Koi Garden

4288 Dublin Blvd * Dublin, CA

For Mother's Day we went to Koi in Dublin. We've frequented this place a few times now, but i have yet to get pictures until this time. Because it was Mother's Day, in order to get reservations we had to pre-order our menu from a selection of banquet meals. My mom picked (cheaper) one for the "kids" table and another (classy) one for the adults. I will be focusing on the kid's tabble as I did not see what the elders had.


Whole Steamed Shrimp
Whole steamed shrimp with a soy sauce dipper

My family orders this all the time. when the shrimp are fresh, this is the best way to enjoy this scrumptious dish. to taste the sweetness of the shrimp, forego the sauce. this is a dish that must be eaten hot or warm, not cold. eating this cold, you'll taste the fishy/seafoody-ness of the shrimp.


Cold Plate Appetizer
a mixture of 6 different appetizers: jellyfish, bbq pork, clam, seaweed, chicken, bean curd

This is another one of those dishes that most Chinese Seafood restaurants will serve up. Nothing out of the ordinary here.


Scallop & Water Chestnut Stir-Fry
Scallop, water chestnut, chinese broccoli, carrots

This dish is pretty unique to Koi. I've had a few variations of the scallop stir-fry. The portion size of this is pretty large, we had a lot leftover. A little bit on the oily side, but still a well executed dish.


Deep Fried Egglant & Shrimp
Eggplant stuff with shrimp paste, topped with sweet mayo and shredded dried pork

This was a first for me. The eggplant was cooked to a good tenderness, a good amount of batter, and the topping was perfect for balancing the flavors.


Steamed Lotus Bun
sweet lotus paste stuffed inside a steamed bun

This is another standard dessert item on a banquet menu. The bun is supposed to be in the shape of a chinese peach. this is almost always eaten during birthday celebrations, there is some significance in the chinese culture to eat this.

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Overall, this was a good meal. There was way more food than i photographed (sorry, recurring theme). I would recommend koi to someone who knows what they are ordering, as the menu may be a little bit hard to navigate, even with all the pictures. However, if you don't know the style and cooking techniques, you could be thrown for a loop. There are also many off-menu items.