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Archive for Paradise Dynasty

Paradise Dynasty Costa Mesa

Sep30

Restaurant: Paradise Dynasty

Location: 3333 Bristol Street, BLM, 1 Bloomingdale’s, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. (714) 617-4630

Date: February 17, 2022

Cuisine: Chinese XLB

Rating: Way better than DTF

_

I went twice to branches of Paradise Dynasty in Shanghai and really enjoyed it. This chain is like a much more interesting Din Tai Fung. Frankly, I don’t exactly get why DTF is so popular except perhaps that it’s a “gateway drug” to more modern Chinese food and is just “easy” for Americans.

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Somewhat annoyingly Paradise Dynasty’s first US branch is in Costa Mesa. Well it could be worse, at least it’s in driving distance but I don’t go down there that often. In fact, it’s in the South Coast Plaza mall. I hate malls.
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Build out is nice but it’s spoiled by that whole mall atmosphere.
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The menu is epic with quite a bit of variety.

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Spinach and Vermicelli tossed with Vinaigrette. A “salad” of sorts. Pleasant.
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Specialty Dynasty Xiao Long Bao. These are why one comes to PD: the 8 flavored XLB.

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Here is the “key” to the flavors.

White is “signature” (classic pork). Delicate and excellent. The skins on all of these are very thin and lovely.

Red is Szechuan Hot Pot and it actually tastes like hot pot broth!

Grey is Garlic pork, and it’s pretty garlicky.

Yellow is Cheese. Interesting.

Green is Luffa Gourd with Chinese Wine (and pork of course). Mellow.

Orange is Crab Roe (and pork). Lovely briney flavor.

Tan is Foie Gras (and pork). Tastes like foie.

Black is Black Truffle (and pork). Probably my least favorite actually, but not truffle oil.
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Ginger for the XLB. One adds soy sauce and vinegar to the dish for dipping.
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Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp. Top notch.
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Radish Pastry. Lovely flakey (probably from lard) texture.
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Prawn and Kurobuta Pork Wonton in Chili Vinaigrette. Classic, light, and delicious.
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Noodle with Prawn and Kurobuta Pork Wonton in Signature Pork Bone Soup.
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A single portion. The broth was basically like Chinese Tonkotsu.
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Stir-fried Shredded Pork in Black Bean Sauce served with Chinese Crepe.
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This is the “Crepe” (Spring Pancake). This was an excellent version of this very salty/savory dish.
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Ma Po Tofu with Pork. First rate version actually. Not super numbing, but very good.
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Scrambled Egg White with Fish and Dried Scallop.
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Breaking the egg. I really liked the soft texture and mild but very savory flavor of this dish.
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Stir-fried French Bean with Minced Pork and Preserved Olive Vegetable. Nice version of this classic too.
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Kung Pao Chicken.

Overall, Paradise Dynasty is very good. I wouldn’t really consider it a dinner restaurant where one would go to get hearty wok classics. Yeah, they have a few, but that’s not their strong point. However, the flavored XLB are unique and absolutely first rate and the noodles and other dimsum like dishes are really good. Only downside is having to walk in a mall. Blech. I haven’t walked inside a mall in years (probably over a decade) to actually shop.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Shanghai – Paradise Dynasty
  2. Revenge of the Han Dynasty
  3. Return of the Han Dynasty
  4. January in Paradise Cove
  5. J&J – Crab XLB
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese Food, dumplings, OC, Orange County, Paradise Dynasty, Shanghai Cuisine, XLB

Eating Shanghai – Paradise Dynasty

Oct03

Restaurant: Paradise Dynasty

Location: 3/F, 8 Shiji Dadao, near Lujiazui Huan Lu 世纪大道8号3楼, 近陆家嘴环路

Date: August 8, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great XLB, everything else is just ok

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We got in late to Shanghai and so we just popped over from our hotel into the IFC mall…
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Which is like a giant high end Beverly Center, in search of dumplings!
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Fortunately for us, the mall’s many restaurants include Paradise Dynasty, which is like Din Tai Fung’s more colorful cousin.
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See what I mean?

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Big contemporary space.

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And a glassed in kitchen.
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Salad rolls. Yeah, some kind of spinach-like green rolled up — you dip it in the sesame dressing!
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Plain noodles for Mr. Picky.
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Steamed baby shrimp. The Shanghai classic, a bit bland.
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Vinegar, ginger, and chili sauce for the dumplings.
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Paradise special mixed flavor Xao Lao Bao (XLB). These were fabulous with very thin skins and eight different flavors.1A0A5039
You can see these listed below. My favorites were original, garlic, crab roe and Szechuan.
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Steamed garlic greens.
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Pork noodles. A lot like ramen.
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Vegetable potstickers. Not the most exiting.
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Steamed vegetable buns. Breadier versions.
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Crispy vegetable spring rolls. Quite light and crispy. Delicious.
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Pan fried Shanghai pork soup dumplings. Heavier than the XLB. Still delicious, but I prefer the light-weight classic XLB.
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Wontons in chili sauce. Not particularly hot but delicious.
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Pork pot stickers. Just fine. Not nearly as good as the XLB.
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Crispy fried red bean pancakes.
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Deep fried buns. Just Chinese buns, fried.
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Mysterious light Asian fruity jelly. Loved it. I always like this stuff. Might have been like hyacinth and lychee.
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Sesame mochi balls in syrup. A lot of the kids (and many of the adults) love this dessert.
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Rolled mochi dough with red beans and peanut dust.

Overall, the XLB here at Paradise Dynasty were really good. I enjoyed the different flavors and the light wrappers were great. The other items, also pretty similar to Din Tai Fung were just fine.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

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Related posts:

  1. Dim Sum is Shanghai #1
  2. Revenge of the Han Dynasty
  3. Eating Beijing – Xian Lao Man
  4. Surprise! More Shanghai #1 Dim Sum
  5. Banqueting at Shanghai #1
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: China, dumplings, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Paradise Dynasty, Shanghai, XLB
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