We had to depart the hotel at 1AM for the airport and hence chose to dine early at our hotel to try and catch several hours of sleep, which was a perfect plan. GOLDEN DRAGON is the renowned elegant Chinese restaurant at the grande dame of hotels in Mumbai, the Taj Mahal Palace. The dining room is not very large and was cozy, warm and plush with linens, fine china, crystal and excellent service. We wanted to ensure our food had a kick, and the staff made sure we were truly pleased. We ordered a bottle of the Fratelli Chardonnay from India that we have always enjoyed and is a crispy fruit-forward wine that works so well with spice.
We decided to split two starters, two mains and a rice (photos on FB).
Truffle Edamame Dumplings were nice, but not a prize winner and I used some of the many condiments to knock up the flavor profile a tad. The hot chili sauce was great and there was also soy sauce, duck sauce, winter melon and pickled cabbage--the latter two especially yummy to munch on.
The Asparagus & Lotus Root came in a yummy Pickled Vinegar Sauce, and we felt very good for eating some nice veggies.
We moved on to the Wok-tossed Tiger Prawns in XO Sauce that was smoky and packed a nice punch as well. There was a fab Veggie Stir Fried Rice with Crunchy Burnt Garlic that also gave it great flavor.
We finished the white and chose two glasses of red to try: Grover Zampa La Reserve Cab/Merlot which was totally weird with a slight fizz(maybe it was off) so they replaced it when the server asked how it was and we both ended up with the house red, Taj(the hotel chain) Svara by Fratelli Vineyards Cabernet/Sangiovese Blend, a new wine for our last night in India that we loved and paired great with our final main of Smoked Duck in Red Chilli Sauce that also packed a punch as was so tender, just like the juicy shrimp.
Will wanted to try the Beijing Milk Cake with Coconut Crumb which he called a quasi-Chinese tres leches, but I found way too sweet and only had a bit of.
We did manage three hours or so of sleep and are now waiting for our connecting 15+ hour flight home from Abu Dhabi after a truly wonderful food experience on our first Indian journey.
