Went to Tai Wu at Millbrae for Dim Sum and for dinner. Only had a couple of Dim Sum dishes, but they are not bad. Not as fancy as Koi Palace, but it is very solid.
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How do people like Dragon Beaux? especially relative to Koi Palace? I am averse to lines so I still haven’t tried. Any tips to reduce the wait time?
Went to Dragon beaux today. They open 10am on New years day (and today, the day after xmas), which is not reflected online. Got some takeout because of lines. Enjoyed the bbq pork cheek, baked chasiu bao (very high meat to bun ratio, crunch top). Dimsum until 2:45pm. Lines were shorter than koi palace. They were only taking cash today, supposedly due to an Internet problem.
I went to the Daly Coty Koi Palace a few weeks ago. Didn’t try a lot, but good execution overall and much better than my last dim sum meal, Hong Kong Lounge II, which I found sloppy in execution.
- Suckling pig : the skin is the goal here, and it was good, but I found the meat a touch overcooked and dry. For $22, I wish I’d gotten alternatives.
- Chiu chow dumplings : flawless, spaced out so they didn’t stick together, and wrappers held contents with each bit
- Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce: overcooked a smidge, I’m talking like 2% longer than I’d prefer, so not a big deal
- Coffee ribs: bitterness and pork work great together, and the bitterness is kept in check with a super sweet, sticky crunchy bubbly coating. I loved these and found them much better than HKLII, which tasted like overroasted stale coffee, or liked them better than those at their orIginator, Jade at the Fullerton in Singapore, which were less candy-like (YMMV)
- Sichuan red oil dumplings: I was hesitant to get these, but was glad I did. The sauce was different than I’ve had at Sichuan restaurants, but the Sichuan peppercorn infused oil was pleasant and in harmony with the soft dumpling skin and pork filling.
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Steamed pork bun: good rendition. meat was finely chopped so no big chunks
, less gluey than other versions, not an MSG bomb. -
Rice noodle rolls: we ordered everything off the menu, and these never came, despite a few queries and seeing them go to other people. Service has never been a strong suit at Koi Palace, or dim sum places in general, so no big deal.
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Shorter as in an hour? Is it possible to get a number ahead of time?
How did the food compare to Koi?
when i got there shortly before 11, they had already been open an hour (holiday hours), but there were only a few parties waiting in each size category, displayed on the monitor in the lobby. i got a number when i entered and could have been seated in about 1/2 hour, but decided to take out since the parking meter was running and i didn’t want to have to walk a couple blocks back to feed the meter. i can’t really comment on comparisons to Koi as i only order baby pig and a couple other items at koi (no baby pig at Dragon beaux.) I do remember the xlb at both Dragon Beaux and Koi as being too thick and waterlogged for my taste. i had the beef stew w/ rice noodle roll at DB, nice flavor but a bit light on the beef stew and the tendon was not as soft as I would have liked. Also had some roast duck at DB which was good.
Thanks. Yes, I agree. The xlb at Koi is memorable to me for the wrong reasons. The specifics were hazy. But I remember the one time I tried it was the worst dim sum dish of the day.
Thanks. Been to Koi Palace a few times now (~15-20 times), and its dim sum and dinner have always been good to me. A bit expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. The Dim Sum is considered high end, but not quiet as high end as some of the Toronto and Vancouver restaurants. Overall, I still like it very much.
I tried many of Koi’s special Dim Sum dishes, and I like most of them, if not at least interesting. However, it is the common dishes which impress me more.
