The relatively new Dickson Kitchen, located on the second floor of Riviera Plaza (Xiangjiang Plaza), serves up a range of Hong Kong dishes and appetizers. Serving breakfast from 7.30-11am, where you can choose from Hong Kong noodles, sandwiches, and a variety of buns and pastries. Their lunch and dinner menu includes soup noodle dishes, BBQ dishes, congee, dim sum, and curries. The restaurant is always busy during lunchtimes, mainly with students and staff from nearby international schools. During the weekends, it also does a great trade with expats and locals. With Riviera Plaza now home to a number of organizations offering activities for children, including music, drama, ballet, and sports, Dickson Kitchen is a popular place for both brunch and lunch. Hungry kids and parents alike are enjoying the relaxed atmosphere, quick and efficient service that Dickson does well. They have recently launched a take-out and delivery service, so I decided to give their delivery option a try.
The delivery menu includes most of their restaurant dishes. Noodle soup dishes include prawn wonton noodles, flat rice noodles with beef tenderloin, and lamb spine ramen soup. Prices range from RMB 38-42. BBQ dishes include spare ribs with rice, roasted pork, goose leg, and chicken. Chef specials are also available for delivery, with galangal steamed chicken pot, braised beef brisket, and big bowl pho. The appetizers aren’t really to my taste, with preserved eggs, duck feet, pig hoofs, and various pig ear dishes. So I opted for the BBQ pork wonton noodles RMB 42, steamed chicken with rice RMB 39, and the roasted pork RMB 52. To drink, I ordered a barley lemon and a mangosteen longan hawthorn tea. Wait staff speaks pretty good English, so it was easy to order, and delivery was relatively quick. They did advise that delivery is always a little slower at the weekends, so it’s best to order ahead of time.
The steamed chicken was tender and perfectly cooked. Sat on top of a generous portion of fluffy rice, there was a layer of spicy rich sauce beneath the rice. Steamed bok choi accompanied this dish and it was all freshly cooked and hot on arrival. The BBQ pork was very tasty, with a great BBQ and soy flavor, and the meat was very tender. The pork came with a large serving of ramen noodles. The highlight however was the roasted pork. The perfect contrast of soft meat, that unctuous layer of fatty pork, topped with a salty crisp skin. I wasn’t sure whether this particular dish would survive the trip on the back of a bike from Riviera Plaza to my home, but it did indeed survive, and was as crisp and tasty as it could be. The mangosteen tea RMB 17 was lovely, a refreshing mix of wonderful fruity flavors.
Also opened up in Riviera Plaza is sister restaurant Dickson Daily, which serves up more western food, and I was informed can also do delivery. They specialize in beef burgers and chicken burgers RMB 58, salads RMB 38-68, fries, soups, and pies. These new dining options are a very welcome addition to this part of Shunyi. Considering how busy they are, I’m hopeful they’ll be sticking around for a while to come.
Dickson Kitchen
2nd Floor, Xiangjiang Plaza, Opposite West Gate of Lane Bridge Villa, 5 Laiguangying Donglu, Chaoyang District Tel: 5327 5219 or 185 1400 5219
Dickson Daily
2nd Floor, Xiangjiang Plaza, Opposite West Gate of Lane Bridge Villa, 5 Laiguangying Donglu, Chaoyang District Tel: 5327 5218 or 185 1400 5218
Dickson Noodle
705 Pinnacle Plaza, Tianzhu, Shunyi District Tel: 8046 6772
beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.
Photos: Sally Wilson
