Dimsum lunch at Koi Palace
There are a few unexpected things for me about Koi Palace. I didn’t expect it to be in the middle of PetSmart, Ross, 24 Hour Fitness, Outback, and CVS. Nor could I fathom why it was completely full at noon time on a Wednesday. People in Daly City don’t have to work on weekdays? What about schools? (plenty of school-age glanced at me mid-bites when I tried to spy the food on their table…) Inexplicable.
Perhaps the food here is really so good that work is meaningless without it? Among the things we got, a few really gave us that instant burst of satisfaction like when you pop a bubble-wrap bubble and made me forget work for a second. Such as the grilled chive and shrimp dumplings. Each ball plops into your mouth and fills the void so perfectly, you sink into a plump piece of shrimp every time you move your jaw. It takes some time to chew, and you kind of wish it would last even longer.
The espresso coffee ribs are another. You can definitely taste the coffee in that succulent, rich piece of meat. This is one of those examples of candied meat, an odd-sounding but undeniably addictive entanglements. If Koi Palace were a buffet, this would be what people pile on their plates.
Not all items were unanimously favorites, however. Most were oily, regrettably but not unexpectedly, such as the roast duck with the perfect-looking burnt orange glaze, the lo mai gai (sticky rice with dried scallop and lap cheong wrapped in lotus leaves), and the cheong fun with BBQ pork and crispy rice.
This cheong fun is interesting, though. The crispy rice part is some type of crispy rice noodle made into a mesh and deep-fried, then rolled next to typical Chinese red-and-sweet BBQ pork cubes inside thick sheets of rice noodle. Finally, the rolls are doused in a sweet soy sauce. We see that they’re trying to go for a soft-versus-crispy-versus-meaty (?) texture harmony thing, but the crispy rice couldn’t stay crispy very long. I like them still, but had I not been Vietnamese and a fan of the much-thinner-rice-roll banh cuon, I would have liked these more.
We always order xiao long bao as a standard measure of how good the dumplings are at dimsum houses. Unfortunately, the xiao long baos here are a bit of a disappointment compared to Shanghai Dumpling King’s (I’m convinced that Shanghai Dumpling King actually has the best Shanghai dumpling aka xiao long bao aka soup dumpling in the Bay Area). They’re not juicy enough. The stuffing is lackluster. They won’t be ordered again.
The remaining fares were neither dream nor embarrassment. There were the fairly commendable congee with pork and pidan, although I would prefer it 30% less thick, sliced jellyfish and green seaweed salad that got stuck in my teeth forever, really nutty gailan in oyster sauce, which was a nice break from all the meat, some Sichuan spicy seafood dumplings in red peanut sauce that looked like little green aliens but thankfully weren’t too spicy, and the unassuming but lovely Peking-style steamed chive and pork dumplings, which never go wrong.
Although the porridge was brought out near the beginning as it should be, the rest of the food arrived in no predictable order. Lo mai gai came first. Deep-fried sesame balls for desserts came at the same time as the green aliens, then they kept pouring in and dangerously took over our table. I stopped taking pictures at one point to start eating so that we could get rid of the plates…
Speaking of desserts, if there is one thing you should never get at Koi Palace, it’s Number 501 under “Sweet Heart” – “Grilled Black Sesame Filled Glutinous Cake”. They are deceptively cute – each is a little squishy ball coated with sesame seeds and contains a gooey black sesame core, kinda like the Sno Balls(*). They are death. Not in a good way, because they are so oily that you are afraid of swallowing, so you have to chew them to death. The problem is that the core is too little and the skin is too thick. If you want black-sesame dessert balls, go to Shanghai Dumpling King, they serve it boiled and full of sesame. On the other hand, the deep-fried balls with lotus and bean paste inside are actually good.
The take-away message: when you’re at Koi Palace, order “espresso coffee ribs” and “grilled chive & shrimp dumpling”. Do NOT order “Grilled Black Sesame Filled Glutinous Cake”.
Address: Koi Palace in Serramonte Plaza
365 Gellert Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015
koipalace.com
Foodnote:
(*) Sno Balls are the best American sweets ever invented.
(**) Photo credit: some photos were taken by bnibroc.
you’re in point of fact a excellent webmaster. The website loading speed is incredible. It sort of feels that you’re doing any unique trick. Also, The contents are masterwork. you have performed a great task on this matter!
1Loving the information on this website , you have done outstanding job on the articles.
