Some of us have, in recent months, gone so far as to fly to Beijing for the weekend just to get hold of some quality Chinese food. Meanwhile, a bit closer to home, the newly opened KHRAM DRAKONA [Temple of the Dragon] on Leninsky Prospekt seeks to inject some heavily ornamented decorative (if not necessarily culinary) spice into the local scene. The allegedly hand-carved wooden wall murals and schools of oversized Chinese carp swimming beneath glass walkways seem to promise at least something of a “Will Achieve Nirvana” (as The Russia Journal puts it) experience—as do the extensive menu offerings, with most entrees hovering around the $15-20 range. But the proof is still in the pudding—or in this case, in the largely indistinguishable gelatinous sauces.

We began our meal with some slightly spicy eggplants in hot garlic sauce and a decidedly bland seafood salad populated by miniature frozen shrimps, squishy mushrooms, and some sort of scallop-esque material. Our soups arrived soon after, mine being a chicken and tofu variation on the traditional hot and sour. Hot it certainly was, but alas it seems that the equally important sour aspect remains beyond the capabilities of Moscow’s Chinese chefs. Perhaps some key heavy-metal element is absent from the local water supply. My fellow eater was rather unimpressed with his tiger shrimp soup, which from my vantage point appeared to be all crustacean and no flavor.

The Peking duck was the first of the three entrees to arrive. All of the pieces were in their proper places, but the ensemble as a whole relied too heavily on the hoisin sauce rather than the combination of flavors which should have been present in the duck’s skin. I’m no expert on the process, but I’d be willing wager that they skimped on the marinating step. Also, an impromptu experiment in which the duck slices alone were doused in the house soy sauce yielded something surprisingly similar to pancakes with maple syrup. Either they’re adding some sugar to the sauce, or it ain’t Kikkoman like the bottle says.

Our other two entrees were what we hoped would be a spicy one-two punch of Gongbao (known in some circles as Kungpao) chicken and Sichuan lamb. In practice, however, the two proved to be almost indistinguishable—save of course for the presence of the peanuts in the chicken dish. Of the two, the lamb was certainly the more delectable—although in all honesty it was no more Sichuan than the chicken was Gongbao. By the time the egg-fried rice with tomatoes arrived a few minutes later, we were hardly surprised to find that the rice-to-egg ratio was roughly 1-to-1.

This meal did involve at least one unexpected surprise, however—some reasonably priced genuine Georgian wine (produced under the auspices of the relatively reliable GWS label). The bottles of white Vazisubani and red Mukuzani, both dry and very fine, with which we washed down our food helped to take our minds off the depressing reality of another in a long line of uninspired 40-bucks-a-head Asian meals with too-loud Euro-Muzak in the background. Quality vino from the Caucasus may not exactly take the place of a tasty Chinese dining experience, but in this day and age you takes whats you can gets.