Colourful soup dumplings - Paradise Dynasty

Mom was craving for soup dumplings the other day so we decided to try out Paradise Dynasty that has their own twist on this dish.

The restaurant was incredibly spacious and to my surprise, the décor was very elegant for it’s casual vibe.

Specialty Dynasty xiao long bao ($98) - original, cheese, Szechuan, garlic, ginseng, crab roe, black truffle, foie gras

Always loved this Shanghaiese specialty but never have I ever tried flavours other than the original one. In PD, you got 7 other groundbreaking flavours to devour! The colorful dumplings themselves were a feast for the eyes with the different flavours pretty well-executed. The ones I have tasted (ranked in descending order of preference) were garlic, Szechuan, black truffle, foie gras and cheese. Afterall it’s the traditional Chinese ingredients that worked best with this soup dumpling.

Pan-fried pork dumpling ($32) were rather standard but the dough was too thick so when they were fried to golden brown it was a bit tough to bite into.

Stir fried bitter gourd in XO sauce ($68) was a relatively healthier choice (right, to make myself feel a little bit better, as if it really worked). The veggie was nicely fried and evenly coated with flavoursome XO sauce. 

I was rather disappointed to have found that the poached chicken in Szechuan style ($78) was actually drunken chicken covered with thickened numb and spicy sauce. The drunken chicken itself was juicy, tender and bursting with shaoxing wine flavour so do order drunken chicken in your visit.

La men with Dan Dan sauce ($52) was surprisingly palatable despite being a staple item found everywhere, of mediocre quality. Loved their relatively more bouncy noodles and the soup that had a great balance of spicy and peanut flavours.

Yea you know me, I had to have dessert no matter how full I was and Chilled glutinous rice roll with red bean paste topped with grated nuts ($35) was our pick of the night. Rolled into a spiral shape, the alternate layers of red bean and white glutinous rice paste made the seemingly simple dish more appealing. It was chewy, not too sweet and the dusted nuts was a nice touch that added extra texture and aroma.

While the Specialty Dynasty xiao long bao was not bad (not at all that special either), other dishes were better than expected and wallet-friendly. A great spot for Shanghainese food fix when you are on a budget.

Paradise Dynasty樂天皇朝
6/F, Lee Theatre, 99 Percival Street, Causeway Bay

銅鑼灣波斯富街 99 號利舞臺廣場 6 樓