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2014-01-26
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With Chinese New Year looming, we decided to have an early family dinner in addition to the usual reunion dinner and we voted on Paradise Dynasty 2 at Causeway Point for our pre-CNY "bonding session". Paradise Dynasty 2 is a casual dining restaurant offering both northern and southern Chinese cuisine with a balanced mix of traditional taste to suit the traditionalist in every family while its refreshing take on delicacies like the Xiao Long Bao will help to cater to the taste of the younger gene
Paradise Dynasty 2 is a casual dining restaurant offering both northern and southern Chinese cuisine with a balanced mix of traditional taste to suit the traditionalist in every family while its refreshing take on delicacies like the Xiao Long Bao will help to cater to the taste of the younger generation. The decor is not as grand and "majestic" as the Ion branch, although it is still quite pleasantly decorated in a contemporary Oriental style that is inviting and comfortable enough for our purpose.
The four of us went slightly earlier, around 6pm, on a weekend evening before the dinnertime crowd started forming, and was rewarded with a seat almost right away. The place wasn't too noisy at this time which made it quite conducive to conversations around the table while enjoying our food, but it did get progressively noisy once the crowd started filing in. There was a menu specially catered to those wanting to have their CNY dinner here, but after some consideration, we decided to skip it and just order all our favourite food ala carte from the menu instead. Nothing like sitting down with your family to have a wonderful meal with your favourite dishes!
Signature Dynasty Xiao Long Bao ($13.80)You know this got to be good when even my mum who is a fussy eater gave it the thumb up. The skin was very delicate; it was strong enough to hold the ingredients inside but thin enough to break easily upon poking or biting to release the clear, savoury broth into the spoon. The meat was also quite tender and well seasoned. Flavours available were Ginseng, Foie Gras, Black Truffle, Cheesy, Crab Roe, Garlic, Szechuan and Original. These Xiao Long Bao were meant to be eaten in order so that the stronger flavours would not overshadow the more subtle ones, but we ordered it to share between the four of us so we just took and ate whatever each of us liked. it I enjoyed the Black Truffle and Cheese, while my mum adored the Original. Highly recommended!
Shanghai Fried Rice ($10.80)Instead of white rice, we decided to get the Shanghai Fried Rice to go with the rest of our dishes and the portion was quite enough for 3-4 person. This was pretty fragrant and flavourful with small cubes of meat, seafood and fried egg in it. All of us gave it the thumb up and I love that it wasn't too oily too. If you're planning have a bowl of rice with your dishes, I'd recommend getting the Shanghai Fried Rice instead of white rice. It may cost more but at the very least, it'd make the meal more flavourful and enjoyable!
Drunken Chicken ($7.80)This was served chilled and the aroma of the wine was quite strong. The chicken meat was silky smooth and succulent while the skin was quite fatty. However, the portion was pretty small, probably just sufficient for a person or two. My dad enjoyed this dish although the rest of us found it okay.
Sauteed Diced Chicken with Cashew Nuts and Dried Chilli ($10.80)Now, this sweet and spicy dish was my favourite! The chicken cubes were very tender and the crunchy cashew nuts were a lovely complement to the chicken. The sauce was very tasty and I love the perfect combination of sweetness and spiciness in this dish. Compared to the Drunken Chicken, the portion was quite decent, although it still ended up insufficient for the four of us because all of us loved this dish and simply couldn't have enough of it!
Ma Po Tofu ($9.00)Another family favourite, this was another spicy dish which impressed us with its burst of flavour in the mouth. The tofu cubes were very smooth and the combination together with the minced meat, black beans, and chilli was just awesome. Every mouthful was simply bursting in flavour and left us wanting more!
Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Garlic ($14.80)This was the most expensive dish out of our entire order, but unfortunately, it was also the least popular among our group. The skin was crispy but other than that, all of us found it to be pretty tough to bite. We ended up not finishing this dish, which was kind of a waste. But it didn't really live up to expectations, especially my mum's who was the one who ordered this.
Chilled Aloe Vera and Osmanthus Jelly in Honey Lemon Juice ($3.50)This light dessert didn't look impressive on first sight but it was quite decent in taste. There was a fair amount of aloe vera bits which was soothing on the throat, while the addition of the tangy lemon juice made this quite a refreshing dessert to have especially after the spicy and fried dishes we ordered.
Souffle Egg White Balls Stuffed with Red Bean and Banana ($4.80)I was expecting something really sweet. To my surprise, this tasted lighter and wasn't as sweet as I had expected, but the icing sprinkled over the balls helped to add an additional touch of sweetness to it. The egg white balls were also quite soft although it'd have been nice to have more of the red bean and banana filling stuffed in it. My dad wasn't a fan of this dish but taste-wise, I found it to be pretty interesting and certainly wouldn't mind trying it again in future!
Pan Fried Pork Dumpling ($3.90)This was a last minute order and took quite a while to be prepared. It was just lightly crispy at the base but the winning factor was the consistently chewy (or "QQ" as my mum puts it) texture of the skin, which we enjoyed. The meat was also pretty tender. My mum found it quite comparable to the Xiao Long Bao.
All in all, the Sauteed Diced Chicken with Cashew Nuts and Dried Chilli and Ma Po Tofu were the clear favourites for all of us and we agreed that these should come highly recommended. We also enjoyed the Shanghai Fried Rice, Signature Dynasty Xiao Long Bao and Pan Fried Pork Dumplings and found these to be worth ordering as well. My parents were not really fans of the desserts but I personally liked the Souffle Egg White Balls Stuffed with Red Bean and Banana although I'd love to have more stuffed filling in it (I'm just greedy that way). As for the Drunken Chicken and Chilled Aloe Vera and Osmanthus Jelly in Honey Lemon Juice, they were decent but the four of us were divided on the votes. On the other hand, we all agreed that we could have done without the Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Garlic.
One thing worth a special mention here was the service, which was really excellent and the staff were very attentive to our needs. Our cups of Tea ($1.00 per cup) were refilled promptly, frequently and always with a smile. During the time we were there, we were served by about 4-5 staff and all of them were polite and courteous. When the Pan Fried Pork Dumplings took too long to come, one of the staff was apologetic about it and took the initiative to check on its status with the kitchen without any prompting from us at all. It was pretty clear that they tried their best to make our dining experience an enjoyable and pleasant one, despite it being close to full house by the time we were almost done with our meal. Even my mum was suitably impressed. The only slight hiccup was the slightly long wait to pay at the counter near the entrance, as the cashier had an issue processing the payment of the customer before us, but overall, it didn't really marred our experience at Paradise Dynasty 2.
Our total bill came up to $97.93 for four person for a meal of 9 dishes and tea, so that was about $24.48 each. We thought this was really quite reasonable especially considering the quality of food and service we got here. We certainly left feeling like 'royals' after our little feast at Paradise Dynasty 2!
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