Golden Dragon: Enter the ‘Golden Dragon’!

Golden Dragon Review

Once again, forgive us for the Bruce Lee movie pun. We just couldn't help it! Golden Dragon is one of the few Chinese restaurants in Kochi that have been around for quite a while, with one of the oldest branches being at Ravipuram, MG Road. Of late, they have been expanding to newer locations, namely Kakkanad, Palarivattom and at Edapally almost next to LuLu mall. This review focusses on the one located at Palarivattom near Axis Bank at Apsara Arcade where they have some reasonable parking space compared to the one near Lulu Mall at Edapally. 
The decor is what one would typically associate with 'Chinese': dragons & dim interiors with red paint etc. Probably doubles up as an attempt at being eco-friendly! If you need brighter surroundings, we may suggest going someplace else, namely Inchino which is more contemporarily designed [Edit: Inchino has been closed]. The restaurant is of average size and claims to cater to birthdays, business meetings, kitty parties etc. The service is good with attentive staff and efficiently handled orders. 
They have a good variety of food on offer and though it is Indo-Chinese rather than pure Chinese, most dishes taste very good and should appeal to Indian taste buds. Worth mentioning is that they do serve different types of meat including pork, squid, lamb, beef etc., something few Chinese restaurants in Kochi can claim to offer. Even the vegetarian dishes make use of unique ingredients like bamboo shoots etc.

As for the food, they have a good variety of dim sums like wontons, spring rolls etc. They also have different starters and side dishes ranging from squid tempura in the seafood department to chicken, pork, duck, lamb and of course vegetarian dishes.

Spring Rolls:

The spring rolls were surprisingly big in diameter, it was a single long spring roll served cut into 9 pieces. They came with the usual chicken pieces, carrots, cabbage and also bits of scrambled egg too. They were accompanied by a red chilli sauce which was not as spicy as it looked and gave the right touch to the dish. Being deep fried, the inside is extremely hot so we advise you to resist the temptation of popping one in your mouth immediately after they serve it; you will most certainly get a nasty burn and will not be able to enjoy the rest of the order!

Dragon Chopsuey:

They recommended this dish saying it would be slightly spicier, unlike American Chopsuey which uses just a sweet sauce & Chinese Chopsuey which is said to be bland. The portions were generous & easily enough for two moderate eaters. The noodles were crisp fried, tossed in a deep red coloured sauce and mixed with omelette bits and vegetables like capsicum, carrots, red chilli and even cashew bits etc. They bring it to the table and mix it for you too. The contrast of textures between the soft vegetables and the crisp noodles is the main selling point of this dish. The overall taste was good too but we felt that they used way too much red food colour in the sauce. We told them about the same.

Chap Cha:

If you want a slightly bland dish, this could be an option. This dish had very soft noodles cut into short strands and egg bits, carrot, cabbage, capsicum, chilli bits and so on. It had a very mild flavour with a hint of ginger. Serving size was moderate: good enough for two people or maybe one, very hungry person. You may want to pass this one for something with more flavour or quantity or have it before the more spicy dishes you plan to order.

Singapore Mei Foon:

This dish was different from the usual Chinese noodles in that it uses a soft, super fine thread-like noodle. Noodles in particular were akin to our local delicacy called the idiyappam! The dish is prepared with chicken and vegetables like capsicum. It was quite flavourful & light.

Dragon Chicken:

An Indo-Chinese favourite for many people, the chicken is coated in a batter and fried. It is then tossed in a sweet sauce with condiments like spring onion, garlic etc. It is a rather tasty dish to have, being tangy and sweet at the same time. Those who want something on the spicy side will need to look at the other items on the menu.

Golden Dragon Special Chicken:

This is a semi gravy dish with battered strips of chicken, cabbage, red yellow and green capsicum, spring onion, cashew etc. The gelatinous gravy had an unusual tanginess to it, which we attribute to the use of red capsicum. It had pieces of red and green chilli as well though it was not overpoweringly spicy.

Chinese Chapatti:

Are you wondering what this could possibly be? What it would taste like? What does it go with? Well we did too, so we did the obvious and ordered one to see for ourselves. We were greeted by a slightly thick, maida (refined wheat flour) based roti or paratha (flatbread). The conclusion is: if you don’t like noodles but like the taste of the gravy or dishes they have on offer and want something to have it with, this is one additional option for you. The other option is to order the rice dishes. This dish would make you feel at home if you are fond of eating roti and curry. A quick look up surprisingly revealed that in parts of Northern China, there is indeed a type of flatbread called ‘Laobing’ [Not Chinese Chapatti!!!]. While the basic ingredients do match, the Laobing is [supposed to be] much thicker.

The prices of these dishes are reasonable, with noodles priced less than Rs 200/- and fried rice also in the same range. For the quantity and unique taste, it offers good value.

Type of Cuisine: - Chinese [Indo-Chinese]

Location

Near Axis Bank, Palarivattom.

Parking: A few cars in front, should be adequate.

Ambience: Typical 'Chinese' style: rather dark with red lighting!

Service: Good.

What we liked/Recommended for:

• Tasty Indo-Chinese fare. 
• Good variety of dishes and meats. 
• Decent pricing. 

Potential Shortcomings: 

Dim lighting may not be everyone's cup of tea. No authentic Chinese dishes at all but not much of a problem. 
Taxes: Included in price, no fat tax applicable.
Phone number: +91 484 403 3559
Timings: Morning: 11:00-16:00, Evening: 19:00-23:00

Restaurant Website: 

On Zomato: 
      

Did you ‘Enter the Golden Dragon’? What did you order? Tell us what you think about the food in the comments below!