"But how did the soup get in there?"

"You know, this is where we had dinner right before you got onto your first flight to London"

It was more for old times than anything else that we decided on Dragon-i for my last Malaysian meal for a year. It was the easy choice back then - we were staying at the Royale Bintang Damansara, had no desire to battle the city traffic and I was quite certain that my last meal had to be Asian. This time around, a lot calmer and without the excitement and anticipation of moving to a new country, it was all about settling down to soak in one of life's simple pleasures - enjoying a meal with the family.


Dragon-i
Lot 136 & 137,
First Floor,
The Curve, Mutiara Damansara

Xiao Long Bao or Shanghainese steamed meat dumplings, what Dragon-i is perhaps most well-known for. Filled with minced ham, pork, ginger and clear broth, the dumplings were a source of much amazement when I was first introduced to them. My eight or nine year old self simply could not comprehend how they managed to get the soup into the delicate dumplings. Best enjoyed with some black vinegar and slivers of ginger, the dumplings are still a delight now and Dragon-i serve up a good version.

Steamed rice with pork chop. While Dragon-i may be better known for its noodle dishes, we thought we should give some of their rice dishes a shot as well. Mix well and you get delicious mouthfuls of tender, well-marinated pork chop strips, steaming hot rice and gravy. If noodles are more your cup of tea, the variety of fried la mien dishes is a good place to start.

Stir fried string beans with minced meat - nicely seasoned, simple and flavourful.

Chicken soup. Beautifully clear and with the wonderful flavours of fresh chicken taking centre stage, this is my kind of comfort food.

Pan-stickers - perhaps my least favourite of all the dishes that night. In my book, pan-stickers should have nice, brown bottoms and these didn't look like they were stuck on any pan (pardon the pun) at any point of time. I've always loved how the brown, slightly crispy bottoms added texture and flavour to the dumplings so these just didn't hit the right spot.

Food is generally quite good though Dragon-i is on the more expensive side. Still, it's worth a visit, especially if you're craving those delicious little "Dragon" dumplings.