For weeks before its opening last June rumours abound DIFC regarding Royal China’s arrival and the promise of a new high-end Oriental restaurant. Living up to its name, the lavish restaurant offers traditional Chinese delicacies, friendly service and a dim-lit swanky Far Eastern ambiance featuring high ceilings, rich red ffound on chandeliers, tables and chairs and dark wood finishings. An intimate and seductive ambiance in which to feast on decadent Chinese delicacies.
Friendly Chinese staff greeted my guest and I and seated us at one of the dark wood tables with plush red chairs. The restaurant features traditional Chinese dishes such as kung pao chicken and roast duck, but we decided to steer away from staple Chinese fare for our selection and venture into new territory. For starters, we had a steamed dim sum platter which arrived sizzling in a bamboo basket with the dim sum presented in eight small parcels, three of which contained prawn; two of mixed Chinese vegetables and the last three containing a combination of mixed chive and prawns. Thoroughly impressed, my guest and I quickly devoured each parcel debating over our dim sum preference with the verdict being the mixed Chinese vegetables. Another immediate favorite was the starter of King Prawn with Chili and Spicy Salt. Perfectly done, the Prawn was not too soggy with just enough crisp.
For the mains, we were relished in the fresh-tasting Steamed Seabass Fillet, the rich Szechuan Prawns coated in an egg white mixture with ginger, garlic and onions and the Mixed Seafood on Crispy Fried Noodle featuring crunchy vegetables, noodles and a juicy seafood selection. Vegetable hits were the Steamed Eggplant with garlic and the Prawn and Broccoli – both fresh, lightly salted and indulging. Lastly, for our dessert, we opted to go down a scale from the rich selection and try the Mango Pudding and Tapioca Rice Pudding – simple, sweet and excellent for washing down such decadent meal.
Delightful service and cuisine, the only thing which surprised us were the lack of guests. Perhaps this owed to the fact that we dined at the restaurant on week night – even so, this still fairly new Asian restaurant merits a bit more appreciation for its ambiance and top-notch Chinese fare.
Royal China, DIFC, Building 4 +971 43545543 www.royalchinadubai.ae
