Soup dumpling giant Paradise Dynasty is expanding to Los Angeles

There aren't many really good places to make soup dumplings in this country, as it's a dish usually best left to a handful of specialists. Soup dumplings are one of those particular foods, like bagels, that you don't wake up one day and decide to put on the menu. Sure, they're a simple concept, in theory, but so is operating a table saw. If you don't know what you're doing, it can turn into a real disaster.

Din Tai Fung It's currently the top xiao long bao restaurant in this country (I'll use “soup dumpling” interchangeably with “xiao long bao” and “XLB” in this review), but now there's a newcomer, Paradise Dynastyready to fight for the title.

The Singapore chain will expand in 2024 from Orange County to Americana at Brand in Glendale, hosting an all-ages dumpling showdown with the newly opened Din Tai Fung location across the street at the Glendale Galleria .

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is the current home of Paradise Dynasty. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

Among its specialty, xiao long bao, is the spicy Sichuan flavor, with red tones. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

And I, for one, welcome our new dumpling lords. The more options, the better. The fact that we are being treated to a heavyweight title fight (a xiao long fight, if you will) between two of the world's leading dumpling specialists is just the icing on the cake.

But can Paradise Dynasty, which has numerous locations in Asia but lacks Din Tai Fung's name recognition in the US, take on the undisputed king of XLB? Will Rudy get a chance to suit up for the big game? Can Ali beat Foreman?

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is the current home of Paradise Dynasty (there's also a Din Tai Fung branch there). Head south through the upscale mall (“It's not a mall, it's a square” a colleague joked) as you walk through Bloomingdale's and you'll encounter the restaurant's name in huge letters, subtitled with the cinematic sound “Legend of Xiao Long Bao.” After a slightly disconcerting process of getting a table that may involve two separate check-in lines, you are led into a spacious, modern dining room.

If you're not sure what to order, the xiao long bao are front and center. There's a large chart explaining the weight (25 grams per dumpling), features (thin dumpling skin), and architecture (each has 18 folds) of the XLB, and while it's mostly for show, it's fun to read, as if you were looking at features. of a new car. In addition to their usual xiao long bao, Paradise Dynasty features colorful soup dumplings that come in various flavors (red is Sichuan spicy, green is kimchi, gray is garlic, etc.) and this is where I would like begin.

The specialty here is rainbow-colored dumplings with flavors like cheese, truffle, and luffa squash. It's a trick but a good one.

(Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

I admit that I come with a natural aversion to the idea of ​​a multi-colored, multi-flavored basket of soup dumplings. Gray dumplings, like truly gray, the color of a dolphin or a rock, are generally not on my list of things to eat. This may all seem like a bad gimmick, like butter planks or bacon-flavored everything.

Now I'm convinced it's a pretty cool hack, like Doritos Locos or Cronuts tacos. The flavored dumplings, of which there are eight, including the regular pork flavor, not only taste different from each other but are sometimes delicious to eat on their own. The XLB kimchi was my favorite of the bunch, with a distinctive and pleasant sourness. The aforementioned garlic-flavored gray dumpling lived up to its hype and provided a strong hint of allium. The cheese, the flavor I was perhaps most skeptical of, was creamy and indulgent.

Any discussion of regular pork xiao long bao will require a comparison with Din Tai Fung. Paradise Dynasty dumplings, when firing on all cylinders, can hold their own against the Taiwanese chain. Bigger doesn't mean better, but at 25 grams, they're a little heavier than the 21 gram meatballs in Din Tai Fung. (Apparently a Din Tai Fung soup dumpling leave your body After you die?) They both have similar ingredients and light, bright broths, so ultimately it comes down to construction.

That's where Din Tai Fung has the advantage. Paradise Dynasty's dumplings, while good, were a bit inconsistent, a problem I imagine will be fixed over time. In one batch I received, the top of one dumpling was not sealed and a couple of other dumplings were touching – a big mistake when it comes to maintaining structural integrity so the soup doesn't spill. The outer dough was also a little dry on some Paradise Dynasty XLBs: that could have to do with the refrigeration or steaming technique, or perhaps just putting too much flour on the board when rolling out the dough.

So who makes the best dumpling soup? These are Din Tai Fung's expertly folded xiao long bao. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

Paradise Dynasty's dumplings are good but a little inconsistent, a problem that could be fixed with time. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

But it's other items on Paradise Dynasty's menu that really stand out and, ultimately, I think may determine its success as it expands. Having arrived too late one afternoon to order the radish cakes or deep-fried Shanghai kurobuta pork buns (you may know them as sheng jian bao), I made it a point to arrive earlier on a follow-up visit. I was very happy to have done it. Radish cakes look like fat caterpillars, finely segmented and incredibly flaky. The delicate layers of dough almost disappear as they meet the tongue, and the remaining blank slate of soft, flavorful radish pairs perfectly with the deeply brown-hued fruity table vinegar.

Sheng jian bao are fried brown and crispy on the bottom half and left soft, white and pliable on top, with a color delineation as sharp as an end-of-summer tan line. The outside of the dumpling has a wonderful texture contrast and the inside is full of meat and juice. I find it hard to think of a better sheng jian bao I've had recently.

Cold dishes like cucumber salad and sliced ​​tofu with crispy onion are also good options at Paradise Dynasty. I might even like their cucumber salad, chunks covered in what tastes like a thin garlic paste, better than Din Tai Fung's version, where thick slices of cucumber are piled into a pyramid.

Paradise Dynasty's radish cakes are finely segmented and incredibly flaky, with delicate layers of dough that almost disappear when you touch your tongue. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times) Paradise Dynasty's soup with tofu, chopped vegetables and diced crab was fresh, green and satisfying. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times) Stir-Fried Rice Cake with Lobster in Singapore-Style Chili Crab Sauce is spicy, chewy, sweet, salty and meaty. For $88.88, it's a fun splurge. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

Chefs prepare xiao long bao at Paradise Dynasty. According to a sign near the kitchen, each dumpling weighs 25 grams and has 18 folds.

(Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

Noodle dishes are generally stronger at Din Tai Fung; I had a bowl of bland noodle soup at Paradise Dynasty and some lightly seasoned stir-fried noodles. But other chefs' specialties at Paradise produced some great finds. The stir-fried rice cake with lobster in Singapore-style chilli crab sauce was an exemplary disaster of sensory overload: spicy, chewy, sweet, salty and meaty. At an auspicious price of $88.88, it's not cheap, but it's a fun splurge. A thick soup with tofu, chopped vegetables and diced crab was fresh, green and satisfying.

By the way, Din Tai Fung also makes excellent soups and vegetables. I stopped by the new Galleria location a day or two after it opened and got a free seat at the bar. (Always check the bar. It was almost an hour wait to find a table.) Two standout dishes were a tofu and glass noodle puff soup, with a smooth, balanced broth and long, chewy fingers of fluffy tofu, and a Taiwanese crispy dish. cabbage, sautéed to perfection and studded with slivers of garlic sliced ​​so thin you'd swear Paul Sorvino was working in the back.

I can hardly wait for summer when Paradise Dynasty is scheduled to open its doors in Glendale. In my theater camp days, those in charge had a saying to calm those who were unhappy with the size of their roles: “There are no small roles, only small actors.” I'd like to take this quip beyond the stage and into the kitchen, specifically in relation to dumplings: there are no bad dumplings, just…bad steamer baskets? Chipped chopsticks? Hopefully you see my point: sure, it's a kind of competition, but one in which there are no losers. The leavening soup lifts all the meatballs.