Restaurants of Suzhou

We have yet to cut-and-paste our City threads from the old Saloon, and we never had a restaurant thread anyway, so I'll take it upon myself to start one.  Doubtless this will get cannibalized and/or moved, but at least this will get the ball rolling.  Fellow Suzhoukers, add to the pile!  Othertowners, start yer own!

Western restaurants in Suzhou

Southern Cross Tapas TexMex Located on Lindun Road beside the famous Guan Qian walking Street, Da Cross apparently opened with an actual Mexican chef who taught the cooks himself.
FOOD: They have allegedly great steaks, although I've never had one (see "price" below); and don't bother with the Italian menu: other places in town do a better job.  The Mexican entrees are tremendous (bear in mind that Mexican food in westen Canada tends to be lame, so perhaps I impress easily).  Enchiladas, burritos, refried beans and all those other classic dishes whose names escape me at the moment are the real mccoy, and you can order extra bowls of salsa and sour cream to add to them (recommended, even if the sour cream ain't that good).  I'd eat here twice a week if it weren't for the appalling...

PRICES: The Mongolian steak is 98Y, the Australian 200Y  The entrees general hit for 60 to 70Y, and you really need a beer or marguerita with Mex food.  Foreign engineers and managers probably don't have to blink, but the working teacher best count his drinks as he goes. 
The exception: on Tuesday evenings Da Cross has a taco special: any of the beef, chicken, pork or bean and cheese tacos, with hard or soft shell, for 10Y apiece.  Tremendous!  affordable!  And once you show them how to safely eat one, chinese folks seem to like 'em fine.

SERVICE: The current manager, Jack, one of the tallest Chinese guys I've ever seen, is a friendly guy who knows what he's doing and keeps the staff performing at very nearly a Western standard of excellence.
No, really, this does happen in China.

ATMOSPHERE: It's a nice place. They've done their best to throw Mexicana up on the wall, and they've spent some money and care of stuff like tablecloths and carpetting.  The patio is not that big, and features mosquitoes and panhandlers, but on the right evening it's heaven to sit out there.  Best of all, the bar right next door, Harry's, boasts a drink special on Tuesdays (say "I'm a teacher!" for 15Y drinks  ), and the best band I've heard in China- not saying much, true, but they're awesome.
The bathroom could be a little better.  On the other hand, it could be much worse.

That's expensive for steak.  The Shangrila here has an all you can eat brunch, which includes unlimited champagne.  There are steaks (usually eye fillet) plus chops, salmon etc etc cooked to your specification - just past green thanks.  Plus, fresh cold seafood, smoked salmon platters, salads and a mix of Chinese, Japanese and western foods plus desserts for 160Y.  (But I ahve a VIP card and so it is cheaper). I go once a month with friend and they have to toss us out at the end of the time - about 3+ hours later. 

The topic here, of course, being Restaurants of Suzhou. 

But of course we do want this stuff for other cities too.
Cities that aren't Suzhou, naturally, have to work harder to justify their existence and, if any, attraction to outsiders. 

I'm planning this weekend to resurrect the Location Liberry. Please let me do that...then I really hope you'll come fill us in on the good stuff in the places you've lived!

In the meantime, I'll repeat the kudos for the Mexican fare at Southern Cross. It gets my enthusiastic for Mexican food in China, and I grew up in places that have this:


Not sure how much of the success comes from Jack, who is very affable (and indeed startlingly tall) but doesn't seem to be terribly proactive. Some perhaps comes from Oliver, Jack's European boss. Much still comes from my late lamented friend Roberto Baca, who started all this in Suzhou many years ago and trained what are now the Cross's chefs in how to do this stuff right.

Vaya con Dios, amigo viejo.

I dunno if there is another thread like this somewhere, but as a newbie in Suzhou I am desperate to find some cheap, delicious food preferably with an english menu or at least one with pictures where I can point and grunt. Thanks!

Despair not, my friend...you are plugged into the Dong Gang...the cool expat bunch in Suzhou. We'll get you all filled in on where and what to eat here!

In the meantime, take a look at the Chinese food thread here in the Library. There are a lot of food terms and dish names in there.

You are joining us for tacos tonight, yes?