9 Dragons
The Kowloon in Saugus may be the most famous restaurant in Massachusetts, and now the Wong family have taken their talents North to Seabrook, New Hampshire, to open a beautiful new spot called 9 Dragons.
“It was just an empty, broken down race track, and now it's a full blown casino, so they've done a great job. So they were missing one component, was a restaurant. And I guess the idea was to put in a Chinese restaurant. So what better to do than look for a Chinese guy? So I was, happened to be the guy and history, you know, that's the rest is history.
“Kowloon…translated…directly, is 9 Dragons. And so this is meant to be… taking the idea of Kowloon and taking it back to its origin time… What if we could take you… back to Hong Kong… in the early 1970s when Bruce Lee and Hong Kong Hollywood was coming of age”
“The minute you walk in, you'll see… an old vintage film of Bruce Lee… Then you walk into the hallway, you'll see this great mural of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan…There is a Mahjong gateway to go into the dining room… When you walk into a lounge, it's definitely a Vegas feeling lounge that's totally…different than anything in New Hampshire.”
Andre Carrier and Bobby Wong became instant friends and Andre really has knowledge and passion for Chinese food.
“When I met Bobby for the first time… it was like we had known each other our whole lives.
Fans of the Kowloon will be thrilled to know that some of their most popular dishes are served here at 9 Dragons.
I was very excited to find out they serve Saugus wings here. These are sticky, garlicky, meaty wings and believe it or not, my mom gave these wings their name.
“If you are a New Englander watching this and have not had a Saugus wing, why?
This would be a mistake for you to miss out on this. And I think every New Englander can attest this is a must eat food in America.”
Lo Mein is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. This one is made with a long, thin noodle. It's got pea pods, onions, mushrooms and big pieces of.. chicken.
“It's about that dark soy mix in those Noodles… It's about cooking the noodle right, and it's about getting that chicken just enough time in the pan so it always stays moist, and finishing it right with the scallions on top when it comes to the table, so you get a little bit of that onion crisp.
This is the Night Market Chicken.
It's a delicious fried chicken made with five spices and basil, served with a sweet chili sauce. You put that chicken in that sweet sauce, it is phenomenal.
“Night Market fried chicken is really Taiwanese street food.
What gives it the special sense is we fry the chicken with the Thai sweet basil in the oil…You can smell it when it comes to you… and then you dip it in the Thai sweet chili. Let me tell you something.. we live in a chicken finger world. Let's face it, and I think we've got a competitor with night market fried chicken.”
The Red Braised short rib is served just at 9 Dragons. It's a delicious labor of love. Takes 14 hours to make it. They only make so many every night. So when you walk in before you get your Mai Tai or your appetizers, you may want to order this.
“This is about the overnight marinating of this…It is about the way we sear each individual piece prior to marinade. It's about how we finish with dark hoisin. It's about how we individually select each of the baby Bok choy that'll go in your dish.
And let me just tell you, that's life changing.”
Kowloon’s famous Scorpion bowls are on the menu here…They say, this is for two. But hey, we're in New Hampshire, where they say, live free or die. So I'm having it for one. I usually think of this as a rum drink. Here they add some vodka and gin, some fruit juices and grenadine.
“You want to have elements of a restaurant that when…a dish is on a tray, people say, what's that? And that should be quickly followed with, I'll have one of those.. as soon as you see that cat walked into the dining room..you don’t wanna be left out…You want to have one of those cats.” Here kitty kitty
The Brookie takes its name from The Brook Casino, but also, because it's a combination of a brownie and a cookie. Comes out of the oven piping hot…This is an unorthodox but great way to end a delicious Chinese meal.
“A cookie and a brownie is a Brookie. And we took painstaking hours developing a great recipe for a brownie, a great recipe for a cookie, and merging them together. This one is presented with a little bit extra Polynesian personality, with an orchid and some citrus caramel sauce, and it's a great way to end your meal here in celebration”
Whether you're a hardcore Kowloon fan like me or you've never been to Kowloon, it really doesn't matter. You should head up to 9 Dragons in Seabrook, New Hampshire. I'll bet you a scorpion bowl. You love it.
“9 Dragons is about the experience, about great food, done fun.”
“We're taking the Vegas vibe, the Vegas interpretation of a restaurant, and putting it right into Seabrook. And when they walk in, it just blows them away!”
