Glowing Dragon Seafood Restaurant

About 4 years ago, one of my favorite Chinese restaurants, Wong-N-Wong, became Glowing Dragon Seafood Restaurant.  Don't tell me how or why it happened, but I was a little disappointed.  In the beginning I refused to eat here, not really sure of how the food would be.  A couple years later, while looking for a new place to eat at, I relented and came here.  I've been coming here infrequently ever since.

Since this was going to be my final Chinese meal before leaving on my trip to Singapore, I decided to call a couple of friends to join me for a late lunch.  It was about 2:00 pm on a Sunday, and the place was near empty.

The restaurant's interior is similar to so many Chinese restaurants that we have here in Hawaii -- clean, brightly lit and a bit sterile, if you ask me.  But then again, you didn't ask, did you?

Since there were three of us, we decided to choose one dish each.    The first dish that we chose was the deep-fried silver fish with salt and pepper (US$8.95).

Tiny fish were batter coated and deep-fried until they were crisp and crunchy.  Tossed with salt, pepper, crunchy bits of garlic, and fresh cut red chillies and green onions, this is probably my favorite dish here.  Some nights, I can come here and have this with just a bowl of jook and some hot tea.  That's how good it is.  It's neither too spicy or too salty.  Perfect. 

The next dish ordered was the braised tofu with mixed vegetables (US$7.95).

When this arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was a lot of tofu in this dish.  I don't particularly care for the mushrooms, but the this dish also had some green onions and some baby bok choi which made this dish very nice.  I would have preferred a more flavorful and less salty gravy, so while I enjoyed this, I wasn't completely convinced.

The last dish chosen was the beef with ginger and onion (US$8.95).

This is one of those dishes that I normally order at Chinese restaurants.  I've had this many times before at this restaurant and at many others.  Sometimes it's good and other times...well, let's just leave it at that.  Out of the three dishes that we ordered, this was my least favorite.  The beef was smooth, tender and nicely seasoned.  There was also a lot green onions and ginger here.  However, the main reason why I didn't like this dish was because the ginger was too fibrous.  The ginger was too old.  I like to eat the bits of ginger and green onion with my rice.  I was disappointed.

The good thing about the Glowing Dragon is that for every two dishes ordered, you got one for free.  It kind of made up for the beef with ginger and onions that I didn't like.  The price was a little high for the individual dishes, but I guess two good dishes and one average one for about US$20.00 including rice, is somewhat of a bargain.  Imagine if I had gotten three dishes that I had really liked.

Glowing Dragon Seafood Restaurant
1023 Maunakea Street
Telephone:  808.521.4492

Comments

[Robyn]

Wow.. Where do you find all of these places?

For Chinese food (Northern Chinese), have you tried The Mandarin in Imperial Plaza? I love it there.. I like spicy and I like vinegar (which you can use as a condiment).. YUM!! I highly recommend there....

[fish fish]

Kekeke... someone cannot wait till in Sin for chinese food oledi. Hey, the first dish looks very much like a Japanese dish called Shirauo. I like the comments u made on the 2nd and 3rd... they do seem like what u have said. :P Have a safe trip back Reid. :)

[Julia]

Hi Reid,

Hey, great minds think alike! I just posted about having the same spring onion and ginger dish on Sunday too, but with pork instead. Yes, the ginger and spring onion in your dish looks too old. But the battered fish looks really nice and crispy, and the tofu sauce looks yummy too. It would be a really good bargain if not for the third dish. :)

[AugustusGloop]

Salt and pepper anything is good! *drool*

And yes, I agree... that decor could be a Chinese restaurant from anywhere in the world. Although maybe they need a few more ubiquitous red and gold decorations.

PS. Do only the VIP customers get the tables with tablecloths? :P

[MrsT]

Hey.. Reid.. :)
Love the tofu & mushrooms.. my favourite.. and the beef looks mighty nice too.. but i'm not into silver fish.. :)
$20.00 quite ex.. in singapore.. can get really good and cheap food.. :)
Do you have anyone to show you around already..??? let me know.. :)
Have a fun and safe trip.. :)
Which hotel are you staying in..??

[Ryan]

Hey Reid. Just wanted to second Robyn's recommendation of The Mandarin. Great food, and if I've got my story right, their chef trained the chef at Glowing Dragon (or vice versa, or they trained together, or something like that). Eastern Paradise and Wang's Garden, I believe, are all part of the same "family." Good stuff.

[mark]

The quality of the ginger may have caused you to lower your rating on the beef dish, but there seem to be so many restaurants that screw up this dish by adding carrots, bamboo shoots and not a whole lot of beef or ginger.

[Reid]

Hi Robyn,

I haven't been to the Mandarin, but based on your recommendation, it's somewhere that I will try upon my return from Singapore. Any dishes in particular that I should look out for? Thanks for the tip.

BTW...I normally find places to eat at while driving around. If I happen to drive past one of these places, I'll note the name and address in a book that I have of places to try.

Hi Julia,

I was surprised to see that myself. I normally order this dish at Chinese restaurants so I was quite disappointed at it here. I love ginger, and it would have been nice to eat it with this dish.

It wasn't too bad, US$18 for 3 dishes...

Hi AG,

I didn't even catch that table cloth thing until you mentioned it just now. =)

I could eat the deep-fried silver fish with salt and pepper any time of day. I know it would taste really nice with a bowl of jook.

Hi MrsT,

I liked the tofu, but I'm not a fan of these mushrooms for some reason. The gravy was nice, but a little gooey at first. Must have been the cornstarch.

I'll be going around Singapore with a friend of mine. I'm so excited. I'll be staying at the Novotel Clarke Quay, which is the old New Otani.

Hi Ryan,

Long time no hear!

OK that's it. Since two people with a first name that begins with the letter "R" told me to go to the Mandarin, I defintely will. I'll let you know how I like it. Any signature dishes that you would recommend?"

Hi Mark,

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Actually, the place where I enjoyed this the most is now closed. It was Forum Cafe which was at the Chinese Cultural Plaza. It was replaced by Good Luck Chinese Restaurant, which does this quite well.

[Reid]

Hi fish fish,

Sorry. I didn't mean to forget about you! I can't wait for my trip to Singapore. You have a safe trip back to Kuching. Happy CNY to you!

[MrsT]

Ahh.. the New Otani Hotel.. that's a nice place.. to stay in.. :) and quite central too.. so you are in a good place.. and i'm glad you have a friend.. to show you around.. :)

[Reid]

Hi MrsT,

I was so excited that I couldn't sleep last night. I'll send Chloe a postcard from both Narita and from Chiangi. =)