Must have dim sum!

Posted by angie on Sep 24, 2008 in perth, review | 5 comments

Dim sum, also known as dianxin, is both a local and overseas favourite of Chinese and non-Chinese alike. It’s roots trace back from the Silk Road, where they set up Tea Houses serving bite-sized snacks and tea for weary travellers. In our modern times, the home of dim sum is Hong Kong.

I recently went to the new Dragon Palace Restaurant in Northbridge. For those who haven’t been to Northbridge in about 5 years, you would have noticed that there was a building on Francis Street that has stood still, half complete, for about 10 years or so. The re-invention of the former Marco Polo building is an architectural delight. You can tell that there has been no expense spared in trying to decorate this building, stemming from the marble-like stair case, to the massive chandelier at the restaurant lobby, to the unique and modern restaurant look fit with modern light fixtures, gorgeous off-white table cloths, and even an amazing table setting that put me to shame.

The first thing I noticed was the table settings. Instead of the usual chopsticks, bowl, saucer, and tea cup – it had chopsticks, a bowl, 2 saucers, and a tea cup. “What was the extra saucer for?”, I wondered. I looked around and to my left was a bunch of young people around my age who hadn’t removed the 2nd saucer from the bigger saucer. My parents, who were probably laughing internally, informed me that the 2nd saucer was actually for the tea cup! Oops! I felt like such a banana – especially since later on in the afternoon 3 Chinese girls actually knew how to use all of the table settings to the fullest.

The second thing I noticed was that these people are actually mainland Chinese. Mainlanders aren’t usually associated with dim sum – but rather, they are associated with people from Hong Kong. Now, there is a northern-style of dim sum called Shanghai dianxin, but I’ve never actually eaten it before as I have never been to mainland China.

What I really liked about Dragon Palace was that they serve not only the old favourites, but also different varieties that you normally do not find in other Perth dim sum restaurants. I am assuming that the dishes they serve are part of northern dim sum, because I do not recall these dishes being served in Hong Kong dim sum restaurants – although I suppose this could have been added to their growing repertoire of dishes since I last visited HK.

Some dishes that I consider old favourites that they have at Dragon Palace include siew mai and chicken feet. Siew mai is a dumpling with a prawn filling, which sort of looks like a circular block. Chicken feet, also known as phoenix claws, is a delicacy. As odd as it sounds, it actually is really quite tasty, despite it’s boniness. At Dragon, the chicken feet is cooked in a sauce quite different to the HK-style, as it seems to be cooked in a clear brown sauce with Chinese nuts. It was still quite nice though.

Char siew bao (steamed roast pork buns) was also available.

They had a modern twist to Char Siew Buns. You’re probably wonder what the difference is between char siew bao and char siew buns. They’re both bread right? Well, yes. But Char Siew buns is actually a western-style bun with char siew (pork) as a filling. My mum and I were really attracted to the beautiful, shiny glow of the buns. Look below –> shiny food!

The top of the bun was really stick, with some kind of a sugar glaze. I thought the glaze really went well with the soft bun and the savoury pork filling.

Now to the different stuff that we don’t see every day in dim sum places (in Perth, at least):

Dumplings is really quite common in dim sum, due to its small nature. If you hadn’t noticed already, dumplings and buns usually come in 2 or 3 on either a steamer tray or a plate to be shared amongst your dining companions. It’s kind of like Spanish Tapas or Finger Food, but Chinese style. But have you ever seen… coriander and prawn dumplings?

My 3 dining companions and I loved this dish. It’s no surprise, coriander and prawn go together normally – why not stick it in a dumpling! My only gripe with this dish, as with other dumplings with this sort of wrapper, is that it seemed to come off really easily, leaving the filling on your plate/bowl. I thought it was really interesting to see the prawns and coriander fused together in one big lump.

I’ll have to ask my mum the name of this dish in Chinese, because I’ve only had it once when my cousin made it. It’s a garlic chives bread, and instead of it looking like a regular bun, it’s actually like a swirl.

Although my cousin may get mad when I type this because she’s a Chef, this bread was actually better than hers. *hides* It was so nice and soft, and made with the beautiful mantou flour/bread mix. It was like eating a cloud.

And the strange:
My mother spotted a different item than the norm on the dessert tray and asked what it was. “Niu lian” piped the Waitress. Now, my mother and I internally: “OMG! YES! DURIAN PUFFS!! DURIIAANN!!” In fact, I could smell the strong, sweet smell of the Durian from where I was sitting. Mmmm! For those who are daring enough to eat durian in it’s actual fruit-form, people would say that it “smells like hell, but tastes like heaven”. It helps if you have a bad sense of smell.

Aside from the olfactory stuff, this was quite interesting. The combination of the flaky pastry and the durian and custard filling was quite unique. I thought the durian taste was a bit dull and the combination could be improved on – but I think it worked.

Oh, and one more thing. The toilets were amazing. At Asian restaurants, they usually have crappy toilets, but the modern design carried into the toilets. And there were lots of them and it was all modern – I felt like we were walking into the bathrooms at Burswood or something. Nice!

So there you have it. Dragon Palace dim sum – where difference = delight!

Dragon Palace Chinese Restaurant
66 Francis Street
Northbridge WA 6003
9228 2888

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