Tien Hsiang Lo

The chef honours tradition with precision and deftness. His unique creation, fairy duck soup, combines two Hangzhou classics: fish ball soup and braised duck with ham. He also occasionally comes up with new recipes drawing on local ingredients. Eating here is a multifaceted experience – besides having tea sommeliers who are well-versed in tea pairings, at dinnertime, calligraphers turn your order into a piece of art for you to take home.

Hangzhou Heritage Across Borders

• The Taipei restaurant is derived from Hong Kong's Tien Hsiang Lo, which itself originated in Hangzhou, making it a Hangzhou-cuisine outpost in Taipei rather than a generic Chinese restaurant.

Song Dynasty Four Arts-inspired dining and West Lake aesthetics

• The interior design is inspired by the ten scenic spots of West Lake and extends the Song Dynasty Four Arts (tea, flower arranging, painting, incense) into the dining experience, blending space aesthetics with culinary culture.

BYOB with tiered charges and glassware policy

• The restaurant allows bring-your-own beverages with explicit surcharges: wine up to 1,000 ml per bottle at about NT$2,000 per bottle and spirits at NT$3,000 per bottle; bottles over 1,000 ml incur higher fees. Glassware may incur an additional charge of NT$400 per glass, and there is a limit of up to six glasses per bottle.

Signature Ingredients

• Longjing (Dragon Well) tea leaves: Central to Hangzhou cuisine at Tien Hsiang Lo, highlighted by the online menu as Stir Fried River Shrimps with Longjing Tea Leaves. Sourced from the renowned West Lake region, these tea leaves are used to infuse a distinctive, fragrant aroma into the dish, showcasing the restaurant’s homage to Hangzhou flavors. Preparation involves briefly releasing the tea’s aroma in the wok to meld with the seafood, making the tea leaf a defining element of the dish and the restaurant’s signature approach.
• Shaoxing wine: A core cooking wine across multiple signature preparations, notably Drunken Chicken and Slowly Braised Pork Don Po Style. Sourced from the Shaoxing region, it imparts a mellow, rounded bouquet that tenderizes proteins and builds depth in braises, reflecting Hangzhou culinary tradition and the restaurant’s wine-forward technique.
• Dongpo pork belly (Slowly Braised Pork “Don Po” Style): The emblematic Hangzhou dish named after Su Dongpo; pork belly is braised slowly with soy sauce, sugar, scallions, ginger, and Shaoxing wine. The result is a luxuriously tender, richly lacquered piece of pork with caramelized edges, representing one of the restaurant’s most celebrated preparations.
• Grass carp (West Lake style): Featured in Poached Grass Carp with Black Vinegar Sauce, West-Lake Style; the grass carp is prepared to express the delicate, nuanced palate of West Lake cuisine, pairing light fish flesh with a balancing black vinegar sauce to evoke the region’s iconic culinary character.
• Madame Sung Fish Soup (宋嫂魚羹): A signature Hangzhou soup that centers on refined fish broth, delivering a silky, comforting outline that captures the essence of Song Dynasty Hangzhou dining. The dish epitomizes the restaurant’s emphasis on clear, elegant fish soups as a hallmark of its Cantonese-influenced Hangzhou repertoire.
• Drunken Chicken: A hallmark of Hangzhou cuisine where chicken is marinated in Shaoxing wine to attain a fragrant, tender, wine-laced profile. This preparation reflects the restaurant’s expertise in wine-driven flavoring and its devotion to authentic Hangzhou techniques.