CLOSED | 8 XLB Flavors at Paradise Dynasty Vivo City to Try at Least Once
UPDATE | This Branch Has Closed But There Are Other Branches Available | UPDATE
CLOSED | Paradise Dynasty tl;dr
We’ve learned a lot of things ever since we moved to Singapore. One of the many things we have discovered is the myriad of Asian cuisines which, while spoiled with plenty of food in California, only really scrapped the tip of the iceberg that is offered everyday in every direction as far as the eye can see. One of the many things that we have learned a new appreciation for is XLB. You may be wondering what exactly is XLB?
- Extra large boyfriend…nope
- Extra language barrier… narp
- Extra large balls…NO
It’s xiaolongbao! Imagine bite sized soup filled balls and you are only half way to really understanding what XLB is. This particular dumpling is a thin skinned balloon of porky soupy deliciousness that won’t hesitate to burn the inside of your mouth.
Proper XLB Eating
There’s a particular method of consuming this fragile food vessel.
- Carefully remove the pouch from the tray without ripping the skin and losing all the precious broth.
- Place the ball on to your soup spoon.
- Bite into the top so as to draw the soup out.
- You are now left with all the meat, slightly soupy goodness in the pouch on your spoon.
- Add splash of vinegar, ginger, soy or some combination thereof.
- Consume!
What is Paradise Dynasty?
Paradise Dynasty is apart of the Paradise group, sister restaurant to a number of other specialty restaurants that we were convinced to become members of. Considering that the food was so tasty we figured we would be back and more importantly check out the other restaurants in their family.
Paradise Dynasty offers 8 wild XLB flavors along with eating instructions:
- Original – reminds me of chicken broth
- Ginseng – similar to chicken broth
- Foie Gras – along the same lines of chicken broth but with noticeable foie gras notes
- Black Truffle – less foie and more mushroom
- Cheesy – I couldn’t pick out the flavor as some of the other dining guests
- Crab Roe – a very delicate crab flavor
- Garlic – it’s garlic but I wish there was more
- Szechuan – definitely spicy compared to the others but left me wanting the signature numbing sensation
Where is Paradise Dynasty?
Paradise Dynasty is located at Vivo City Mall. It is on the 3rd floor of the mall, tucked into a corner next to Daiso, an escalator ride from the movie theater entrance. It is kind of a walk from the metro station but think of it as building up your appetite while doing some window shopping.
What to Get?
You get what everyone gets here.. XLB. It’s the main attraction, the sole purpose for your journey here which can be seen on one of the many posters strewn throughout the mall. Though the main draw isn’t simply XLB but multiple fancy flavors of XLB. Those colors are enticing and makes you wonder, surely like we did.
You could order full orders of the individual flavors or get a sampler of all of them. Since no one in the party had been there before, we decided to get a sampler for everyone so we wouldn’t have to fight over certain flavors; of course I’d probably draw the short chopstick and end up with the cheese XLB (actually wasn’t that bad).
The sampler comes out with a suggested order of which ones to eat. After having followed it, I can understand why because of the delicate flavor profiles of each XLB. As you progress along the eating chart, the flavors slowly become more and more pronounced. I think it’s because the more powerful flavored XLB won’t then overpower any of the other less nuanced ones.
Worth It?
In my personal opinion, they were all tasty though a few of them tasted similar. My personal favorites we’re the 2 extremes; the original and the Sichuan for the relative difference in the flavor spectrum. Others at the table had different opinions but since I’m writing this, you will hear about mine… me me me me. Lulz! I would come back and get entire trays of either flavor. While the others are good, I would leave them to other guests who haven’t had the chance to try them out.
Don’t pass up your chance to try other things on the menu that screams out to you. I can honestly say that the chili won tons were tasty. Ever since I tried these bad boys I’ve been seeking them out every where I can find them.
Much like my addiction to chicken rice, McDonald’s ice cream and fried pie flavors, Japanese tamago, and a number of other signature dishes that I’m particular about if given a choice.
And who doesn’t like fried things?
The fried mantou buns with this condensed milk dipping sauce was a crowd pleaser. I mean, in all honesty, this could, should be considered a dessert in and of itself. To be fair though, eating them made me yearn for some chili crab for a more savory persuasion.
Paying for Everything You Ate
They take credit card and we’re very accommodating, splitting the bill on separate credit cards.
Go Back?
Now that we’re members, we have to come back. Other than the membership at their sister stores, due mostly in large part to the service, location and ambiance, we are curious as to how their other dishes are.
Paradise Dynasty
What’s your favorite flavor?
