Must try Suzhou dishes when you are in Suzhou

Address - along PingJiang street. We randomly chanced upon this very traditional restaurant with all the wooden panels showing their specialties Highlights - must try dish if you are in Suzhou 1) Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish Chinese Name: 松鼠桂鱼 sōng shǔ guì yú 鸡头米 guì huā jī tóu mǐ The story behind this dish is very interesting as follows: Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish is a famous Suzhou food throughout China. It is said the dish was highly praised by Qianlong emperor of Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD) when he traveled to Suzhou, since when the dish became extremely popular. The deep-fried mandarin fish is shaped as a squirrel, then topped with hot sweet and sour sauce, thus the dish is called Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish. 2) Fermented Rice Wine Cake Chinese Name: 酒酿饼 jiǔ niàng bing Note: the staff here won’t be able to speak English. So do read up or search the dishes ypu want to order and show it to the staff. #suzhou #foodie