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Paradise Dynasty Joins SCP Food Mecca

South Coast Plaza has become a dining mecca thanks to a carefully curated blend of upscale and casual restaurants. One of them, Knife Pleat, recently received a Michelin star, a rare feat for an OC restaurant.

Of course, not all restaurants succeed. Charlie Palmer’s next to Bloomingdale’s was my late night go-to restaurant for post-concert and theater dining until it closed in 2015.

Palmer’s Chef Amar Santana rose from the ashes to create his own culinary empire, including The Hall Global Eatery at South Coast Plaza.

Now, another restaurant has opened adjacent to Bloomingdale’s: Paradise Dynasty.

It’s the first U.S. location for the popular noodle and xiao long bao (a steamed bun or dumpling) restaurant that has 45 locations in Asia.

The 5,200-square-foot restaurant anchors the new dining collective called Collage inside Bloomingdale’s.

“To be able to bring our take on xiao long bao and authentic cuisine from multiple regions across China to the U.S. is incredibly exciting and a dream realized,” said Eldwin Chua, founder and CEO of Paradise Group. “We can’t wait to welcome guests on a culinary journey of their own here at Paradise Dynasty.”

Paradise Dynasty is known for its eight-flavor, rainbow Xiao Long Bao, including cheese, crab roe, foie gras, garlic, luffa gourd, black truffle, Szechuan and the original filled with Kurobuta pork.

Paradise Dynasty offers an array of regional Chinese flavors including radish pastry, prawn and kurobuta pork dumplings, Szechuan crispy chicken, and noodles.

Plans Altered

So why here, why now?

“COVID altered the whole plan,” said Chua when we talked last month.

“We were supposed to launch the restaurant last year in March. It’s been a huge challenge for us to continue and open during the pandemic era. We had a U.S. team in Singapore in training that was hired last year but when the pandemic hit the team was disbanded.”

For the Paradise Dynasty opening, Chua recruited chefs from his other restaurants in Asia. As he noted, his company has many years of experience opening restaurants, but for the first restaurant outside Asia, he wanted to ensure immediate success.

“You need the right menu and chefs focusing on what they do well,” said Chua, who added that the restaurant’s ambiance was also important.

“The overall look at first is modern and contemporary with oriental touches, not a Chinese style of décor. It’s East meets West. It’s comfortable, and the menu is basically comforting Chinese food. We have a variety of dim sum at the highest quality we can achieve. We are looking to deliver a pleasant dining experience in terms of comfort and food quality and service.”

As to why here, Chua said he is always looking for iconic locations, and South Coast Plaza checks all the icon boxes.

“Number 1 in sales for shopping malls in the U.S., highest traffic, sales volume, it’s what we were looking for. We could go somewhere else, but it would not be iconic.”

Iconic is also the best word to describe the Paradise Dynasty macaron dumplings. Chua created them in 2008 and according to him are the world’s first macaron dumplings in terms of color and flavor.

“Back in 2008 when I was starting my journey in the restaurant business, dumplings were extremely popular. I wanted to get a slice of the dumpling business but not duplicate another dumpling. I brainstormed something out of the norm, something to give us a strong identity. I started the dumplings with colors and flavors. I’m very confident that we are the first to do that. The art in producing the macarons is difficult and time consuming, there is a lot of technique. To do them consistently is a nightmare, trust me.”

Ramen Original

His nightmare is a dream for diners who flock to Paradise Dynasty for his creative cuisine. They are also packing his Le Shrimp Ramen restaurant downstairs.

“We are the first in the U.S. to have ramen with shrimp broth. The technique we use is complicated but produces full, rich, smoky, creamy shrimp broth. We wanted a competitive edge that nobody else has. It’s inspired by Japanese ramen, infused with Chinese technique.”

Reviews are positive, customers leave satisfied, and Chua says he is “extremely excited and extremely happy” to see his restaurants achieve success.

Paradise Dynasty at Bloomingdale’s South Coast Plaza: 3333 S. Bristol St., Costa Mesa, (714) 617-4630, paradisegp.com

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