MANDARIN/SZECHUAN CUISINE
On Sunday, in the late afternoon, we hadn’t eaten much and decided to hit Dynasty for supper. They recently updated the restaurant décor and I felt a little underdressed wearing my typical Santa Cruz hoodie but it gave Dynasty a bit more of an upscale feeling even though it is the same menu and still in a strip mall. We shared plates, family-style, ordering a couple of appetizers, 3 of our favorite dishes, one new dish, and tasty chrysanthemum tea. The egg roll appetizer was typical of Chinese restaurants but seemed freshly made. However, they aced it with our standard favorites Mu Shu Shredded Pork & House Special Sauteed Beef with Zilan Sauce. I really like it when the sweet waitress hand rolls the Mu Shu Pork at the table for you (shredded pork & shredded cabbage, willow tree fungus, and fluffed eggs sauteed in their special house soy sauce & then wrapped in a tortilla like thing). I have never had anything quite like the Sauteed Beef with Zilan Sauce but it has a really interesting texture and a particular spice on top of it with sauteed beef stir fried with Chinese zilan sauce. This beef dish is great in accompaniment with other dishes but it would be too much on its own as a single meal choice. We also ordered the Dynasty Eggplant and I liked it but it is fried and has a sweet sauce that is somewhat similar to the Orange Chicken we ordered. I would probably try either another poultry dish next time because even though the Orange Chicken has dried orange rind in it, it can still often be quite a bland dish. (Google Map)