Jung's Golden Dragon. Garden District: 3009 Magazine St. 504-891-8280.

Written by Tom Fitzmorris September 21, 2010 13:25 in

3 Fleur
Average check per person $15-$25
 BreakfastNo Breakfast SundayNo Breakfast MondayNo Breakfast TuesdayNo Breakfast WednesdayNo Breakfast ThursdayNo Breakfast FridayNo Breakfast Saturday
LunchLunch SundayLunch MondayLunch TuesdayLunch WednesdayLunch ThursdayLunch FridayLunch Saturday
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Jung's Golden Dragon

Uptown 1: Garden District & Environs: 3009 Magazine St. 504-891-8280. Map.
Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
In the busy restaurant row centered on the 3000 block of Magazine Street, the reincarnation of the long-running Golden Dragon fits right in. The customers, wooed by such a variety of eateries, holds out for better food than take-out fried rice. Jung Tan rises to this opportunity and finds that the customers are ready for the best she can dish out.

WHAT'S GOOD
Although exotic specials and a "Chinese menu" (as opposed to Chinese-American) are available, most of the food here is the standard collection you know well. However, it's cooked with better ingredients and more skill than the New Orleans average. The dishes from the Dragon's glory days--most of them it the spicy Szechuan and elegant Mandarin dishes--don't skimp on the garlic or Szechuan pepper. Deep-frying--which has taken over a large percentage of Chinese kitchens in recent years--is still kept at bay here, with most dishes still stir-fried.

BACKSTORY
Jung Tan was barely out of the UNO Hotel and Tourism School when she opened East China, her first restaurant, in the early 1980s. It was in New Orleans East, which had the best Chinese restaurants in town then. Things changed, and Jung moved a couple of times. She ultimately took over the Golden Dragon, across from the Clearview Mall. In the mid-1970s, that restaurant was a culinary leader in the Chinese restaurant market. Jung kept its food exciting, but the second-floor location in an unattractive strip mall became untenable. In 2011, Jung moved the Golden Dragon to Magazine Street, just as a wave of new restaurants there transformed the area.

DINING ROOM
The busy room looks classically Chinese, but in a modern way, with light-colored wood paneling creating a feeling of substance. Jung is always in the room, talking to everybody, and eager to give you background and recommendations.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Starters
Barbecue ribs
»Spring rolls
Vegetable rolls
Fried won tons
»Shrimp toast
»Fried or steamed dumplings
Crab Rangoon
Onion pancakes
»Cold sesame noodles
Won ton soup
Egg drop soup
»Hot and sour soup
»Seafood soup
Crawfish and corn soup
Vegetable soup
Entrees
»Sesame chicken or beef
General Tso’s chicken
Mandarin chicken
Boneless fried chicken, Chinese vegetables
Sweet and sour chicken, shrimp or pork
»Lemon chicken
Chicken with broccoli
»Kung-po chicken or shrimp
Curry chicken, beef
»Garlic chicken
Chicken or beef with snow peas
Pepper steak Chinese style
Beef with Chinese vegetables
Beef or shrimp with broccoli
»Moo goo gai pan
Chicken with almonds or cashews
Chicken with pecans
»Chicken, pork, beef, scallops, shrimp or tofu Szechuan style
Hunan beef, pork, or shrimp
»Beef or chicken with orange peel
»Mongolian beef
»Peking duck (whole), steamed buns, tofu vegetable soup
Mandarin duck
Sauteed duck with onion and garlic
»Moo-shu pork
Roast pork with Chinese vegetables
»Sauteed pork with Szechuan pickled cabbage
»River Shang pork
Pork or shrimp with hot garlic sauce
Shrimp with cashews
Shrimp with lobster sauce
Shrimp or crawfish with Chinese vegetables
Sweet and pungent pork
Shrimp with black bean and garlic sauce
Shrimp with vermicelli noodle in hot pot
Tofu family style (steamed or fried)
Tofu with black bean and garlic sauce
Combination of vegetables
Sesame General Tso's tofu
Sauteed baby bok choy with fresh garlic
Steamed broccoli in garlic sauce
Snow peas with garlic
Eggplant home style or Szechuan
Tofu with vegetables in hot pot
Chicken, beef, shrimp, seafood, crawfish, scallop, vegetable or combination lo mein
Jong-Pong noodles with beef, shrimp and scallops
Ul mein noodles with chicken, shrimp, pork and vegetables
Beef noodle soup Taiwan style
Singapore thin rice noodle with curry
»Golden Dragon vermicelli noodle with pork Szechuan style
Fried rice with roast pork, beef, shrimp, crawfish, chicken, vegetables or combination
Desserts
Almond cookies
Cheesecake
»Fried banana with honey

FOR BEST RESULTS
Take advantage of the owner's presence and ask what might be especially good. Suggest that you don't need the food to be Americanized, and you'll wind up with a more interesting meal.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
There is room for innovation here, and we'd love to see it. Some of the food is oversalted, to the point that I specifically request salt be cut back.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

  • Dining Environment +1
  • Consistency +1
  • Service+1
  • Value +1
  • Attitude +1
  • Wine & Bar
  • Hipness
  • Local Color +1

 

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
  • Open Sunday lunch and dinner
  • Open Monday lunch and dinner
  • Open most holidays
  • Open all afternoon
  • Historic
  • Quick, good meal
  • Easy, nearby parking
  • Reservations accepted

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS
After New Orleans's Chinatown came to an end in the 1950s, those looking for Chinese restaurants found most of them on the outskirts of town. It's only lately that Asian restaurants managed to infiltrate the Uptown area. Jung's Golden Dragon is one of the best of these relocations, having left a long-established Metairie restaurant behind to cash in on the current vogue among younger diners for Asian food.

On Magazine Street, hipness is essential. Perceived authenticity is the index that gets people talking about Asian places. In the Chinese arena, one must now have a special "Chinese menu" of dishes supposedly preferred by Asian customers, preferably printed in Chinese. And yes, that's here.