Dragon Teahouse

Critic's Review

I'm not sure why I went into the Dragon Teahouse. But I did.

Bizarro World started as I entered a seemingly empty room. There was one woman dining alone in the corner, and another woman sitting in the back, who appeared to be part of the restaurant. A bell rings as you enter. No movement. I sit down at a table. Still nothing. I see menus over by the hostess stand, and go over and grab one. The women in the back didn't even move her head.

The decor speaks for itself.

Dragon Teahouse Interior

A good 10 minutes after first entering another woman comes out from the back. "Hello, do you want tea?". I tried to query her about iced tea, but ultimately decided on hot tea.

Everything here looks kind of old, lacking shine.

Dragon Tearoom Tea

The upholstery is splitting at the seams.

Dragon Tearoom Upholstery

The lunch special choices are pretty weak, I went with General Tso's, hoping to get some spice. It comes with egg drop soup; wonton is a 75 cent up charge. Egg drop bores me; I would have preferred hot and sour.

Dragon Teahouse Wonton Soup

This would have been fine if there was meat in the wontons; one of them was empty and the other has a tiny piece that was barely detectable. Good broth and crisp onions.

General Tso came with a heap of fried rice that didn't faste like chinese fried rice. Very little pork or other stuff; I left most of the rice on the place.

Dragon Teahouse General Tso's Chicken

The chicken was ok, but not very spicy. "Spicy Enough", the woman asked. I wasn't sending it back.

The star of the plate was the egg roll. I haven't had an egg roll like this since I was a teenager. We used to make late night stops at this place on Route 111 in Hauppauge for big, deep fried egg rolls stuffed with good stuff. A bit of duck sauce and it's fantastic.

Dragon Tearoom Egg Rolls

I asked for the check; I tried to explain that I didn't need the calories from the rice, which never goes over well with the Chinese. $9 for lunch. Can't beat the price, but I continue to not like to dine in at Chinese restaurants.

Conclusion

You wonder how places can survive with 2 customers (not 2 tables, 2 customers) at 1:30pm. This place hasn't grasped the concept of ripping off diners, which is kind of nice. But it wasn't good enough to recommend.

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Lisa

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I love this little place. I have been going here since I was a little girl. I do admit the decor is outdated but for me it adds to the charm. It's one of those neighborhood hole in the wall places that always has delicious food. The best dishes to me are the honey garlic chicken, roast pork, cashew chicken, and roast pork lo mein. The egg rolls are always crispy and yummy and the special fried rice is full of different meats and shrimp. The lady that usually waits the tables does almost everything there including taking care of her elderly mother who usually sits at a table in the restaurant. This can cause delays sometimes in the service since she is the hostess, waitress, food runner, and cashier. I could see if she is in the back getting the food for another order and you have never dined there before how walking in one could feel uncomfortable. But once you meet her it's easy to see that she is always extremely friendly and that she works very hard. A tip that I learned in dining here for over 25 years is that the rice is always better if ordered separately or as an upgraded order like the special fried rice.

9 years ago