Shanghainese @ Dragon-i Restaurant @ 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)

We were shown great hospitality and kindness by my aunt and uncle whom we stayed with when we were in Malaysia two weeks ago for my family's annual reunion on Chinese New Year's eve. They were extremely busy themselves, with the usual new year's preparations and opening their house for New Year's lunch; yet they took the time to bring us out to 1 Utama, a large shopping centre nearby their house, to get some shopping done. While we were there, my relatives brought us to lunch at Dragon-i, a Shanghainese restaurant headed by a Chinese chef based in Hong Kong. Dragon-i seemed to be a popular choice for the festive season as it was operating full-house with a 30-minute wait for a table.

Dragon-i has a fairly large dining area with a stylish Oriental decor complete with red lanterns and lamps hanging from the ceiling. Service was pretty good, and the menu contained a good selection of dishes to suit all tastebuds. Prices were reasonable for the quality offered, although my relatives complained about the smallish serving sizes. I thought that it wasn't a bad thing because it meant that we could try a wide variety of food. The food were well-prepared with good quality ingredients. The following dishes were plenty for seven adults and one child, but my aunt still fretted that she didn't order enough food.

Fried Rice with Prawns and Pickled Vegetables - the 4-year-old's choice for lunch. It was yummy for fried rice:

Xiao Long Bao, the famous Shanghainese soup dumplings. The dumpling wasn't too hot, so the soup enclosed inside didn't burn the tongue. A delicious starter:

A plate of Stir-fried Kailan with garlic, for that all-important vegetable intake:

Sweet and Spicy Prawns - juicy and crunchy, the way prawns should be. The sauce was only mildly spicy:

Claypot Tofu - good taste and fresh ingredients:

Pepper Beef with Leeks - tender meat and the sauce wasn't too salty or peppery. I loved the silky leeks:

Red-Braised Pork Belly - full-flavoured with a tender melt-in-your-mouth texture. An indulgent fatty treat:

The soft, pillowy mantou (steamed bread) that came with the pork belly:

Salted Egg Yolk Fried Prawns - another indulgent treat that isn't good for the heart or the waistline. Hubby wasn't a fan of it (he doesn't like salted duck eggs) but the boy loved it:

I was rather pleased with our meal at Dragon-i Restaurant, with the quality and price comparable to the Chinese restaurants here in Hong Kong. This is a good food choice for shoppers at the 1 Utama mall.

Dragon-i (1 Utama)
Lot S313A, 2nd Floor Highstreet
1 Utama Shopping Centre
1 Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel. +60 3 7725 8822