Paradise Dynasty finally opened its door at Glendale’s Americana at Brand a few months ago. A tasting exhibition was held in collaboration with Yelp to showcase Paradise Dynasty’s finest offerings. Paradise Dynasty is located on the Southeast tip of the Americana, accessible via Brand Blvd. If you love Chinese food, this is the place to go. Here’s my Paradise Dynasty Experience.
The Paradise Dynasty Experience
Paradise Dynasty is slowly expanding in the US. For a hot minute, there was only one location (South Coast Plaza), making this the second location in the US. They did a phenomenal job picking out The Americana to represent LA. I am so happy I don’t need to drive an hour out anymore?? The roadmap looks pretty good with planned expansions to Texas and New York.
My dining experience at Paradise Dynasty was great overall. It was a bit slow at first, but once the pace picked up, we got the main dishes back-to-back-to-back! I am thankful that the hosts at Paradise Dynasty made this a great tasting experience and were super accommodating. I previously had a great experience at Paradise Dynasty at South Coast Plaza and was not disappointed here either.
PS. The drinks were STRONG.
The Appetizers
The appetizers consisted of three dishes: Japanese Cucumber with Minced Garlic, Radish Pastry, and Pan-Fried Shanghai Kurobuta Pork Buns.
I am a BIG fan of the Japanese Cucumber with Minced Garlic; this is a great cold dish featuring some sliced cucumbers in a garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar marinade. There are many ways to make this, whether you want to slice or smash the cucumbers.
The Radish Pastry is an interesting concept: a 54-layer flaky pastry filled with sautéed daikon. I was pleasantly surprised by this dish. I am a HUGE fan of daikon, but I am used to eating it as a pseudo-rice paper in Korean BBQ, but this is fine too.
The Pan-Fried Shanghai Kurobuta Pork Buns are basically pan-fried pork dumplings. I am a fan of the ones with an extra crispy bottom. Highly recommend enjoying this with their signature chili oil!
The Dim Sum
What good is a Chinese experience without some dim sum? The signature dim sum dishes included Specialty Dynasty Xiao Long Bao, Signature Original Burobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao, and Kurobuta Pork Wontons in Chili Oil.
The Xiao Long Bao was pretty standard; if you love soup dumplings, this is it. Every restaurant makes it a bit different, so it is up to you and your taste preferences. I’ll take these over Mama Lu’s and 101 Noodles any day.
The Signature Original Kurobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao is a special case because this is what makes this restaurant stand out. If you ever go, this is a must-order, just for the experience and for the ‘gram. The basket comes with eight flavors: Standard (plain), Szechuan (red), Garlic (grey), Cheese (bright yellow), Kimchi (green), Crab Meat with Roe (orange), BBQ Pulled Pork (less yellow), and Black Truffle (black). I’m a bit picky, but I prefer the Crab Meat with Roe and Black Truffle over the rest of the flavors. When you return in the future, you can also order single-flavored Xiao Long Bao baskets.
The Kurobuta Pork Wontons in Chili Oil sounds spicy at first, but there’s a very mild kick that you don’t even notice. I love how well-sized these are; you don’t need to finish it in one bite. Try a few, and savor it a bit longer.
The Main Course at Paradise Dynasty
The main courses featured four dishes: Fried Rice and Fried Pork Chop, Stir-Fried Black Pepper Angus Beef with Basil, Typhoon Shelter Bay Scallops, and Stir-Fried French Beans with Minced Pork and Preserved Olive Vegetable.
I usually don’t like ordering fried rice when we are out (hello, we have fried rice at home!), but the Fried Rice and Fried Pork Chop is a different story. It is such a comfort food, and the fried pork chop is perfectly cooked, making it easy to chew and full of flavor. I kind of like it, and it gives a good neutral balance if you’re ordering other wok dishes.
The Stir-Fried Black Pepper Angus Beef with Basil is easily one of my favorites because the beef is nice to chew through?? I’m used to dried beef, but this is a nice change of pace. You should definitely have some fried rice with this to balance out the sauciness of the dish.
The Typhoon Shelter Bay Scallops is my favorite dish of the night. This appears to be new on their menu as part of the Lunar New Year. I am so happy to have this experience because they really went all out with the scallops. The scallops are BIG and cooked just right.
By the time the Stir-Fried French Beans with Minced Pork came out, I was a bit full already. This is one of the more sauce-heavy dishes, so I highly recommend balancing the taste out with some rice or a neutral filler.
The Dessert
Not going to lie, I was FULL by the time the desserts came out. They brought out the Panda Chocolate Lava Bun, which has a panda theme going on and is filled with chocolate. We had some fun and stacked the buns into a bunch. A dessert platter was also served with glutinous rice roll, black sesame mochi, and pumpkin glutinous rice cake. I didn’t get a chance to try these out, so I can’t give my opinion on how they tasted.
Paradise Dynasty at The Americana
177 Caruso Ave
Glendale, CA 91210
Check out my other blog posts on dumplings!