I weigh like five million pounds today but it was worth it! Dumplings rule! Even if they are totally boring/difficult to photograph!
All of the dumplings were pretty great, but the top-notchiest of the top-notch were at the very high end and low end.
On the low end were the dumplings at (the name was not clear but I believe it is simply referred to as) Dumpling House. It’s this little hole-in-the-wall joint on the corner of Broome and Eldridge. (Not Vanessa’s. Don’t go anywhere near Vanessa’s for dumplings. But go for their yummy sandwiches.) The dumpling wrapper was delicate and practically translucent and the meat was deliciously seasoned. Two bucks will get you a big old plate. We left two behind but only because it was the first stop and we didn’t want to fill up too much.
On the high end I completely loved Shanghai Cuisine’s crab and pork soup dumplings. They were seriously out of sight, not too salty and easy to manage, unlike Joe’s Shanghai, which we elected to skip because we’d both been there a million times. Even though I was extremely full I finished all of my soup dumplings because they were just too delicious to leave behind. I believe they cost $6.75 for an order of six, and the restaurant is located at 89 Bayard.
A few other notes:
-Jennifer liked Prosperity Dumplings’s filling the best; I thought it was fine. The dumpling wrapper was too heavy for the both of us.
-New Green Bo’s seafood dumplings were delicious, but again, extremely heavy.
-We were out until about three so we got to see a certain prep act for dinner which really charmed us. Employees dumped giant bags of uncooked string beans on tables and squished off the tail ends of the skin with a spoon. We couldn’t tell if it was the best or the worst part of a staff member’s day, but we just loved the massive piles of beans.
-And finally, we spent about twenty bucks each on food, and ate at four different restaurants. Dumplings are one of the last great bargains in New York City.
