Royal Seafood

Mr. M&P found ourselves in Chinatown one day doing errands. However, we wanted to try a new place. We love Big Wing and Shanghai Cafe but sometimes you just want something else. So we found ourselves at Royal Seafood for some dim sum.

The first good sign is that the place was packed at 10:30am. Yes, the patrons were mostly of the older generation but many younger people were rolling in around 11am. We sat at a shared table and began ordering.  First up, shrimp stuffed eggplant. This was really good. The eggplant was soft but held up as I bit into it. The shrimp paste was slightly rubbery (to be expected) and paired well with the eggplant. The sauce is what really brought it together. It was a salty brown sauce.

Next, some fried taro balls. A light mixture of mashed taro is stuffed with meat then lightly fried. I always thought that the crust was panko but I'm unsure now. Nonetheless, it's pretty tasty. A good stuffing of meat surrounded by a thin layer of taro.

A plate of fried fish patties were in order. I'm not completely sure of the type of fish this is. I think it's liang yu in Cantonese. Anyway, the minced fish is mixed with cornstarch to become thick and pliable. Then flattened and lightly pan fried on both sides. It's a really easy way to eat fish because it doesn't have that off putting fishy taste sometimes. The scallions spread throughout was a nice touch of greens and texturally pleasing as well.

We ordered a couple of classics in order to make a good judgment. This is shu mai which are pork and shrimp steamed dumplings. I liked the quality here. The shrimp wasn't whole but was chopped loosely so you still had large pieces in it. There was also some shitake mushrooms in the mix which is always a good thing for me.

And our last plate were rice skin noodles stuffed with char siu (roast pork). The noodle part wasn't too thick and well balanced with the amount of meat inside of it.

Overall, I thought the food here was pretty good. The dim sum seemed fresh and prepared well. I would definitely come back. Hopefully with a larger group so we can order a variety of dishes.

Royal Seafood
103 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013-4600
(212) 219-2338