Hongli Dynasty Restaurant - Wuxi

Lake Tai is the third biggest freshwater lake in China and it splits the city of Wuxi in half. 

The lake is known for its large limestone formations which are a popular decorative piece in many Chinese Gardens (Suzhou and Beijing had pieces of Lake Tai Rock in their famous gardens). 

Lake Tai is also unique in that the average depth of the water in the lake is 2m (no need to fear drowning here)

 

Another attraction in the area is the Ling Shan Grand Buddha. 

The Buddha is more than 88m tall and weighs over 700 tons (almost triple the size of the Tian Tan Buddha in Hong Kong)

Afterwards, we were taken to dinner at Hongli Dynasty Restaurant

Potato and egg in a dragon (?) shape

The dish was sweet and grainy which was a strange combination. I thought it was awful, but other tables in our tour group cleared the dish. 

Taihu Whitefish

One of the "Taihu Lake Three Whites", the whitefish. The fish actually had a lot of bones making it hard to eat and of the meat we could eat, it was okay. 

Corn and Taihu white shrimp

Another of the "Taihu Lake Three Whites", the white shrimp was rather bland and slippery in texture. The whole dish was relatively tasteless. 

L: Tea leaves and minced pork and R: Tofu

The tea leaves and pork was rather bitter tasting and strange. The tofu was bland. 

Wuxi Spareribs

Another specialty of the Wuxi region, the sauce on the spareribs was sweet and the ribs were tough. 

I didn't really like the Hongli Dynasty's version of the Wuxi spareribs. 

L: Meatball and Lettuce soup and R: Taihu Whitebait soup

Meatball and lettuce soup was salty and in comparison to the rest of the meal, it was probably one of the better dishes of the night for me. 

Finally, the last of the Taihu whites: the whitebait. There were egg whites in the soup too, but you could tell which ones were the Taihu whitebait by looking for their two black eyes. The soup tasted okay, but it was slightly on the salty side and quite oily. 

Appetizers starting on the far left and clockwise:

a) Orange Radishes: slightly sour and super stinky

b) Egg whites (?): they tasted like eggplant

c) Zongzi: sweet tasting sticky rice, how strange

d) Peanuts: finally a good appetizer!

e) Green radishes (the dish between the two plates at the bottom): probably pickled, but they didn't really have a strong taste and weren't very appetizing.

Then there's the choy which was super oily.

Overall: This meal ranked as one of my least favourite meals of the trip.  

Website: http://www.hlhcjd.com/