Dragon-i am not

Loitering around Sunway Pyramid not knowing what to eat, I forced my parents to decide. Choices are abundant, western, italian, japanese, oriental, local etc. Finally, after much coercing and forcing, they made up their minds : Dragon-i.

With hunger already gnawing in my tummy, i unwillingly queued up to wait for our turn. Thank goodness there were only 2 families ahead of us. The restaurant was hustling with activities: waiters and waitresses rushing around taking and delivering orders, chefs delicately shaping the famous and most sought after little dumpling bun ( xiao long bao ) and patrons unashamedly wolfed down yummies and delicacies served on their tables. The scene made my tummy grumbled even louder.

Come on, come on, move on, I thought to myself. After the two families took their seats, we got ours too in no time. Poring through the menus; there are so many choices of noodles, rice, dishes, we came to a unanimous decision to order our all-time favourites : soupy noodles and pan-fried noodles. This time my dad chose the vegetable-dumping soupy la men and my mom selected the black-pepper pan fried la men. The black-pepper pan fried la men is my brother's favourite, guess my mom got the bug from him. My sister ordered her favourite carbohydrate: rice, pork-rib fried rice. I topped it up with their sauteed fish fillet with brinjal. Also, not to forget is the small tiny dumpling bun, which is a must for my family. Too bad my brother can't join us this time around, if not we would order 8 pieces of those instead of 4.

Xiao Long Bao arrived the first. Gently picking it up onto my spoon, topped it with some ginger, I gingerly bit the tip of the bun while quickly sipping in the gravy that oozed out. This is heavenly. You should never waste a single drop of the gravy as that's the essence of the dish. My brother would always leave the bun to the last, following well the phrase : save the best for last. The rest of us on the other hand will always consume while it's steaming hot.

Next to arrive was the soupy la men. Simple yet tasty, that's how i will summarize this dish. The vegetable dumplings are soft and tasty. If you want more ooomph to the dish, you can always have it with the sambal. Not long after, the pan fried la men arrived. The amount of black pepper used was just alright, you can taste the fragrance and it wasn't spicy. I would have gone for something different as i love to try new dishes but my parents were craving for it. The pork-rib rice and sauteed fish fillet arrived simultaneously. I personally don't like rice so i won't comment on the dish but i have to say the fish is extremely good!!! The slight tinge of wine lingers in your mouth while the fish slices melt. Brinjal goes well with the fish and the wine. Everybody loved it. Probably the fish isn't too extremely fresh but it was fried so the flaw was covered and hidden.

All in all, it was a good meal with my parents. Pork rib fried rice, sauteed fish slices with brinjal, vegetable dumpling la men, black pepper pan fried la men and xiao long bao, all for RM85++. Oh, i got a 10% discount too with my MayFlower VIP card but it's only valid till December this year, too bad. Even without the discount, i think it's money well spent for food of fine quality. Go try our yourselves and give your verdict, it's really worth giving a try.