If you think that xiao long baos are plain, white soup broth dumplings containing mainly pork, then you could be mistaken.
That’s because at Paradise Dynasty, a Shanghai-style restaurant Serving Northern and Southern Chinese cuisine, the xiao long baos come with a colourful twist and a myriad of flavours. These colourful Chinese dumplings are definitely striking and eye-catching.
The colourful xiao long baos from Paradise Dynasty.
Eight different flavours of xiao long bao
Basically, there are eight different flavours of the restaurant’s signature xiao long bao. These are the original, ginseng, foie gras, black truffle, cheesy, crab roe, garlic and spicy Szechuan ones.
My companions and I ordered two sets of the xiao long bao sampling basket to try. Each set, comprising of eight pieces, had consisted of all the eight different flavours as above.
The order in which you’re supposed to eat the flavours.
The Taste
Out of all the flavours, I really enjoyed the rich and satisfying Cheesy xiao long bao in particular. I thought that the cheese flavour was light and subtle and it complemented the pork very well. It was not overpowering at the same time.
As well, the Black Truffle one was also nice, and I thought that the earthy truffle flavour balanced very well with the pork. This created a very yummy combination of ingredients that I relished.
The Ginseng one was good too, with its distinctive yet mild herbal flavour that did not overpower the xiao long bao itself and the soupy pork broth inside.
However, some of the others were quite disappointing, such as the spicy Szechuan and the garlic flavoured ones – which did not really sit very well with my taste buds.
Texture of the xiao long bao
The skin surprisingly didn’t break, when I picked up each of the dumplings with my chopsticks. As well, when the xiao long baos came out of the kitchen, they were piping hot.
The skin was a little on the tough side for my liking though, and didn’t seem as smooth as I would have expected. The xiao long baos also got quite cold and hard more quickly than I would have liked.
Each sampling basket will set you back by $13.80 for eight pieces. But if you wish to order the flavours separately, they are priced at $9.80 for ten pieces. (Do note that the exotic premium ones, like Black Truffle, Foie Gras and Ginseng are priced at $19.80 for ten pieces, though).
Besides the xiao long baos, we also ordered the Herbal Chicken Soup and the Egg Fried Rice.
Herbal Chicken Soup
Herbal Chicken Soup.
This soup tasted extremely yummy. The chicken was extremely soft, moist and tender. The soup itself was also full of flavour and I could really taste the authentic chicken stock inside there. In fact, I must say that this was probably one of the best herbal chicken soup dishes that I have tasted, in a while.
This item will set you back by $8.80 for a single serving pot.
Egg Fried Rice
Egg Fried Rice.
I thought that the Egg Fried Rice was surprisingly delicious. The texture of the rice was just right and not too hard and the subtle egg flavour used in the dish also complemented it very well.
This will set you back by $6.80.
Overall Comments
I would say that I rather enjoyed my meal at this Chinese restaurant. The food is delicious and considering the quality of the food, the prices are actually quite decent. However, I think that the colourful xiao long baos may seem to be more of a marketing gimmick rather than anything else – but then again, it is one that certainly works, if it draws customers to the restaurant, to taste their other equally delicious food items as well.
Paradise Dynasty @ Changi Airport
65 Airport Boulevard, #03-32
Terminal 3
Singapore 819663
Tel: 6242 4372
Business Hours: Daily, 7.00am to 11.00pm (Last order 10.15pm)
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