bajajazz
Nomad
Posts: 386
Registered: 12-18-2006
Location: La Paz, BCS, Mexico
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Dragon de Oro, La Paz
We've had three meals at the Dragon de Oro in La Paz at the corner of Allende and Madero and the results -- I'm sorry to say -- are mixed.
One dinner -- for a party of six -- was excellent, a top drawer effort by the chef. The Chow Mein Carnitas (served with crispy noodles for a welcome
change) and the Black Oyster Sauce Pollo were the best Chinese dishes we've had in 20 years of dining out in La Paz.
The other two dinners we had at Dragon de Oro were okay but nothing to write home about, just the usual fair-to-middlin' attempt at Chinese cookery
one can get in any of the local hash houses where one gets the impression chop suey is prepared in batches of 10,000 gallons and fried rice is cooked
ahead by the train car load.
In those kind of restaurants a good meal is one in which you don't puke your guts out afterwards, and they exist in San Francisco, too.
My best guess is the quality of the food you'll be served at Dragon de Oro depends on who's cooking when you're there, just as was the case at Kim's
on Dominguez. It was always good (and sometimes very good) when Kim was there running the show, but when he wasn't around indifference set in and the
food was . . . well, indifferent. We learned not to go in unless we could see Kim in the restaurant as we drove by.
The Dragon de Oro deserves a chance, though. If the owners can solve the consistency problem and keep the quality of the food up to a respectable
level it has the potential of becoming an institution in La Paz, the place to go when the Chinese munchies strike.
The one thing that would improve all the Chinese cuisine in La Paz would be for a Vietnamese restaurant to come to town and show the locals how to do
it. Chinese cookery with a delicate French flair, that's what Vietnamese cooking is in its essence, and how we miss it.
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Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
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Thanks for the informativ report.
The "fusion" dish of Chinese Carnitas sounds like something I'd order.
That said, I've had spotty Chinese in Baja, including the vaunted noodle holes of Mexicali.
But then, I wouldn't expect good mojo de ajo in Guongdong.
On the Viet front, one of the sole benfits of living in SoCal these days is proximity to Asian Food National Park: HB, FV, and Santa Ana.
This is where Thai and Viet cuisines were introduced to the U.S.
My favorite French Viet spot is Favori in Santa Ana.
The only requirement for love or chorizo is confidence.
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gnukid
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Registered: 7-2-2006
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As someone who eats vietnamese and mexican often I found they have surprisingly common ingredients, though Pho style is a little more on the lean
toward healthy. Interesting what a combination of fresh veggies, jalepenos, and meat can create depending on the influence.
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villadelfin
Nomad
Posts: 273
Registered: 4-8-2006
Location: La Paz
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Mood: toasted and buttered
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Ever since we opened the bookstore just up the street from Dragon de Oro we've been eating there fairly frequently. The family packages are amazing as
it is so much food!
They used to be over by the tourist bus terminal and now that they moved, they are doing much better business.
Has anyone tried the Dragon de Jade yet? They took over de Óro's old space.
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JESSE
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Registered: 11-5-2002
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I go there all the time, i like it.
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CasaManzana
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Posts: 398
Registered: 7-4-2004
Location: Was Mulege:Posada Beach/now Zihuatanejo
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Here today and gone tomorrow...then here again-
Mexican Mystery #2823748606 is why can't the restaurants be the same a week later from when you were there. We dined at the Dragon de Oro in July two
nights in a row. We were so impressed that I posted a thread here on the Nomad recommending it A MUST while in La Paz. Coming from San Francisco, I
thought I knew what good food was in this category....now...dang, here we go again
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JESSE
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 11-5-2002
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| Quote: | Originally posted by CasaManzana
Mexican Mystery #2823748606 is why can't the restaurants be the same a week later from when you were there. We dined at the Dragon de Oro in July two
nights in a row. We were so impressed that I posted a thread here on the Nomad recommending it A MUST while in La Paz. Coming from San Francisco, I
thought I knew what good food was in this category....now...dang, here we go again
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The reason is that it is EXTREMELY hard to find people that want to work for more than a few months in Baja Sur. Restaurants are very demanding
businesess, and most locals dont want to work in a place where theres lots of pressure and stress.
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comitan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4177
Registered: 3-27-2004
Location: La Paz
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Mood: mellow
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Dragon De Oro Dinner there last night, must have had the wrong cook, Maybe the worst Chinese food I ever ate. Service was good, clean looking US
style ambiance.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
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Mood: optimistic
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I love all types of Chinese food--------
Now having said that, I spent a month in North/Central China a couple of years ago, eating in many recommended restaurants, and the food was spotty
also----sometimes very good, and sometimes only fair to poor, at the same restaurants. It was NEVER up to the quality and tastyness of a good Chinese
restaurant in the States, IMO. "Chinese food" is very different, depending on where you are.
We used to eat in the Mexicali Chinese restaurants often back in the '70's and '80's, and it was the same----spotty, but always worth while. (we
lived in El Centro)
You just never know------which makes it an adventure, and always fun. 
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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I have found that eating experiences in Baja are particularly chancy during the holidays.
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vandenberg
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Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
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We ate there last month. Not overly impressed, but it could hold it's own with the many Chinese/Oriental eateries in central California, of which
there are many. At least it's nice , light and clean, and the service was good. It's a cheap way to fill your breadbasket ( drinks also ) and at their
prices you shouldn't expect a gourmet meal.
You definitely get what you pay for here and with the large amounts of food that comes with the family dinner, you should be able to pick the stuff
you like and let the La Paz dogs fight over the leftovers. If that's
where they go.
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bajajazz
Nomad
Posts: 386
Registered: 12-18-2006
Location: La Paz, BCS, Mexico
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THERE'S FOOD -- AND THEN THERE'S GRUB
With the abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood we enjoy in Baja Sur it has always puzzled me that the Chinese restaurants here barely rise
to the level of mediocrity. There's no reason they can't be the best in the world.
Eating in some of them reminds me of one of the chores I had to perform as a kid on my uncle's farm, e.g., slopping the hogs.
Trader Vic in San Francisco used to have a sign in his kitchen urging the waiters to push the Chinese food -- the profit margin was higher than the
rest of the menu.
And I'm guessing that the owners of the restaurants here are interested only in pushing out the cheapest product as fast as possible and don't care a
whit about quality, which tells me they don't take any pride in their work. Money grubbers in the restaurant business are well-named, because that's
what they serve -- grub.
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