Silver Dragon Restaurant (Calgary) — Restaurant in Calgary

Silver Dragon, a long-standing fixture in Calgary's Chinatown, has historically been a beacon of the community. However, recent experiences suggest that the restaurant is not living up to the legacy of its past. Nestled in a prime location, Silver Dragon continues to attract attention, but it struggles to meet the modern diner's expectations for quality and service.

The general attitude and approach of the current management do not reflect the passion and commitment traditionally associated with successful restaurant operations. There's a noticeable disconnect between the restaurant's prestigious past and its present execution. The food quality is notably poor, making it arguably one of the least favorable dining options in Calgary. The traditional stir-fries and other staples lack depth, flavor, and the finesse required to justify their price points.

Moreover, the level of service mirrors this decline. Staff members often seem disinterested and disconnected, which not only impacts the dining experience but also suggests a broader issue with workplace morale and management style. This is particularly concerning as it indicates a lack of pride and responsibility among the staff, traits that are crucial for the success of any service-based business.

The restaurant's inability to adapt to changing tastes and demographics is another significant flaw. With the older generation of loyal customers dwindling and younger patrons showing little interest in returning, Silver Dragon faces an uphill battle to retain relevance in Calgary’s competitive culinary scene.

In conclusion, without a significant overhaul in both management approach and culinary quality, Silver Dragon is likely to continue its decline. The restaurant urgently needs to reevaluate its strategies and embrace both innovation and improvement to survive. Failure to do so may result in Silver Dragon becoming obsolete, overshadowed by more dynamic and responsive...

I'm going to be very detailed with my review, because I've never been so disappointed with a food place here in Calgary.

Last Friday (January 24, 2025), I stopped by to get some takeout (4.1 rating didn't seem bad to me). I ordered; "Almond Gai Ding", "Diced Vegetables Fried Rice"and "Satay Beef Chow Mein". Almond Gai Ding: Chicken with cartilage, the almonds tasted like they were aged, A LOT of oil, when I say a lot it's really just an oil soup and no flavor, the peppers tasted rotten. It was inedible. Diced Vegetables Fried Rice: I would say this was the best dish, rice and vegetables. No flavor or salt. Satay Beef Chow Mein: The noodles were overcooked, with a very strong curry flavor (not Chinese at all), they looked like flavored instant noodles and the meat was greasy and had no flavor. This was the worst dish, I couldn't eat it, it tasted terrible. I usually go out of my way to discover new places and I'm really loyal to them when I find good food, but in this restaurant it's not about the lack of salt or seasoning, it's about the quality of the ingredients. You can tell they choose the worst, I don't want to be pessimistic, but you really have to think twice before going to this restaurant, besides it's not cheap. I tried to fix the food but it was impossible, the noodles tasted terrible, the meat too. I can say that these dishes had NOTHING of sautéing, the ingredients were cooked, too much oil and had no flavor at all, in fact, they tasted bad. I didn't get sick because I had to throw it away, but maybe I would have gotten sick. Please don't make this mistake, choose...

We arrived in Calgary after a few days in Canmore this morning. After checking into our hotel downtown, we explored Stephen Avenue Walk. Not being impressed with the restaurant choices there, we decided to have dim sum in Chinatown just steps from our hotel.

A quick Google search led us to Silver Dragon. We were lucky to be able to scoot by the Sunday morning line at the restaurant because a table for 2 was more readily available.

We felt being transported back in time as soon as we sat down when we saw dim sum carts being pushed around. I don’t think I can remember the last time I saw dim sum carts. Personally I’m not a fan of dim sum carts because you’d never know if the dishes you want are e er going to be served. I’d like to order what I’d like to have.

The dishes we had were very respectable though: siu mai, octopus in curry sauce, rice rolls with prawns and rice rolls with Cantonese doughnuts.

The only surprise was the bolo (pineapple) buns. Bolo buns are usually plain (from bakeries) or stuffed with BBQ pork (when served as a dim sum dish). The ones we had today had pineapple chunks in them and they were not very good. The crust was very good though. Bolo (pineapple) buns do not have pineapple chunks so please lose them.

Service was also excellent. We didn’t see any rice rolls with Cantonese doughnuts being pushed around so we placed an order and our waiter was very...