment!
Zhi Wei Guan (知味观)
Many locations in Hangzhou
