First Assignment- Restaurant Review

Going to dine in a restaurant in London and producing a review of the experience afterwards seems a bit arduous for me, having not clocked in much hours yet in the `London Dining Scene’. With that in mind, I tried to gather some information on this week’s restaurant online beforehand; also to give my curiosity a little comfort. This proved out a little hard as Dragon City Chinese Restaurant in Alperton did not have a website of its own, although I was able to read through a couple commendable reviews on the restaurant. I did however discover that the restaurant is situated on top of Loon Fung Supermarket, a large retailer in oriental foods and produce.

We were greeted at the door by hostesses and showed to our tables. My first impression of the restaurant was on its décor, minimal to say the least. The monotonous bland colours reminisce a cafeteria as oppose to a restaurant, as I slowly observed the lack of windows, fake roses to one corner and Pretty Woman being played through the speakers. I suppose they wanted to awe their customers solely on the food, thus leaving out details probably only a hospitality student might pick up.

For starters, I was delighted with the Crispy Aromatic Duck which was served with pancakes, vegetable crudités and a sweet spicy sauce. The duck had a beautiful shiny crispy skin and yet one was still able to taste the succulent meat inside, matching well with the other condiments. There was not the usual strong duck aftertaste which I am personally not fond of, giving me thoughts that the bird was well prepared.

In between courses, the service staff together with the manager was prompt and fast with clearing and resetting the plates. Hot Chinese tea was refilled with every last gulp and the odd requests were looked after. I did however realize that, as we were having a £13 per person set meal pre-arranged by the restaurant before hand, none at my table knew what was going to be served. No table set menus, no announcement with each dish by servers, and with the lack of proficiency in English, it was hard to get the servers to tell us exactly was on the table.

Next to the table was a sequence of Egg Fried Rice, Singapore Style Fried Noodles, Fried Shredded Beef in a Sweet Sour Sauce, King Prawns in Chili Sauce and lastly followed by Chinese Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce. I felt the vermicelli was awfully stogy for my palate, not allowing all the flavours work together; while the beef used looked and tasted more factory-produced, leaving the imaginations wonder on its origins. On a more positive note, the prawns were fresh and enticing with the combination of sweet of the crustaceans and the spiciness of the sauce blending in well. The mushrooms too were cooked to perfection, with a lovely thick soy sauce to coat the likes of oyster mushrooms and black fungus. The meal was ended with a plate of oranges, usually used in Chinese restaurants to cleanse the palate.

My overall view of the place was that it was a mediocre establishment , with the food tasting literally as it is – beef in sweet sour sauce was exactly that. No mystery and certainly not trying to configure the various flavours and textures that came to the palate. To be honest, I was hoping on a more traditional fare, with the abundant uses of aromatic herbs and spices the Chinese are known for in their food, marble stoned tables to dine on and calligraphy adorning the walls. Not being fooled, I will continue to look for an establishment which matches my perception of dining Chinese.