We had been to Dragon-i when it first opened @Cititel. Like a Disney story, it was a fairy tale of the young owner Tan backed by his Ipoh family behemoth that built Midvalley that sought to bring the taste of new Shanghai to Klang Valley from a road less travelled once upon a time when not everyone could fly before the rise of the terror in the skies Air Asia. Quite unkown to him, I had already spent five years living dangerously behind the Bamboo curtain, making a point to traverse across the 39 cultural provincialates of Mao's revolutionary gastronomy. I had already opened my third restaurant based on a Shanghai fusion theme cuisine drawn from my indelible memories of my sojourns, which was featured on national TV, three years prior to this chain's opening. I had my doubts the strange but delicate tastes of Shanghai's Hua Hai Lu could be replicated authentically. Sure enough the local palate is less demanding of the familiar sharp vinaigrette acidity and pungent yellow wine from Shaoxing from the dishes. Instead, they focused on fare that dwelled on the sweeter side, to pander to the already obese locals with the highest cases of diabetes in Asia. Eating at this place has always been out of convenience, neither memorable or bringing back any memories of cuisine on the Bund. However, our visiting family members from the West found it interesting food and we have always entertained them here at least once on their visit. This month was no exception and we ended up twice at the outlet@Pavilion. This outlet tries to extend its proposition by presenting Beijing's iconic Peking duck - lock, stock and barrel with a poor imitation of the wood fired oven, hanging ducks on skewers and a doppelganger made-in-China chef with white hat and overalls, entertaining you behind the glass. Its no business like show business, Disney style! So expect Disney prices! We gave in to the hype for our visitors sake and ended up with pretty dry tasteless duck meat! You can check out the difference at Beijing's Quanjude Roast Duck where the juices flow as they carve the fat bird in front of you. Or better still pop up to the 7th Level, you will find a juicier bird Cantonese style @Village Roast Duck based on the famous London Bayswater Green Cottage recipe. Today even our normal order of Shanghai dumpling was awful, full of MSG. So salty our 22 month old food taster spat it out, instead he preoccupied himself with black vinegar. Since Chinese New Year, the menu has been updated with ridiculous prices, near doubling to RM98 for a bowl of shark's fin soup - a self gratifying way for the owner to save the sharks by overcharging customers! The captains will give you the Beijing treatment here - when not ignoring you, will speak in PudongHua even when my wife asks in English. Its part of the "Disney" experience!
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