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Dining in western-style restaurants in Guangzhou, you'll find you're thrown into a dazzling world with subdued lighting and fine wines.  Have you ever dreamt of enjoying fine delicacies, surrounded by a fantastic view?

 
If so, try the Green Island Restaurant on the shore of the Hillside Lake.  Give yourself plenty of time to spend a leisurely half day here in the tranquility.

Our car travelled along the side of the lake and then turned in to Jufang Garden (Fragrance Garden), which is a garden inside a larger garden,Lu Hu Park.  I had thought that the restaurant would leap into sight once we reached the garden.  But, unexpectedly, the car drove through the garden for quite some time.  With the help of one of the guides in the garden, we finally found what we were looking for.  A large expanse of grass and trees surrounds the Green Island Restaurant.  Seen from a distance, it looks like just a verdant garden.  It was drizzling, but that only made it more charming. 
 
 
 As you walk into the restaurant, you'll see a new Portuguese grill on the right side of the garden.  This has been recently introduced so that diners don't have to wait long after placing their orders before tasting the ready-made roasts of chicken and squid etc.  

On the left are tea sets, shaded by parasols, so diners can eat in the open air.  How nice it is to sit in the open air on a sunny day, with friends, eating delicious food, and surrounded by such green scenery.  The waitress led us up some steps on the left, and we were curious what the difference was between the left and right sides of the restaurant.  But we were told that the only difference was that they each had a different view and perspective of the gardens.
In the middle, there is a teahouse, and a small bar in which various kinds of wines are displayed.  There's a good mixture of east and west here, with the teahouse providing traditional Chinese tea culture and the bar selling fine European wines. 
 
  
As we looked at the menu to choose our order we were astounded at the high prices (to local folks) !We tried to choose something cheap and finally decided on a bowl of seafood chowder, a medium-rare beef steak with black pepper(38 yuan), and a T-bone steak(48 yuan). 
The restaurant was elegantly decorated, and distinct from other western-styled luxury restaurants.  An antique fan whirred on the ceiling.  The setting and design was very attractive, but we wondered if the food was going to be as good!  
 The first taste I took reminded me of eating a McDonald's Filet O'fish and salad.  My second mouthfull revealed that one ingredient was cream – a bit sweet, but bearable.  I couldn't identify the other fragrant ingredients.  But soon I reached the bottom of the bowl! 
  
The black pepper overpowered the flavor of the beef which could hardly be tasted.  The black pepper sauce had a nice balance of piquancy and sweetness.  But it was a pity that the tenderloin was unevenly cooked - one side was overdone and hard, the other too soft.     
 
On the whole, it was over cooked and it wasn't crisp and tender.  The side dish of chips were soft, and although they had a nice flavor, they weren't as crisp as those served in McDonald's.  But mixed with the black pepper sauce, what a delicacy they were! 

 The presentation of the dish was excellent: artistically arranged and with appetizing colors.  Yellow chips, corn and red tomatoes nicely set off the T-bone steak.  It had a stronger flavor than the beef tenderloin, but the meat was tough.  Again, some parts of it were not evenly cooked, and therefore it fell short of my expectations.  It tasted very ordinary.

On the whole, the Green Island Restaurant has lovely surroundings and beautiful scenery.  It would be a perfect heaven of food if the prices were lower.
 

Editor: Weiwei

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