By Kristin Hashimoto

Dragon Dragon restaurant, photo by Kristin Hashimoto

There is a glut of local Chinese restaurants offering up one to four choice plate lunches from their hot line of ready-made food. The portion sizes are usually large, the oil content is high, and the fried offerings overflow. However, if you’re in the mood for more traditional Chinese fare, the Dragon Dragon in Maui Mall is a solid option for more than decent Chinese food on Maui.

While a little more pricey than what you’d expect to find food-wise at the Maui Mall, Dragon Dragon piques curiosity with Peking Duck for $23, steamed or fried Opakapaka at seasonal prices, and abalone with black mushrooms for $37.

The honey walnut prawns for $20 were not overly sweet, had an opaque glassy shine, and was moist. The walnuts were perfectly caramelized in sweet honey, with an added toasted taste, which creates a nice nutty flavor counterpoint to the seafood.

The crispy gau gee with cake noodles will not be a repeatable menu choice. The cake noodles were soft, not crisp, and the sauce and veggies were rather standard in flavor. There was one slice of char siu, two pieces of shrimp and one little square of chicken amidst a piece of broccoli, cabbage, a few pieces of zucchini and carrots with a couple of bamboo shoots and slivered water chesnuts.

Salt and Pepper Pork Chops from Dragon Dragon, photo by Kristin Hashimoto

The deep-fried salt and pepper pork chops were well seasoned, crisp, not overly salted, and with a nice kick of spice. For $12.50, the pork chops were moist and tender. Garlic lovers should give this dish a try.

Dragon Dragon is located at the Maui Mall, and is open daily on Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, and 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Dim Sum is a lunch special and is not available for dinner. The restaurant reopens for dinner at 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday, and 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For more details call, 893-1628.