After getting our annual haul of various omamori at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii’s Oshogatsu celebration, we decided to pop into Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant for lunchtime dim sum. They just opened a couple of months ago on the Hookipa Terrace at Ala Moana in the old Kyoto Ohsho location. We were told it would be a 20 minute wait but were seated in about 5 minutes. As we were lead to our table, I already had a good feeling since many of the tables we passed were Chinese families. If you want good ethnic food, go where the people of that culture eat.
Unlike many dim sum restaurants, Jade Dynasty has ordering sheets with their menus – no carts are wheeled throughout the restaurant. It actually would be impossible to navigate a dim sum cart in this place due to the close proximity of the tables. We started with the Mochi Rice with Dried Scallop and Chicken or mochi rice steamed with scallop and chicken while wrapped in lotus leaves. The lotus leaf gave the rice a scent of lau lau – like that aroma of steamed luau leaves – and the rice wasn’t too mushy or sticky with the perfect amount of salt from the dried scallops and savory chicken. Winnah, winnah, mochi rice dinnah!
Unlike many dim sum restaurants, Jade Dynasty has ordering sheets with their menus – no carts are wheeled throughout the restaurant. It actually would be impossible to navigate a dim sum cart in this place due to the close proximity of the tables. We started with the Mochi Rice with Dried Scallop and Chicken or mochi rice steamed with scallop and chicken while wrapped in lotus leaves. The lotus leaf gave the rice a scent of lau lau – like that aroma of steamed luau leaves – and the rice wasn’t too mushy or sticky with the perfect amount of salt from the dried scallops and savory chicken. Winnah, winnah, mochi rice dinnah!
We also sampled the Seafood Seaweed Rolls or shrimp wrapped in seaweed (like wakame) then lightly battered and fried. It had the perfect crunch on the outside with a nice balance of seaweed and shrimp within. Winnah, winnah, seaweed roll dinnah!
The picture of the Beef Shank with Marinated Soy Sauce looked good so we tried that… winnah, winnah, beef shank dinnah! It was a cold dish with thinly sliced beef shank flavored with a touch of five spice and soy. Every now and then you would get a little crunch from the connective tissue or a little hit of flavorful fat but WOW! I’m gonna look for this item at all Chinese restaurants from now.
The Mrs couldn’t pass on the Fried Rice Fukien Style which is plain fried rice covered in a rich brown sauce flecked with scallops, mushrooms and diced chicken. All this needed was a sunny side egg on top and I would be good to go!
Other standards we sampled were the Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns, Fresh Shrimp Spinach Dumplings, Bean Curd Rolls and Signature Shrimp Dumplings and none of these other dishes disappointed us.
We ended the meal with the Baked Pineapple Cream Buns – the Mrs usually opts for Dan Tat or the egg custard tarts but I prefer the pineapple buns with their crunchy topping and soft cream filling.
Our server said he hoped we would be back. That we will… that we will.
Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
Ala Moana Shopping Center
4th floor Ho'okipa Terrace, near Macy's
(808) 947-8818
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