Drunken Dumpling (New York, NY)

All the hype around the Drunken Dumpling stems from their giant Xiao Long Bao, but honestly I'm not about that life. It's way more soup than actual dough, I'm sure the broth is tasty, but I'm a fried guy through and through. 

Drunken dumpling does offer a good array of dumplings though, so it'll definitely call for multiple trips. This time we went with the shrimp and wood ear mushroom, the pork and bell pepper (obv both fried), and the classic pork xiao long bao. 

Starting with the shrimp. These guys were perfectly crispy. The dough to filing ratio was spot on. A solid dumpling exterior. However, the middle was a little bit lackluster (for some people). The subtle wood mushroom flavor was there; I just wish the shrimp wasn't ground. I think a whole shrimp would've elevated this 'ling. Subtle flavor but great crisp and exterior to go along with a nice chili sauce made for a pretty decent dumpling.

Now, moving on to the soup dumplings. The dough on these guys was very light, exactly how I like my xlb. The broth was a lot more smokey than many of the xlb's I've had around the city, which was a nice change of pace. They were't overly hot either, where I have to worry about potentially tasting nothing for the rest of the week because boiling lava hot broth came gushing out. A very solid xlb, just one criticism is that the spoons are way to small, way to small. Beef those puppies up a little bit. I felt like I was balancing an egg on a pencil. I don't want to waste any broth and if the dumpling is twice the size of the spoon, that's a real possibility.

Now moving on to the best dumpling of the night. The pork with bell peppers. Like the shrimp, the exterior was perfectly crispy. Again, not to soggy, not pointier than a Dorrito; somewhere right in the middle, where all fried dumplings should exist. The filling wasn't bland, it definitely tasted more like a classic Chinese take-out 'ling which is what I wanted/expected. A very solid staple dumpling. No frills, all business. Give me that day in and day out. A dumpling that you know gets the job done, no questions asked. 

Shrimp and mushroom 3.9 out of 5

Xiao long bao 4.0 out of 5

prok with bell pepper 4.3 out of 5 

Eric 

Don't worry I'll be back to finish off the rest of the menu over there, including the XL XLB. So relax.