Dragon House

Serving up Mandarin, Szechwan and Shanghai cuisine, David Chang's Dragon
House was "Voted #1 for the Best Chinese Restaurant in the Inland Empire
for 1996-2000 by The Press Enterprise's Readers Choice Poll". My first visit
was in 2001 to their Moreno Valley location. At the entrance a large Buddha
greets patrons with a smile, and though the place was dated, they still
packed them in on a Saturday night.

I thought the food at this location was hit or miss, but when they hit, mmm!
Starting with the appetizers, don't even bother with the House Special
Assorted Appetizers you'd be better off paying the extra $1.45 ordering the
two best things on the platter the BBQ Beef Sticks and the Paper Wrapped
Chicken, both were excellent. The Crab Rangoon also quite tasty, sparse on
crab, but the hot cream cheese and crispy wonton went beautifully with their
sweet and sour sauce. On the downside, the Eggrolls had no meat or flavor,
the Fried Shrimp was practically all breading and the Fried Wontons were
uneventful. I wasn't crazy about their Homemade Dumplings either. The
wrapper was too thick and firm, while the fried version, Fried Dumplings,
reminded me of empanadas. The Eggflower Soup was oily and the Chef's
Special Imperial Chicken Salad, a mixture of chopped chicken with fresh
mushrooms assembled in iceberg lettuce cups, was a bit bland the first
night, but the flavors really came out heated up the next day.

We were still on that roller coaster ride through the entrees. The Sesame
Chicken tasted much like sweet & sour chicken, but topped with sesame
seeds. The Pork Lo Mein Noodles was boring and the Mu Shu Pork didn't have
nearly as much pork as it should have. Better choices were the Beef with
String Beans which had a nice balance of salty and spice with whole fresh
green beans sauteed with thin slices of beef. The Lemon Chicken was good
as well and the Mongolian Beef was so tender. Even better was the Dragon
House Orange Beef which was wonderfully addicting with slightly crispy
sweet slices of beef mingling with a hint of spice. The Honey Shrimp with
Walnuts was another a dream with lightly dusted and fried shrimps tossed in
a honey lemon glaze with whole candied walnuts.

I enjoy the upscale surroundings of their Riverside location better. The staff
here was particularly friendly, though Moreno Valley makes a better Honey
Shrimp with Walnuts. The menu at the Dragon House is huge, I couldn't even
begin to tackle it. They serve umbrella garnished drinks as well as lunch
combinations as low as $5.45 per person and dinner combinations as low as
$9.95 per person. I find it quite the task finding Chinese food that's not bland
and this place has some very excellent dishes. I look forward to coming here
to find more yummy stuff!

Prices: Crab Rangoon $5.45, BBQ Beef Sticks $4.95, Paper Wrapped Chicken
$4.95, House Orange Beef $8.95, Shark's Fin & Three Flavor Soup $11.45,
Imperial Shrimp Basket $17.95, Szechwan Lobster seasonal priced.

Hours: Open Monday through Sunday lunch through dinner.

The Moreno Valley location is at 22456 Alessandro.

Telephone (909) 653-1442 or 653-0703

The Riverside location 10466 Magnolia Avenue

Telephone (951) 354-2080