Dragon View Chinese Cuisine 龍景軒

My friend Joyce got married this summer. She had her reception at Dragon View in Richmond. I was so happy for her, but also I was happy for me! I’ve never been to a traditional Chinese banquet before, and I was gearing up for a culinary adventure! Every dish served at the wedding banquet has…

Mary Sheridan

October 12, 2011

1–2 minutes

chinese food, chinese traditions, traditional chinese banquet, weddings

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Every dish served at the wedding banquet has a special meaning (mostly wishes of happiness, longevity, or fertility for the couple). The number of courses is also significant. At a Chinese wedding banquet, eight dishes are usually served. In Chinese, the word “eight” sounds like “good luck”.

This was our menu at Dragon View:

Sea cucumber, chicken and scallops with mushrooms
Deep-fried shrimp meat
Shark’s fin soup
Lobster with ginger and green onion
Crispy skin chicken
Steamed whole fish
Fried rice
E-fu noodles with abalone sauce
Almond cookies
Red bean soup

Here are some Interesting things about the choice of foods:

Lobster – having lobster signifies joy and celebration, since lobsters are red and red is the colour of happiness.

Sea cucumber with vegetables – “sea cucumber” sounds like “”good heart” and this dish wishes the couple to be good and kind to one another.

Fish – “fish”” sounds like “plentiful” in Chinese. This dish is served to wish the newlyweds a life of abundance together.

Noodles – Noodles are served to symbolize a long life.

Sweet Red Bean Soup – lotus seeds are included in the soup to wish the new couple a hundred years together.

I loved how the menu its so carefully thought out. It’s such a lovely tradition. I can’t really comment on the food, because, I’ll be honest, this was the first time I ever tried most of them! One thing I’ll say: not a fan of sea cucumber.

The service was attentive and the servers were everywhere taking care of guests. It was a lovely experience, and I wished my friend a hundred years of joy by eating a healthy portion of noodles.

5 responses to “Dragon View Chinese Cuisine 龍景軒”

Norma Chang

October 13, 2011 at 4:37 am

Glad I stumbled upon your post.
Quite a banquet, wish I was there. Thanks for sharing the lovely photos, it is only 7:30 am in NY but I could go for those dishes right now.

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1. Mary Sheridan
  
  October 13, 2011 at 8:28 am
  
  It was lovely! Thanks for reading Norma!
  
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JLo

October 13, 2011 at 1:45 pm

The dim sum’s quite good there. Give it a try next time!

As for the banquet, I was against serving shark fin, but my parents were pretty adamant and I caved due to parental pressure. I wish I didn’t though because now I feel terrible. The only thing I can do is probably convince my brother not to have it at his wedding when he gets married.

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Ed

December 30, 2011 at 12:11 am

Hi Mary,

My fiancee and I were also thinking of hosting our banquet at Dragon View but are worried a bit that it may be too cramped with the number of tables we may need (about 20 tables + the long head table). Do you remember the number of tables your friend had and did you feel “cramped” as a guest? Did they have a dance floor installed? Did the wedding party go to each table for a toast and was it difficult for them to get to each table with the amount of space available in the aisles?

Thanks for any feedback that you can provide here as it’s our major concern with this venue.

Thanks!

-Ed

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1. Mary Sheridan
  
  January 11, 2012 at 8:42 pm
  
  I felt a bit cramped. There were about 10 tables of 10 I think. The bride and groom did go around toasting, but it was a tad of a struggle. there were a lot of people. No dance floor. Congratulations and good luck!
  
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