Rice Shop (Hoboken, NJ)

 It's Thursday, so here is your weekly dumpling review for all the NY metropolitan, Hudson county living Hobokeners. I'm bringing you Rice Shop this week over on Washington. I ordered both the gyoza and the dumplings, because uhhh they are pretty much the same thing. Beautiful pieces of heaven wrapped in a delectable cloud with a side of pure happiness. Gyoza,dumplings, ravioli, hot pockets, I'll review anything with those three pieces of the puzzle. 

Now right off the back, Rice Shop did not impress. I'm still in love with No.1 Fine. The gyoza were better than the dumplings, but only because they messed up and gave me steamed dumplings like I am some sort of granola eating health nut. If I wanted to be health conscious and order steamed 'lings than I am in the wrong business. 

The gyoza had a decent fry to them the wrapper was nice and thin, the filling though did not bring it. Flavor city, up and moved because there was nothing going on here. Sauce too sub par. Gotta bring the heat, if you want my unyielding support. The dough was crisp just enough to put them over the regular dumplings. 

The dumplings, were steamed. That is pretty much all I should need to tell you. They could have had potential. The filling was super dense and the ratio of dough to filling was pretty good too. Sadly, they followed in the same footsteps as the gyoza. Basically just a dense pocket of tasteless meat. The sauce was wildly underwhelming as well. A one, two K.O. in the dumpling world. I wanted to like Rice Shop, I really did.

Gyoza 3 out of 5

Dumplings 2.8 out of 5

Eric 

Can't blame this low score on my tonsils either, you done did this to yourself Rice Shop 

Jade Wok (Jersey City, NJ)

 A little update for everyone, I had some problems with my tonsils, but you better believe that didn't stop me from trying to swallow a dumpling to get a review out to everyone. It is true what they say, "dumplings >the ability to swallow,"it's an old saying. I was able to muster these down, and don't think that because it was painful that my standards wavered.

These dumplings are a classic case were a good dumpling sauce shined but the 'lings themselves struggled. For one thing, the dough to filling ratio was off; there was much more dough. This could be overlooked if the filling was outstanding, but in these dumplings the filling fell flat. The crisp was alright, the filling was a tad bland, and the sauce was actually the highlight. All of these factors lead to a dumpling experience that I would quickly forget. No.1 Fine Chinese still retains the crown. 

3.2 out of 5

Eric 

A lackluster score for a lackluster dumpling. Not to mention I still have no idea if this restaurant is called Jade Wok, or Jade Garden sooo, there's that. 

Mimi Cheng's Round 3 (New York, NY)

Another month, another Mimi Cheng's dumpling of the month. The October dumpling is a vegetable dumpling with squash, mushrooms, noodles, celery, and a beat puree sauce. Fans of the blog know I'm not into vegetable dumplings. They always pale in comparison to the traditional pork dumplings. The October dumplings, though, these ling's where amazing. They tasted pretty hearty, and the beat puree only upped the overall flavor profile. I can't believe, I'm saying this but the October special is better than the regular reinvented classics (pork).

They were topped with some spring onion and black sesame seeds. The toppings, along with the beat puree, made for a beautiful presentation too. All in all, I would recommended them to anyone vegetarian or not, but since you are reading this...they are already on to the the November special. Don't worry I'll give you the scoop on them too. Don't forget always order the dumplings fried. Fried dumplings > boiled dumplings 10 times out of 10. Every time. You may find some exceptions in other blog post, but just forget about them right now. 

4.75 out of 5

Eric