A Little Dragon

An extensive menu of authentic, well-cooked Chinese dishes and prompt service keeps one reviewer coming back to this strip-mall restaurant in Yardley, Pa.

By: Richard Burns

   A Little Dragon is a cut above the ordinary Chinese strip-mall restaurant. Located in the Lower Makefield Shopping Center, it was, until earlier this month, a sister restaurant to the larger Dragon restaurant in Newtown. We were informed by Rocky Chung that after a long career working for the owner of both restaurants, he became the new owner of A Little Dragon March 1.
   A Little Dragon is small, about 15 tables, and attractive, with mauve tablecloths, white cloth napkins and Oriental prints on the walls. We dined, along with a Chinese friend and her husband, on a Sunday evening. It was very quiet, so our visit wasn’t really a true test for the single-waiter service. In fact, the service was almost too efficient. Our orders arrived almost immediately and water glasses were filled before they were even a quarter empty.
   The menu is extensive, even for a Chinese restaurant. There are more than 200 different dishes offered from different regions of China. Given the broad nature of the Chinese repertoire, however, even 200 dishes only scratches the surface of the possibilities. For example, none of the seafood offerings include fish other than shellfish, and almost all are shrimp.
   The restaurant, like most suburban Chinese establishments, tries to serve its guests’ preferences, and A Little Dragon does this well. Many Chinese restaurants, especially those in urban Chinatowns, have a "Chinese menu" with dishes that don’t appeal to most non-Chinese. My Chinese friend asked about this, but A Little Dragon doesn’t have such a menu. However, Mr. Chung will have his chef make such delicacies as snails with black-bean sauce or steamed eel, given a few days notice.
   We started our meal with four different appetizers. The shrimp toast ($4.25 for four) and the Shanghai spring rolls ($1.45 each) were both excellent, although both arrived at the table just warm, not hot. The shrimp toast was crisp on the outside, moist and shrimp-filled on the inside. The spring roll, from the hometown of my Chinese friend, is similar to the more traditional egg roll except that its crust was thinner and crisper. It was stuffed with shrimp, pork and vegetables and was mildly flavored. We also tried the hot-and-sour cabbage, Peking style ($4.25). This is a cold, pickled dish with a sour-but-sharp flavor. This version had a pleasant and distinctive taste but wasn’t as crisp as it could have been.
   The hit of the appetizers was the won ton with spicy sauce, Szechuan style ($3.25 for 10). The thin, spicy sauce with chopped fresh scallions complemented the soft won tons and made a nice contrast to the other appetizers. On other occasions we have found the barbecue spareribs ($5.75) and the pot stickers, here called pan-fried pork dumplings ($4.25 for six), to be very good.
   We didn’t have soup on this visit, but on previous visits we have sampled the beef hot-and-sour soup ($1.45), the roast pork and rice soup ($1.45) and the chicken and mushroom soup ($4.95 for two). All were delicious, but we especially liked the chicken and mushroom. From our prior visits we know the food is of consistent quality, an important factor.
   There are more than 60 specials offered, most in the $13-$14 price range. From this menu we chose the seafood basket ($15.95) and the crispy orange beef ($12.95). The seafood basket was presented dramatically. A large basket of woven noodles that had been deep fried came seated on a platter with greens and a large rose sculpted out of daikon radish that had been dyed pink. The basket was filled with large shrimp, scallops, pieces of lobster and mixed vegetables, stir-fried with a light white sauce. The shellfish was tender, succulent and piping hot, but the basket itself didn’t lend itself to being eaten.
   The orange beef was very crispy, and the sauce had a sharp and hot orange flavor and fresh orange smell. The only problem was that the beef had been cut into fairly long thin strips before being coated and deep fried, with the sauce added later. The result was that the beef was hard to eat and somewhat dry.
   From the more traditional part of the menu we ordered the West Lake duck ($12.95) and the Yangchow fried rice ($7.25). The duck was part of a stir-fried dish with a brown sauce, Chinese mushrooms and assorted vegetables. In making this dish the duck is first smoked and then deep-fried.
   Pieces of the duck are then cut off and stir-fried with the vegetables. The duck retains its crispy skin and moist meat flavor and is augmented by the sauce and the vegetables — a first-rate dish. The Yangchow fried rice is not identified as such on the menu. Rather, it is listed as the house special fried rice. This is commonly considered the "classic" Cantonese way to prepare fried rice, with shrimp, ham, peas and Chinese black mushrooms. It was outstanding.
   There also is an extensive luncheon menu with dishes served with soup or soda and an egg roll for $5.95 or $6.95.
   My Chinese friend proclaimed the food authentic and well-cooked, though not likely to appeal to many first-generation Chinese. We were impressed with the freshness and the quantity of the food as well as its taste. A Little Dragon is well worth a visit the next time you feel the urge for Chinese food.
For directions to A Little Dragon, click here.