Paradise Dynasty: Chinese dim-sum in Funan

During our stay in Singapore, we stayed at a hotel that was in a mall/area called Funan. The mall had lots of toy and video game stores, clothing, etc. but it also had an amazing amount of restaurants and food court stalls, all which looked so delicious.

The first restaurant we ate at was a Chinese restaurant called Paradise Dynasty. This is mostly because we just flew in from Bali and my fiance had PTSD from traveler’s diarrhea, so we thought something soupy and Chinese will help our stomachs settle.

Recommended: Read about our 1 week in Bali – Seminyak, Ubud, and Kuta + Uluwatu.

Interior

Despite it being inside a mall, the inside of Paradise Dynasty is actually quite spacious. It looks similar to how larger Chinese restaurants are in Vancouver with white tablecloths, plush chairs, bright hanging lights in a giant dining room – the classic dim sum vibe. There is a lot of red on the walls, carpet and chairs.

We came in during a weird time (4-5pm) so it was pretty empty and we were seated right away. They provided us a small peanut dish while we waited for our order to come.

Food and drinks review

SGD to CAD is almost 1:1 so I’ve left prices as they are, but rounded to the nearest dollar.

Signature original xiao long bao ($10-15)

On the very first page of their menu, Paradise Dynasty boasts about their xiao long bao, which are small steamed buns with soup and meat inside. They claim that each one of their xiao long baos have 25g of stuffing, filled with a non-oily clear broth, and has 18 folds.

They also have different coloured xiao long baos and some unique flavours, including garlic (grey), Szechuan spicy (red), cheese (yellow), Korean kimchi (green), crab roe (orange), foie gras (gold), and black truffle (black). You can order a rainbow set (1 pc each) for $17, but we really didn’t want to try some of these flavours, such as the cheese one 🤢.So instead, we just opted for 6 pieces of their regular original xiao long bao for $10. You can have 10 pieces for $15.

The xiao long baos were pretty good – there was indeed lots of soup inside and the skin is pretty thin. I do find it is pricey for 6 pieces though.

Seafood hot and sour soup ($10)

I was also craving something soupy but I wanted a little kick as well so I order the hot and sour soup. For anyone who has never tried a hot and sour soup, it’s really not spicy at all because I can drink it. It has a slight sour taste that mixes with the heat and has a thicker consistency than most Chinese soups.

The hot and sour soup at Paradise Dynasty hit the spot for me but there wasn’t much seafood in it (mostly a few pieces of shrimp). The portion is enough for 1 person only so again, it is a little pricey for $10.

La mian with pork wonton ($13)

My fiance orders a bowl of la mian noodles. The broth is pork bone broth simmered for over 12 hours. It has a pretty heartwarming taste and apparently is full of protein and collagen. The noodles are a thin type and go well with the broth.

The wontons are like little steamed dumplings filled with pork and veggies. They are actually a decent size and you get around 5 dumplings in each bowl of noodle soup.

Overall, a pretty clean and light bowl of noodles, which is exactly what Kelvin was looking for to settle his stomach.

Final thoughts

Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We had a small meal at Paradise Dynasty and only ordered these 3 items. All 3 dishes did taste pretty good quality and was very authentic, albeit more on the pricey side when looking at portion sizes.

I was a little ticked off that they charged us for additional things that are usually free if you eat at a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver – the small peanut dish, our pot of tea that we didn’t finish, and the napkins 😡. But apparently, this is normal in Singapore. Either way, our meal ended up being almost $50 when we only ordered around $35 worth of food so I left feeling a little scammed.

Service was ok. Again, the restaurant was pretty empty so it wasn’t difficult to get ahold of any servers. They can also speak English, although they seem to prefer English. And I did like that their menu had photos for every dish so it’s not as intimidating to order off of if you are not familiar with Chinese or Chinese dishes.

I think it may be best to check them out for dim-sum and not for a random filler meal like our visit was. Expect hidden costs!

Sincerely, Loewe