Before working on this review, I had to read back to all the Xiao Long Bao posts I did in the past months and check if those were properly rated. Because when I saw my dim sum served to me, I knew in an instant it was going to be great! And was I sooo right, I could be a dim sum connoisseur! Haha several times I passed by this new restaurant in Podium, Paradise Dynasty, there was something about it that tells me I should try it soon. And that day was today.

Get to the restaurant just before the influx of diners come for lunch and you’ll be seated right away. They didn’t have a very extensive menu, unlike other Chinese restaurants, which tells me it’s a good thing. They focused on what they do best. The menu was just a piece of paper, maybe a fourth of a short bond paper, and you have to tick off what you like to eat. I got the Specialty Dynasty Xiao Long Bao first of all. It had 8 flavours of xlbs: Original, Ginseng, Foie Gras, Black Truffle, Cheesy, Crab Roe, Garlic, and Szechuan. That’s also the order you should eat them but it’s not clear to me why. When it arrived, it was so colourful and pretty that I didn’t want to eat it haha! After finishing all of them, my favourites are Cheesy, Crab Roe, and Szechuan. The balance of the flavourful broth and filling is outstanding! The Original wasn’t so bad at all. The Foie Gras and the Black Truffle were both ok, but I don’t know if it’s just my tastebuds that are not sophisticated enough to enjoy these treats. The rest of the flavours, were also flavourful, like the Garlic and Ginseng, but a little too much for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, they tasted nice, too. Now let’s talk about the broth. Funny the xlbs were aptly coloured to match their flavor, but the magic is with the broth. It’s flavour, no matter which xlb I ate, was never amiss. The amount of broth in it was also fantastic. I have that thing with eating xlbs now, I measure the broth with the spoon, and each one from this bamboo steamer had overflowing broth inside. You didn’t need much of the condiments, you can eat them on their own, but I like mine with a little chilli oil. Hold off on the ginger so as not to mess with the individual flavours.

For my next dish, I had to choose from their steamed/fried dim sum. And this one, the Pan-fried Shanghai Pork Bun, was both so it was obviously the choice. When you eat it, it’s like something that hasn’t decided what it really was, in a good way haha! Crispy on the undebelly and soft at the top. The bun had great amount of filling inside, which was already quite yummy, needed little to no help from the condiments too. I had to switch between eating this and my xlbs, yes, I’m that confused. Haha!

And the restaurant? I noticed they assigned servers per station/area of the restaurant. So the ratio of the people to servers were very good. Diners were well tended too, it wasn’t too busy looking, noisy, or any of those bad qualities you might see in a restaurant. It was well lit and had those mirrors everywhere giving it the illusion that it’s quite big.

Verdict: 4.75/5
This is the best rating I’ve given so far for a dim sum dining experience. And I would really recommend it. I don’t know if I will order the other stuff from their menu, you might have a hard time peeling me off from these favourites. I’ll go back for the cheesy xlb anytime. Haha!