Mini Dragon Buns @ Paradise Dynasty, Paradigm Mall

I’d like to say a big thank you to the creator of the siew loong bao (or mini dragon buns). If you hadn’t made them, the world would never know of these delectable soup dumplings! Said to have originated from the Nanxiang region in China, making a siew loong bao involves putting in gelatin on the inside of a silky dumpling wrapper together with tender minced meat. The gelatin melts into a savoury broth during the steaming process. One eats it by poking a hole in the skin, sucking out the soup, before slurping down the thing whole. Ah, pure bliss.

Paradise Dynasty@ Paradigm Mall in Kelana Jaya specialises in these bite-sized pieces of heaven, albeit at a price. What makes the version here special is their 8-flavours siew loong bao, infused with various ingredients. I’ve only been here twice before, but the quality has remained consistent both times. This time around, it was a New Year’s Eve dinner with Mabel and Jo.

Dark but cosy interior, with Eastern elements including a giant Buddha that watches over patrons having a meal.

Appetisers: steamed peanuts and woodear fungus in a garlic dressing. The woodear fungus was crunchy and addictive.

8-flavours siew loong bao: 

Pink (Szechuan), Green (ginseng), Brown (Foie Gras), Black (truffle), Yellow (cheese), Orange (crab roe), Grey (garlic) and White (Original).

The dumplings come served in a steamer and look super pretty with their different colours! Most of the flavours are to my taste, except Szechuan and Ginseng, because the former is too spicy and the latter has a bitter aftertaste. The garlic one has a very strong, garlicky taste that can be overpowering though.

 We liked the cheese flavoured one so much we decided to order another basket of 10. 😛  This was easily the best, as it has oozy, melty cheese in the middle in addition to a silky and thin skin and tender, succulent filling.

Ermehgerd so happy.

But even we couldn’t just fill our tummies with dumplings alone. Ordered Yangchow fried rice. They were generous with the shrimps, but the rice was tasteless and lacked wokhei (fire). Could use more salt or soy sauce.

The braised pork ramen (left) was good: the pork bone broth was flavourful after having been boiled for hours into a milky white base, and the braised pork belly slices were fatty and tender. The fried spring rolls were nice and crispy, albeit on the oily side.

The overall meal came up to RM140 for the three of us, which was reasonable considering the setting/environment + our food portions. We were very full and had to literally roll to our cars.

Paradise Dynasty