Sunday, June 3, 2018

Dragon King 龍皇酒家 at Life @KCC (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★☆☆☆

A couple of weeks ago, I heard about Dragon King (龍皇酒家) opening a new branch at the newly opened Life@KCC (活@KCC), a revamped factory space in Kwan Chung next to KCC. I didn't pay much attention to it since I don't really visit the area all that often. But as soon as we decided to check out Florentia Village (a designer outlet mall next to KCC), the thought came up that perhaps we should swing by this place for an early lunch.

Our first impression of this Dragon King branch wasn't a particularly good one. We arrived just on time at noon and let the hostess know that we had a reservation under our name but were informed that the table was not ready. Upon further clarification, we realized that the table was not properly set, that was the reason. It took about 10 to 15 minutes for the crew to set it up and we were finally seated. A sign of service (and management) being a little messy around here.



Baked crispy buns with goose liver (雪嶺鵝肝包) - We all skipped breakfast this morning so everyone was glad to see the baked buns arrive first. I thought the buns were seriously tasty thanks to the crispy crust but the filling of goose liver mousse or pate, whatever you call it, was off the mark. A little mushy and the flavors just weren't very foie gras like. 



Pan-fried turnip cakes with dried shrimps and preserved sausages (香煎臘味蘿蔔糕) - Very nice. Each piece of turnip cake was like a mille feuille of turnip and in between each layer was a mixture of dried shrimps and diced preserved sausages. Wonderful bite.



Deep-fried taro puff with chicken (蜂巢芋盒) - The taro puff was light and flaky, the way it should be but the filling with minced chicken could have tasted better. 



Steamed siu mai with quail egg (鵪鶉蛋燒賣) - I order this whenever I get the chance because not many places make it anymore. Just love anything with quail egg on it.



Barbecued pork (蜜汁叉燒) - Pretty succulent but the seasoning was a little over the top. I had to drink a lot of water to get the flavors out of my mouth. 



Steamed dumplings with mixed mushrooms and black truffle sauce (黑松露水晶餃) - Probably the best dim sum from this meal. The wrapper wasn't the best I've had but I love the crunchy texture of the mixed mushrooms and zucchini. The black truffle sauce was right on the money.



Steamed squid-ink buns with custard and salty egg yolk (黑金流沙包) - Following the best dim sum of the afternoon, now we had the worst. At first, I thought this was charcoal but it turned out to be squid-ink. But the buns were actually not the problem, the filling was (or the lack of it). 



Steamed beef tripe with ginger and spring onion (薑葱牛柏葉) - After a couple of over-seasoned dishes, here we had one which was under-seasoned. More (flavors) ginger and spring onion please.



Getting our bill was another adventure of its own.

I waved to a number of senior service staff (in suits) signaling for the bill. While I was successful in getting their attention, they didn't feel like they wanted to serve me. So, I continued waving my arms around until one female senior staff finally decided to help me. This ended up setting off some fireworks between this very helpful lady and a bunch of her colleagues who have been standing around doing almost nothing. I remembered hearing her murmuring a few words like "Stop pretending you're working". To be honest, I was totally on her side as she was the only one flying around the dining hall keeping diners warm and comfortable. Unfortunately, some of her co-workers didn't have the heart to even care. Anyways, I don't think I will ever come back here in my lifetime.

Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 9/F, Life@KCC, 72-76 Kwai Cheong Road, Kwai Chung, NT, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kwai Chung
Tel: +852 2503-3338


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