The new Suzhou Marriott sits in a place that, up until about six months ago, was an office tower. After a speedy, but extensive facelift, it’s as luxurious as any major hotel in town. It also adds a much need landmark to the skyline of the SND. The lights on the outside of the building display the silhouette of Tiger Hill Pagoda rising to the exact same height as the real one. It’s only been around for a short time so we were surprised to see how crowded it’s already become. At least two-thirds of the tables in Asia Bistro were occupied by happy eaters. As the name implies, this buffet serves Japanese, Indian, and Chinese food along with selections from a few other places. Rare is it that we would put one restaurant at the top of any category, but we’re tempted to do it here. We gave high marks all around. The casually elegant ambiance prompts you to immediately plan for a long evening.
Obviously this is a place where sushi lovers can go nuts. Everything is, of course, created right before your eyes. There may not be as many choices here as at some restaurants that focus only on Japanese, but all of the classics are available. What we love most about this setup is that you don’t have to order your food from a waitress and then wait and wait. All of the crabs, clams, oysters, and fish you can eat you just walk up and take. A few things, like noodles, do take a few minutes, but there is no reason to go hungry while you wait for those.
In Suzhou you can’t stand outside a Japanese restaurant and throw a rock without hitting another Japanese restaurant, and in no way is that a bad thing, but there are only a handful of places that serve any real Indian food. Again, Asian Bistro might not have as much available as Indian at the Cross, but the fact that it’s a buffet more than makes up for that. We’re no experts, but the spices and flavors seem as authentic as anything we’ve found in town. Fresh Naan, Masala, Curry, and Vindaloo make delicious appearances here. Nothing was too spicy or to mild. However, the grilled vegetables captured our attention on more than one visit to the buffet. They were blissful.
The cherry on top of Asia Bistro is without a doubt their dessert section. We haven’t seen anything like it anywhere elsewhere in town. They’ve covered all of the bases, offering everything from cotton candy to gelato. All of the most artfully crafted desserts you can imagine are just waiting to be devoured. Even the Jell-O looked classy. Asia Bistro changes their menu fairly regularly, but the heart and soul is always the same: Japanese, Indian, and Chinese favorites. The lunch and dinner buffets are 128RMB and 168RMB respectively.
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