Dynasty Chinese Seafood - Cupertino

10123 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino CA 95014
(408) 996-1680
Parking: shopping center parking lot

Last Visited: December 2008

Food: 4 to 5 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

Located inside Vallco Fashion Park, Dynasty Chinese Seafood restaurant is quite a large operation. The evening of my visit in 2004, I was at a banquet style meal, with more than 30 tables of ten people each, so service may be different on a regular visit. In addition to two banquet rooms, the restaurant has multiple private dining rooms with as little as one or two tables. The private room settings are typical of Taiwanese style restaurants.

The windows are framed with Asian lattice treatments, much like those found at Japanese restaurants. The doors are brown with thin gold colored horizontal stripes closely adjacent to one another to create a simple pattern. The restaurant restrooms have granite tile floors and granite countertops.

The menu this evening was arranged ahead of time. All portions were large, designed to serve ten adults.

- Suckling Pig Combination Platter – Green seaweed salad, slices of pork, slices of beef, and seasoned jellyfish surround the centerpiece of sliced young suckling pig. The green seaweed salad and seasoned jellyfish are both flavored with sesame oil. The pork and beef are both sliced thin and fanned out to create a lovely presentation. The suckling pig is served room temperature, allowing the skin to remain crispy, and the meat is tender and succulent.

- Deep Fried Stuffed Crab Claw – A crab claw is filled with a shrimp based stuffing. The entire claw is then deep fried until the stuffing is golden brown and fluffy. The portion of this claw with its stuffing is huge. Considering the quantity of food on the menu, the portion was enormous. It was the size of a golf ball and tennis ball. To match it better with the rest of the dishes, I would reduce the amount of stuffing in the claw. Good flavor, but too filling due to size.

- Sauteed Seafood with Vegetable – Shrimp, scallops, and squid are sautéed with snap peas and straw mushrooms. The colors combine to create a nice presentation. The seafood is fresh and maintain its original flavor. The seafood is tender and the snap peas were fairly crisp.

- Braised Shark’s Fin and Crabmeat Soup – Shark fin and crab meat are braised in a chicken broth. The consistency and temperature of the soup were both good. Nice flavor infused into the broth.

- Roasted Squab – Squab is roasted until cherry in color. The richness of the color was apparent, and the meat was nicely done. Flavor was typical of roasted squab. The meat was hard to get to since the pieces were chopped in somewhat of an awkward shape, but aside from that, it was good. The skin was slightly crispy and the presentation was nicely done.

- Steamed Lobster with Garlic – Lobster is chopped into pieces and steamed with garlic and broth. This dish was excellent. The lobster was tender and succulent, infused with the flavor of garlic. The juice from the steaming overflowed on the dish. The flesh was easily accessible and the dish was topped with garnish for a lovely presentation. One of the best dishes of the evening.

- Sliced Abalone with Black Mushrooms and Greens – Slices of abalone are served with black mushrooms and mustard greens. A smooth brown sauce ties the three together. The greens were tender and the abalone was very tender and sliced thicker than other restaurants for a very meaty texture.

- Smoked Sea Bass – A very large filet of sea bass is smoked until golden brown on the outside. The flavoring is light and allows you to taste the natural flavors of the fish. The inside flesh was buttery and flaky. The meat was tender and succulent. Sea bass is one of my favorites, and the way this sea bass was prepared just made it even better. Excellent!

- Sticky Fried Rice with Preserved Meat – Sticky rice is pan fried with preserved meat (pork sausage) and green onions. By this time, we were too filled to dig into this dish. It was nicely presented and tasted okay.

There were some dessert items offered, but as you can see from the menu above, it was quite a meal, and I never made it to the dessert that was part of the meal set.

Overall, the food presentation was good. Food quality was also very impressive. Service was fair, but it’s hard to judge when there are so many tables, all being served the same course at the same time. The dishware could be cleaner – some had food stuck to them, but again, the sheer quantity of bowls, plates, etc was extremely large. The atmosphere is traditional in some ways, but the bright colors around the room show that it isn’t meant to be a stuffy place, but fresh and new.

Considering the quantity of food being served, they did a great job, but could use more attention to detail in terms of service and dishware. Sea bass and lobster are my recommendations here. At Dynasty Seafood, it’s apparent the focus is on the food quality.

When I returned for a visit in 2008, the decor screamed of the 80s and the food was still good. It's not nearly as busy as it once was, mostly due to the fact that Vallco has really changed and isn't as busy as it once was. However, the prices remain slightly higher than average and the quality of the dishes matched the price. I would have no qualms about returning for dinner - good food, albeit you might feel like you're going back in time.