Lucky House Dumplings (Sparta, NJ)

Unfortunately as I write this, Lucky House in Sparta, NJ is no more, but their dumplings will remain forever a chart topper in my book. Hands down the best dumplings in all of northern NJ if not the entire state. Bold words, but I stand by them.

Lucky House was this tiny Chinese restaurant on the corner of a strip of shops in Lake Mohawk. If you live in or around Sussex County and were driving through Lake Mohawk, odds are that you passed Lucky House and instantly put it on your "I will never set foot in that restaurant, let alone put anything made inside into my body" list, and you would have been missing out. Inside this lowly, shamble of a Chinese restaurant, the most beautiful, delicious, dumplings to ever grace my lips were made.

When I ordered dumplings at Lucky House I didn't order 4 or 8 or even 12, no I would at minimum get 16. Pan fried of course, I don't mess with steamed dumplings unless I'm forced to because the jabroni of a restaurant only makes them that way. These pork dumplings were perfect. The dough to filling ratio was outstanding. There was enough dough that the dumpling had sufficient structural integrity for dipping into the dumpling sauce (which is served everywhere but no one knows the name  and it's not just soy sauce) that was also amazing. These bad boys were chewy and could take a hardy bite and not fall apart in your hand or off the chopsticks (or fork). They absorbed sauce, but didn't become saturated and overpowered by it. The filling was flavored to the nines. Not bland, like other restaurants, and not overly fanciful, like those trying to be hip and cool restaurants, that cater to people who need assistance from palmolive to get their pants on. No these dumplings were a no nonsense, good dumpling. They weren't trying to spice them up or parade them around like something they were not. It was a great dumpling and one that will be missed for more than just a few years maybe even my entire life (there are still a lot of places to try).

Every time I would come home from school, I would want to, no need to, stop and get some dumplings from Lucky House. Every dumpling from here on out will live in the shadow of those perfect dough covered nuggets of amazing. Here's to you Lucky House Dumpling, Here's to you.

5 out of 5

for those of you who have never had the privilege of eating a Lucky House dumpling, I am truly sorry

(I would love to have had a picture to post with this blog post, but Lucky house is only a memory now, until I find that little old lady who made them and have her make me a least 400 and freeze them in a dedicated dumpling freezer)

Eric