Louwailou (Gushan Road)

Louwailou is Hangzhou's most storied restaurant, founded in 1848 on Solitary Hill (Gushan) Island inside West Lake, and remains the reference point for authentic Hangzhou cuisine in Zhejiang province. The kitchen has no celebrity chef lineage in the Western sense, but its cooks are trained in a house style passed down through generations, focused on delicate, lightly sweetened, vinegar-forward flavors typical of Jiangnan cooking. The signature dish is Xihu cuyu, West Lake fish braised in a sweet-and-sour vinegar sauce, alongside Dongpo braised pork, a slow-cooked pork belly named for the Song-dynasty poet Su Dongpo who once lived in Hangzhou, and Longjing tea shrimp, river shrimp stir-fried with the region's famous green tea leaves. Beggar's chicken, a whole bird wrapped in lotus leaf and clay and slow-roasted, requires advance ordering. The dining rooms occupy a multi-story lakeside building with traditional Chinese decor, carved wooden screens, and large windows facing West Lake; the atmosphere is bustling and family-oriented rather than hushed, with a moderate noise level and no dress code. There is no dedicated wine program; most tables order Chinese tea, Huangjiu (yellow rice wine), or local beer alongside the meal. Reservations for window seats overlooking the lake should be made several days ahead for weekend lunch, though walk-ins are usually accommodated in the main hall.