The Royal China restaurant has been serving tender, delicious hand-pulled noodle and beautifully-colored handmade dumplings in the same spot since 1974. In 2008 they were named one of the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the U.S.
From the website, this excerpt from the 2009 restaurant review by the Dallas Morning News: (
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"At Royal China, you can almost trace the evolution of Chinese dining in Dallas. The Preston-Royal restaurant has been in the same location and run by the same family for 35 years.
Dishes such as sweet-sticky barbecued spareribs and crisped, chewy dry-stirred beef have been on the menu since the late Shu-Chang "Buck" Kao, a fresh arrival from Hunan after a stay in Taiwan, opened the restaurant in 1974. You can also spot trendy later additions, such as lettuce wraps, Buck's once-innovative combination of minced chicken, water chestnuts and crisp rice noodles in hoisin-smeared iceberg leaves that tastes pretty tame today.
Last year, son George, who runs the restaurant now, catapulted Royal China ahead of the curve by installing a dumpling bar, where patrons can sit sushi-bar-style and watch as the delicate pockets are hand-formed to order by two Chinese "dumpling ladies," Yu-Xia Zhong and Hwa-Juan Shen." [end]
Unlike most noodle shops, the noodles are not cheap. The hand-pulled noodle dishes start at $13. But the food is so delicious and watching the "dumpling ladies" and "noodle man" work their magic is such a great experience, the higher cost of the meal is worth it.
Benchmark Blasterz went all in for the experience, starting with the dumpling sampler. The dumplings are dyed with vegetable juice based on the flavor of the filling. They come pan-seared or steamed. Blasterz like them seared, but next time we will try steamed. The flavors of the fillings were crunchy, fresh, and wonderful. You could actually tell what was in the dumpling by looking in it (a rare experience).
For dinner, Daddy Blaster had the Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup. It looked like Vietnamese pho, but had a very different flavor. His soup was loaded with wonderful rich chunks of beef shank.
Younger Blasters had the Henan Stir-Fried Lamian Noodle with Beef. The sauce was bright and flavorful with ginger and soy -- light and refreshing not gloppy and thick. The Lamian noodles are hand-pulled to order, and come in a long double loop, symbolizing long life.
Mama Blaster had the Henan Lu-Rou Lamian Noodle, generously studded with sqaures of succulent, delicious pork belly, meaty portobello mushrooms, and a light broth subtly-flavored with five-spice powder. Y-U-M!!!!