Yeah they’re doing a good job so far. Decided to go this past Thursday to catch a dinner special (Empress/Surf clams for 7.95)
Anyways, started off the meal with a pound of steamed ridgeback shrimp!
Sweet shrimp without a massive amount of shells and still probably a vector for the spicy, savory soy sauce (I uh… didn’t take a picture).
Opted for the old fired soup this time around (the winter melon soup deal is still going though! Saw another table order it), and it was also winter melon haha. I thought it was well done, with a good savory tone.
We were going to order pea sprouts for our veggies tonight, but the waiter mentioned they had a special veggie dish. Turns out it was ice lettuce (https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/dining/23plant.html)! I don’t recall really it being sold in the west coast in regular grocery stores so this is a big surprise for me. The way this dish was served was chilled with sesame seeds on top and there was this other sauce that came along that was a sesame/mayo thing. I rather enjoyed the ice lettuce (very nice crunch!), but probably would prefer it served hot (Tycoon Tann 大官廰 (Hong Kong, Hong Kong) had it served with superior stock) . Regardless, definitely intrigued that I was able to find it in the bay area.
We ordered two empress clams, served steamed with garlic and vermicelli. I didn’t think the soy sauce was really that needed, as the garlic and salt added a nice hit and the vermicelli absorbed some steamed clam juice. The empress clams were rather large as well.
A nicely steamed mouse grouper. Classic steamed preparation that I can’t fault. Though this fish did have a bit more tiny bones so just watch out.
Lastly for our non-seafood protein of the meal, we got this smoked prime rib that was flash fried with a taro breading. The meat was quite tender and the taro added some extra textural elements. Quite good!
It was served with this black pepper/pepper sauce of sorts that wasn’t quite needed but had a nice aromatic savory dash.
Dessert was black sesame dessert, mango/coconut pudding and some coconut mochi. Wasn’t a huge fan of the black sesame as I thought it was on the sweeter end but other three items were nice and adorable.
Overall, I really like the direction of Grand Palace so far for dinner! They have a seasonal menu booklet that we ordered a few things from (and I happen to forget to take a picture…) and I’m interested to try a few more items in the future.
