Suzhou's Great, Sure. Me Going Back? Hard Pass.
-
I'm so mad I just have to rant about this on my post in Suzhou! With graduation almost here, I thought a three-day trip to Suzhou would be fun. On the last day, after touring the stunning classical garden, Zhezheng Garden (a super famous one in Suzhou), I was starving and randomly picked up food at a store outside the scenic area.
However, the operation of this store is disgusting!
- When luring customers, the waiter acts very enthusiastic: "A set meal is only 138 yuan for five dishes, any dish you don't like can be exchanged!" It seems nice, right? But once inside the store, another female employee immediately changed her tune and said that only one in the five-dish set menu could be exchanged, others cannot be replaced with the same price.
- There's more! The promotion says it's a set of "five distinctive dishes in Suzhou", but guess what? Four of them are available everywhere in China and totally unremarkable. Only one fish, called "Looney Fish" (a fried fish made in the shape of a squirrel and with a sweet-sour taste, which is a local specialty of Suzhou) can be considered authentic.
Worse yet,
- The owner of the restaurant did not mention the extra cost of tableware when we entered!
- In the middle of dinner, I actually found a bug inside a dish! We argued with the waiter. Who knows what they said? Oh, since it's stir-fry, it's normal for bugs to be there. They're giving us two options, either remake one dish, or refund the price of this dish. But we were afraid. If they remake it, what if it's substandard quality in the back kitchen (that meant, the ingredients used might not be fresh enough or the dishes prepared with less care). In the end, we could only agree to return the money of the dish and take a certain discount as a compensation, so as to escape as soon as possible.
The two women employees look down upon us:
- When pouring water for us, they used an old water dispenser that looks like something from the 1990s. I had never seen such a thing before, so I didn't know how to open it, and just unscrewed the cap directly.
- Then, an older female employee stared at me with her eyes showing condescension and asked with sarcasm: "How did you open this?" That look felt like I was some uncivilized bumpkin who had never witnessed the world yet!
- It's estimated that this is a small family-run restaurant. These two women treated us like an outsider as if we were uneducated peasants from the countryside. In my heart, I really wanted to say, seriously, I didn't even look at you and how rundown your place is as long as you don't use such rude service attitude.
Lastly, let me leave you all a reminder, especially for the foreign friends:
- Travel warning:
- Be cautious with restaurants that actively lure customers along streets and in front of scenic spots. Especially those that greet you warmly, you must be extra careful.
- Avoidance measure: Search for ratings online in advance, or choose a local restaurant that also attracts local people.
- Don’t go into restaurants without customers during business hours! If the restaurant has no customers when you arrive during mealtime, most likely there are issues with the restaurant; these venues are often poor-quality, hence often called "landmine" restaurants.
- Avoidance measure: Follow the crowd, or select establishments that seem to be popular for business.
- Be cautious with restaurants that actively lure customers along streets and in front of scenic spots. Especially those that greet you warmly, you must be extra careful.
By the way, I would like to complain about the customs of Suzhou, no idea if cities elsewhere have similar practices:
- During my three-day visit in Suzhou, I personally encountered over four times similar situations:
- A sidewalk vendor immediately laughed sarcastically and said, “You think it’s expensive?” if someone asked for prices but decided not to buy after thinking it too high.
- Those who tasted free samples but decided not to purchase, often received cold facial expressions by salespeople.
- We didn't dare accept anything in the form of free samples during our stay in Suzhou and were quite cautious about asking for prices out of fear of encountering disrespect and sarcasm.
#Suzhou is great, but I won't come again
#Precautions for avoiding poor-quality restaurants in Suzhou
#Service attitudes in some Suzhou restaurants are really beyond description
#A poor-quality restaurant to avoid -
138 RMB for a meal including Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish? I wouldn't dare eat at a place like that.
-
Hold on, they said 'squirrel fish,' not 'squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.' The 'mandarin' part is missing.
-
Never eat at any tourist attraction.
-
None of these places are run by locals. Don't eat at tourist spots! That's basic travel advice!
-
Most businesses around tourist attractions are run by transient vendors who just rip people off and then move on.
-
What? Five dishes for 138 RMB, including Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish? Isn't that obviously a scam?
-
How could anyone even consider eating at places near tourist attractions?
-
Just by looking at the storefront, you can tell it's one of those generic 'farmhouse-style' restaurants run by non-locals, even if it's in Suzhou.
-
When you're traveling, don't eat or buy things near tourist spots, and avoid places that actively try to pull customers in. Does this really need to be said? It's the same all over the country.
-
If you go to a cheap dive, expect poor hygiene. Five dishes for 138 RMB including Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish? You can't expect anything good. No local would ever eat at a place like that.
-
Never eat at any tourist attraction.
-
What's the big deal? Anyone with common sense knows not to eat at tourist spots. Did you even do any research before your trip? If you don't want to come, then don't. You want it cheap, you want amazing value, and when you feel ripped off, you trash-talk all of Suzhou? For all you know, a place like that might even be run by someone from your own hometown!