Dragon King

I like that they have very traditional meals available and some of their selections are very interesting.  
The workers speak Mandarin, a language I want to learn some day because it sounds so poetic, not to mention I am interested in the cultural history and want to read Mandarin history and philosophy books in Mandarin.  

They have good prices, the staff were aloof but on the friendly side (I know odd mix).  I was happy with the prices but the taste was something else...mostly bland.  Now I understand that every province has their own unique ways of preparing food and it is quite possible I ordered items that are not this restaurants specialty.  

Their tofu was slimy, and extremely tasteless.  The soup had little flavor, and last but not least....and I blame myself for this...my pork dish contained intestine in it.  The dish was not listed in the section of food that contained other internal animal parts.  I should have know to ask about the dish considering their vegetable section had dishes with fish, pork, and Beef.

This is not their fault and to be honest I shut up and tried it because how would I know if I liked it....plus I was dared.  It was not bad...kind of salty, but the appearance was not pleasant and the taste was rather bland.  There was a lack of variety in the presentation on the plate (aka vegetables) and was basically a pile of pork and rice.


Again this rating squarely puts the blame on me, and perhaps if I try other dishes I will love them.  However, my experience with the food significantly deterred me from having a desire to eat  there again.

I've always been happy with 1-my service, and 2-my food. The food might taste like your typical chinese restaurant food, but it tastes GOOD. What else do you want or expect to be happy with at a restaurant??? Oh, price. Well just so you know...the price is right (oh Bob Barker...how I will miss you...)!

The (insert protein here)-fried rice is good. I usually get the pork, but I've had the chicken and it's just as good. The mongolian beef is good. The sesame beef and kung-pao chicken are GREAT. The large egg drop soup comes in a bowl so huge you could wear it as a hat. It either feeds 4-6 people, or a 7 ft. tall, 350 lb. gladiator. Either way.

Food comes out quickly, which is always a plus.

TRY IT! YOU MIGHT LIKE IT!

This is an anomaly in Chinatown because for one thing it's Mandarin, and more specifically Northern Plains style and not simply Bejing. It's vastly different from what most people are familiar with and if you can speak Mandarin, you sure as hell can detect the heavy accents.

Don't be deterred, rather use this and order wisely. Think cabbage, dumplings (by the way, it's amazing and cheap here at $7.00 for 18 homemade), soups, pork, noodles and preserved seafood. The north is a wheat zone and while rice is ubiquitous, wheat products (dumplings, noodles) are much more prevalent and a specialty.

The soups really make me sick for home. Winter melon being my favorite. Soup is also very much like a salad in that it's a very standard precursor to the meal and meant prep the palette to fully appreciate the meal to come as well as aid in digestion.

The dumplings here are really good. You can taste the ginger, cilantro, and garlic mixed in perfectly with the pork. Steamed or potstickered, it's good and a couple of plates between a few people is an ample replacement to rice.

Oh, and for the brave ones, and I REALLY recommend this even if you're not brave is the cold jelly fish salad. If you like Asian style cucumber salads, just try this. The jellyfish doesn't even look like jellyfish but absolutely balances the the strength of the other flavors in the salad of rice wine vinegar, garlic, cilantro, and possibly cumin. I'm not sure, but it's an absolutely delicious salad and I'm stunned that more places don't have it in Chinatown.