This is going to be a long post, so I separated it into two parts.
So many photos to show off this golden emperor palace.
Shanghai Dynasty Restaurant PART ONE here.
Food plays a vital part in Chinese culture,
and during the New Year (Spring festival) celebrations,
"lucky" foods are served form appetizers to desserts.
So let's continue our journey with Shanghai Dynasty Restaurant.
There was a special menu for Chinese New year with interesting and meaningful names.
We ordered the set menu ($100 per head) as following:
百花齊放 （八小點） ~ flowers bloom (eight different appetizers)
黃金滿屋 (百粒蟹鉗肉) ~ house full of gold (stuffed crab claws)
大展宏圖 (竹笙海皇生翅） ~ grand prospect (shark fin soup)
瑞氣吉祥 (姜蔥龍蝦) ~ propitious, good omen (ginger and spring onion lobster)
平步青雲 (原汁鮮鮑鴨掌) ~ meteoric rise (abalone and duck feet)
滿載而歸 (雀巢雙鮮)~ returning home with a full load (prawn and scallop with sweet pea in bird's nest)
萬事亨通 (紅米海鮮炒飯）~ everything going smoothly （seafood fried rice)
精美小點 ~ sweet dim sum
合時果盆 ~ fresh fruits
Drinks:
Strawberry Cocktail $14.5
Micky House Mocktail $7.5
The appetizers came very quickly which included jelly fish, chicken in chilli sauce with white sesame,
marinated ducks' tongues, smoked fish, black fungus (wood ear） with vinegar sauce,
chestnut with coffee sauce, egg roll, sliced giant mushroom (I guess but I'm not too sure about what it is).
The jelly fish was chewy, the chicken was tasty but not too spicy.
The marinated ducks' tongues was the second best I've tried in Melbourne
(the best I've tried is in the Peking duck restaurant Quanjude).
Inexpensive dish but hard to cook. A lots of them have the fishy smell I hated.
The chestnut with coffee sauce was an interesting dish and the egg roll has dried pork mince and cucumber.
Wood ears with vinegar sauce was something I've never tried but I loved this dish.
It looks like jelly mushroom and it has this crunchy texture.
It is sweet in flavor, mild in nature.
Very refreshing dish and it is very good for health.
Chinese called it the king of vegetables
and it has a reputation in Chinese herbal medicine
for increasing the fluidity of the blood and improving circulation.
Wood ears are rich in protein and low in calories
and therefore a useful food in weight loss diets.
Definitely my new favourite!
All of the eight appetizers were very well presented,
at the same time delicious and finished by us quickly!
See our empty plates in Part One.
Then we had the main courses: stuffed crab claws, abalone,
ginger and spring onion lobster, seafood in bird's nest and fried rice.
Nice dishes and good portion but nothing surprising.
However, during our meal, the lion dancers preformed an exciting show
and the loud drum beats were like the sound of firecrackers.
I felt lucky and hope we will have a lucky year in 2011.
The memorable stay finished with the cute tasty red bean and custard sweet dim sum.
Great restaurant and excellent service in a wonderful location.
We will be back with family and friends.
Shanghai Dynasty Restaurant
上海王朝
206 Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia
(03) 9663 7770
Cuisine: Chinese
Food: Good
Service: Good
Atmopshere: Good
Value: $$$
Recommend: Good
