Macanese-style crab pot brings Southeast Asian flavors to the Grand Hotel’s “old restaurant, new elements”

▲ The Golden Dragon Restaurant at the Grand Hotel Taipei was renovated six months ago. (Photo / Reporter Chen Ming-jen)

Reported by Chen Tzu-yin / Taipei

Starting this year, the historic Grand Hotel Taipei has undergone extensive renovations in its exterior, guest rooms, and restaurants. Among them, the new head chef of the Golden Dragon Restaurant, Hsu Yao-kuang, has infused the cuisine with diverse and innovative elements, drawing on his extensive experience in Chinese cooking. Originally specializing in Cantonese cuisine, Chef Hsu doesn’t stick solely to it—he aims to blend culinary influences from other regions and international styles. For the autumn crab feast he introduced, Chef Hsu selected five types of seasonal crabs, including hairy crabs, mud crabs (male and female), blue crabs, flower crabs, and soft-shell crabs, and employed ten different cooking techniques. The richly varied yet harmonious autumn crab dishes are truly impressive.


▲ The sand crab and giant clam hotpot resembles a Macanese-style crab pot but with a Southeast Asian twist. (Photo / Reporter Chen Tzu-yin)

Take, for example, the “sand crab and giant clam hotpot,” one of the Golden Dragon Restaurant’s à la carte autumn crab offerings. Its preparation method is similar to that of a Macanese-style crab pot. Chef Hsu Yao-kuang selects sweet and succulent clams, featuring Taiwanese sand crabs (both male and female) as the main ingredients. The broth is made by roasting lobster shells at 220°C, then simmering them for four hours with celery, black pepper, and other spices. This approach gives a traditional lobster broth a fresh creative twist, resulting in an overall flavor profile with a distinct Southeast Asian touch. The “golden champagne mushroom braised fish maw” uses imported Japanese champagne mushrooms, which have only a 3–5 day shelf life, combined with anti-aging fish maw, to create a light and refreshing soup. The “pan-seared Grand Hotel beef short ribs” are first braised, then pan-fried until the surface is lightly charred, achieving a texture that is crispy on the outside yet tender within. The “Thai-style fried rice” combines Thai jasmine rice with Cantonese-style stir-frying techniques using a soy sauce-infused wok. Chef Hsu explained that using soy sauce in this dish is tricky because it burns easily—but it must brown just before burning, all while preserving the rice’s moisture, to achieve that signature separate-grain texture.




▲ Chef Hsu Yao-kuang’s Chinese dishes always showcase refinement and elements from various regional cuisines. (Photo / Reporter Chen Tzu-yin)

“I don’t always stick to just Cantonese cuisine.” says Chef Hsu Yao-kuang, who is originally from Hong Kong. Skilled in blending international cooking styles, Chef Hsu works with a range of Chinese regional cuisines—from Cantonese and Jiangsu-Zhejiang to Taiwanese. Yet in the dishes he serves, you won’t find the typical large-portion, formal Chinese presentations. Instead, there are exquisitely plated, thoughtfully presented dishes, often accented with creative touches rooted in tradition. Chef Hsu also told reporters, “I really enjoy providing tableside service for guests.” He’s often seen moving through the Golden Dragon Restaurant, adjusting flavors to be lighter for elderly diners or proactively asking if the taste suits their preferences. No wonder regulars say, “The Grand Hotel may be old, but Chef Hsu is its newest element.”

%The veteran chef isn’t confined to Cantonese cuisine. (Taipei reporter Lun Sui-she, source)