2My wife and i felt absolutely fortunate Emmanuel managed to conclude his reports via the ideas he got out of the web pages. It’s not at all simplistic just to possibly be giving for free secrets that many other folks might have been trying to sell. And we also fully grasp we have the website owner to appreciate because of that. The most important illustrations you’ve made, the easy site menu, the friendships your site make it possible to foster – it’s everything astonishing, and it’s assisting our son and our family recognize that the idea is brilliant, and that’s really important. Thank you for all the pieces!
3Good website! I truly love how it is simple on my eyes and the data are well written. I’m wondering how I could be notified when a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your feed which must do the trick! Have a nice day!
4I reckon something genuinely special in this site.
5This internet site is my breathing in, really excellent pattern and perfect content material.
6excellent points altogether, you just received a new reader. What may you suggest about your post that you made some days in the past? Any sure?
7Your home is valueble for me. Thanks!…
8Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?
9I have not checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I will add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
10Just desire to say your article is as surprising. The clarity in your submit is just cool and i can suppose you are knowledgeable on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to snatch your RSS feed to keep up to date with impending post. Thank you a million and please continue the rewarding work.
11I appreciate, cause I found exactly what I was looking for. You have ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
12Hello.This post was extremely fascinating, especially because I was searching for thoughts on this issue last Sunday.
13Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think about worries that they just don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
14Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any points or suggestions? Thank you
15Together with everything that seems to be building throughout this subject matter, a significant percentage of viewpoints happen to be relatively exciting. Nevertheless, I beg your pardon, but I can not subscribe to your entire plan, all be it exciting none the less. It would seem to me that your opinions are not entirely validated and in actuality you are generally yourself not really totally convinced of the point. In any case I did appreciate examining it.
16It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d without a doubt donate to this fantastic blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and will share this website with my Facebook group. Talk soon!
17I went over this web site and I conceive you have a lot of fantastic information, bookmarked (:.
18Hello, i believe that i saw you visited my website thus i got here to “go back the prefer”.I am attempting to find issues to improve my web site!I suppose its adequate to use a few of your ideas!!
19hey there and thank you on your info – I’ve definitely picked up anything new from proper here. I did alternatively expertise several technical issues using this web site, since I experienced to reload the web site many occasions prior to I could get it to load properly. I were wondering if your web host is OK? No longer that I’m complaining, however slow loading circumstances times will often have an effect on your placement in google and can injury your high quality rating if ads and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Anyway I’m including this RSS to my email and can look out for a lot more of your respective exciting content. Make sure you replace this once more very soon..
20Some really nice stuff on this site, I enjoy it.
21Regards for helping out, great information. “If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.” by Henry David Thoreau.
22I like this web blog very much so much excellent information.
23Wonderful blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Thank you
24Excellent website. A lot of useful info here. I’m sending it to some pals ans additionally sharing in delicious. And naturally, thank you to your sweat!
25The explanation helped me understand why the renzo staking deposit isn’t just a regular token swap.
26Awesome website you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about here? I’d really like to be a part of group where I can get suggestions from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Cheers!
27Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
28Well I definitely liked studying it. This information procured by you is very useful for accurate planning.
29WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..more wait .. …
30I like what you guys are up too. Such intelligent work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my site 🙂
31Spot on with this write-up, I really assume this web site needs far more consideration. I’ll in all probability be again to read far more, thanks for that info.
32I genuinely enjoy looking at on this site, it has got great posts.
33I used to be recommended this blog via my cousin. I am now not sure whether or not this post is written by way of him as no one else understand such special approximately my trouble. You’re amazing! Thanks!
34This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
35I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
36Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch as I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
37hi!,I like your writing so much! share we communicate more about your article on AOL? I need an expert on this area to solve my problem. May be that’s you! Looking forward to see you.
38Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was searching for!
39Admiring the time and energy you put into your blog and detailed information you provide. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same out of date rehashed information. Fantastic read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.
40I absolutely love your blog and find nearly all of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for. Do you offer guest writers to write content for you? I wouldn’t mind creating a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write about here. Again, awesome web log!
41I view something really special in this website.
42Hey would you mind letting me know which web host you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you recommend a good internet hosting provider at a reasonable price? Thanks, I appreciate it!
43I think this is one of the most important info for me. And i am glad reading your article. But wanna remark on some general things, The site style is wonderful, the articles is really excellent :D. Good job, cheers
44I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
45There is noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made certain nice points in features also.
46I will right away snatch your rss as I can’t to find your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly permit me recognise so that I may subscribe. Thanks.
47hi!,I love your writing so much! percentage we keep up a correspondence more about your post on AOL? I require a specialist on this house to solve my problem. Maybe that’s you! Looking forward to see you.
48Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your theme. Kudos
49I’ll immediately take hold of your rss feed as I can’t find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me realize in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
50