Summer Retreats

Located inside the Hanoi Hotel with breath-taking views over Giang Vo Lake, the restaurant is decorated with an original but simple and natural Chinese elegance that creates a charming, peaceful spot.

We were eager to find out if Golden Dragon Restaurant’s flavours matched its attractive appearance. And they did. The newly appointed talent chef of the restaurant aims to 'combine the soul of fine Chinese dining with a contemporary preparation,’ as he said. The chef, who is over 10 years of experience, is ready to delight diners with menu offerings that reflect a growing trend for fresh, authentic and health-conscious cuisine that showcases the quality and origins of the ingredients.

The first delicious dish is the fish bladder soup. It’s a richly spiced typical dish that will surely be satisfy the diners’ taste buds for their first ever spoons. The bite-sized pretty soft pieces of fish bladder cooked in a flavourful broth, fragrant dark soya sauce make it staying true to a traditional Chinese favourites.

Another chef’s signature dishes, the roasted chicken in salt cover, is truly not to be missed. The chicken must be in superior quality and suitable weigh. The chicken was marinated with secret Chinese herbs for hours, covered with a thick lay of sea salt and slowly roasted for hours more. The manner of serving and eating the chicken is also unique. The staff shows you the whole chicken inside the white salt cover before taking it away for his funky performance. Before taking salt out of the chicken, the chef poured a little fragrant cinnamon wine called Mui Kwe Lu onto it then burns for a minute. The rich flavor chicken in red-brown colour was cut into pieces and then, served to the diners.

However, no fine-dining meal at Golden Dragon Restaurant would be complete without tackling a dish of grouper, the most special dish of the restaurant during this summer. What make grouper dishes of the restaurant so special are the freshness of the fish. The alive grouper was caught in front of the diners then cooked right away. Grouper will be prepared in five different ways: sautéed fish with black garlic, steamed fish with Tung Lok mushroom, steamed fish with mixed spring mushrooms, sautéed fish with soya sauce and sweet and sour sautéed fish.

We tried the sautéed fish with black garlic, the sweetness of the fresh fish combined with savoury sauce and the fragrance of black garlic created a great taste that definitely electrified our palates and satisfied our taste buds, as all friends of mine agreed!

For extra "oomph!", order some white wine to pair with the fresh fish dish, which will leave you hankering for more! Without a doubt, the grouper dishes are considered the greatest newly culinary inventions of the Chinese born chef of the restaurant. Don’t try all five specialties at one time you visit the restaurant, save these wonderful delicious dishes, and no matter how many times you come, there will always be something new here!