Pan-Asian with a homely touch at Red Dragon

Located in the heart of Bur Dubai, and a part of Howard Johnson, the quiet and welcoming Red Dragon offers the best of Indo-Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisines under one roof.

With soothing Thai music playing in the backdrop, we begun our Pan-Asian Red Dragon journey with two interesting drinks off their menu.

Sipping on the slush version of the famous baraf gola, the kalakhatta was a house special. It offered that same tangy spicy taste you expect with a very poolside dressed up look.
The twist to the classic Bloody Mary, the Perfect Merry replaced tomato with pink guava juice, topped with a dash of black pepper and garnished with fresh celery sticks.

Red Dragon also serves spicy cucumber and kimchi salad to tickle your palate while you wait for your food to arrive.

Chinese cuisine is never complete without soups and these broths at Red Dragon are more than comforting. The warm lemon coriander soup offers a thick consistency and comes filled with vegetables like broccoli and carrots as well as mushrooms.
The spicy Tom Yum soup has a thin, clear styled consistency and is flavored absolutely Thai with lemongrass and coconut. The tender chicken pieces add a wholesome touch to the soup.

How can you say no to dumplings? These dumplings at Red Dragon are perfectly steamed with tender meat and vegetables stuffed inside. Every bite is so delicious, I could have them all day. It would be great if the restaurant could come up with an all-time you-can-eat dim sum night.
These very Indo Chinese styled momos are served with a sesame oil based spinach and coriander dip.
Also, the chopsticks could have been of a little more high quality, but given the fact that they served a unique set with each course, it made up.

If you love chicken, like it spicy, and are a fan of Chinese cuisine, then you definitely can’t give this one a miss. Extremely spicy and saucy, this Pan Fried Chili Chicken brings together tender pieces of chicken with hot peppers, chilies and spring onion garnish, making it perfect to satisfy spicy cravings.
Have this as is to experience it’s flavors at their best.
I can’t stop admiring the carrot lotus in the corner. So creative, no?

The meatless wing of our starters was the Crispy Thread Paneer which in my opinion makes a great choice as finger food. Served with sweet Thai chili sauce, these tender cottage cheese fritters are coated with crunchy thread noodles.
These too come with a carrot flower on the side.

For mains, we decided to go vegetarian and opted for the very fragrant Garlic Fried Rice. Topped with diced burnt garlic, and freshly chopped spring onion, the rice was not as heavy as you would expect it to be. The fried rice was accompanied with Buddha’s Delight – a fragrant and colourful mix of black mushrooms, garlic slivers and exotic vegetables like bok choy, broccoli, peppers and more. They rice and gravy were a garlicky match made in heaven. Next time, I will ask if they could make a variation and add some chicken or prawns to the mix.

Desserts should never leave you feeling overly guilty, especially after a 4 course meal, and the Toffee Banana with Ice Cream is perfect in so many ways, it’s difficult to find the beginning point.
One of the most annoying things about fried banana is when it’s black and burnt from inside, but not this one. Absolutely crispy on the outside and a creamy white inside, the banana pieces are fried to perfection. The sweet vanilla ice cream makes the perfect accompaniment to the warm fried banana. The caramelized toffee sauce and almond garnish add a sweet and nutty finish to this impressive dessert.
Must have!