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Dragon Castle
114 Walworth Road
Elephant & Castle, SE17 1JL
London
Tel: 020 7277 3388

Food type: Chinese

Food rating: 3/10

Nearest tube: Elephant & Castle

Website: Dragon Castle

A lot of my life is based around playing badminton. My university badminton club is located at Elephant & Castle so I do hang about the area afterwards to eat. Much of the food around the area is pretty awful but located around the slums of Camberwell is Dragon Castle. Dragon Castle looks completely out of place admist the background of council estates and grey rundown buildings. At times I wonder if the owners mistook Elephant & Castle for some prime real estate. All said, its location allows them to charge more sensible prices compared to those in Chinatown. I have frequented Dragon Castle numerous times both for Dim Sum as well as dinner. This is my most recent visit for Dim Sum lunch which was a treat by D and B.

Crispy Dough Cheung Fun

We went for the staple Dim Sum fare. Crispy Dough Cheung Fun had some crispy Yau Char Kwai wrapped around silky smooth rice noodles with a generous sprinkling of sesame seed and spring onions. Sensibly enough, the soya dipping sauce was served at the side to prevent the crispy dough from going soggy. I felt this dish was well executed with good flavour and texture of the crispy dough and the timing spot-on. (5/10)

Prawn Cheung Fun

Less spectacular was the the Prawn Cheung Fun which had some less than stellar prawns. (3/10)

Steamed Pork and Prawn Dumpling

Steamed King prawn Dumpling

Steamed Pork and Prawn Dumpling (Siu Mai) again had the same prawns which were slightly mushy and skin which was slightly thick. The same also applied to the Steamed King Prawn Dumpling (Har gao). (2/10)

Deep Fried Crispy Squid

Deep Fried Crispy Squid was served with a Sweet & Sour sauce. The squid was coated in batter covering the squid was on the thick side although it was crisp and correctly cooked. (3/10)

Crispy Taro and Pork Croquette

Crispy Taro and Pork Croquette was passable with light fluffy strands of fluffy taro encasing the warm pork and dried shrimp filling. However, the croquette was on the greasy side and the filling slightly on the salty side. (3/10)

Salted Fish and Sliced Pork Steamed Rice Pot

A bowl of Salted Fish and Sliced Pork Steamed Rice Pot takes me back all the way to my childhood. While some people may find salted fish to be disgusting, I absolutely love the salty flakes of fish mixed with rice. That said, the salted fish used here was not of good quality – it was overly salted with a faint taste of the ‘chemicals’ used to treat it. (2/10)

Peking Duck

A side order of Peking Duck was presented with both the skin carved out and a stir fry of the duck meat. The perfect Peking duck skin consists of crisp skin, devoid of fat which literally melts in your mouth. The skin served here fulfilled the first criteria although there were thick layers of fat still stuck on it. Additionally, some parts of the skin were rather soggy. The peking duck was served with ‘Man Tau’ instead of the usual pancakes. B and D particularly liked the plum sauce served with it. The stir fried duck consisted of spring onions and celery and was well balanced with good crunch and freshness to it. This was much better than the rendition of the same dish I had on a previous visit which was overly salty. (4/10)

Mango Pudding

We finished off Lunch with some Mango pudding which was passable but lacked a significant punch in terms of mango flavour (possibly due to the use of tinned mango as opposed to fresh mango pulp) a touch too much gelatine resulting in a rather firm texture. (2/10)

Our Dim Sum lunch was a pleasant affair with good attentive service. The Dim sum were overall of pleasant and well timed although they were no where near the quality of those served in Hong Kong. But this is to be expected, and with prices comparable or cheaper than those in Chinatown, this remains my favourite local Chinese eatery when I need my MSG fix.

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