Lemongrass (Warwick, RI)

 

It's a testament to the connection between man and food, taste and sense, the human transcendence of the collective meal. When we eat dumplings, we are all one. And when we are all one, we eat dumplings.

Cut to Lemongrass, a small Asian cuisine gem with a supple raw bar and a wont for dumplings. The insider's tip to eating here is that the dim sum is not on the appetizer menu, and from there, the average dumpling adventurer might be discouraged. But fear not! You must ask for the fried pork dumplings behind closed doors and in a whisper, and they will provide you the spoils of good eating. Or, you could just ask them to deliver over the phone, which is what we did.

Only mere minutes later did these beautiful puppies show up at our doorstep, ready to be consumed by family. The dumplings were sweet and salty, cooked almost to perfection and with a dip of soy sauce they simply melted in your mouth. And I must admit that for several moments I was taken to another dimension.

What brought me back to earth was the small hints of unperfection - a stray herb in the presentation and a bite of one dumpling that resulted in a disappointing volume of pork and goodness.

And yet, we arrive at my recommendation: which is that while following E and I around the world on our Transcontinental Dumpling Adventure, you must stop in Warwick, Rhode Island, for the momentary bliss.

4 out of 5 stars.

Until next time,

Tyuck!

Good Taste (Hamburg, NJ)

In the dumpling game it gets pretty hard to remember where you have gotten dumplings before, unless they blow your socks off. So, I was driving home when I decided to act on the ever present dumpling craving. I thought I'd try Good Taste, thinking I haven't them before. Nope I have had them before; they were just so underwhelming I wiped ever having them from my memory.

Looking back on my previous entry of these dumplings, everything I said before still stands. They cant even get the portions right. Last time I had six, this time seven, c'mon man. These dumplings were big, but that doesn't always translate to a quality dumpling. The filling could've been a contender at one point, these though not even close. Dough to meat ratio was a little shoddy, and the sauce being straight soy, which I should've remembered, was horrible.

Try for me one time Good Taste and maybe I'll have good things to say. Do I really have to go out of my way to bring my own dumpling sauce from another joint to give you a fair rating ? In baseball you get three strikes, but in the dumpling world you're unbelievably lucky to even get a second chance.

1.7 out of 5

I'm disappointed in myself guys thats two redo reviews.

Be Better (That's a reminder to myself and Good Taste)

Eric

Good Taste (Hamburg, NJ)

Good Taste

Today, I journeyed over to the Chinese food Mecca, of Hamburg NJ, straight to little Chinatown, which basically consists of Good Taste, a small Chinese restaurant next to a liquor store and a bagel shop.

Hamburg NJ, doesn't have much going for it, and these dumpling aren't helping. They're completely average. If you were a jonesing dumpling fiend, and all that was around you Good Taste, I'd say go for it. If you have the ability to walk, ride a bike, drive, there are plenty better dumplings in the area.

The dough to filling ratio, totally skewed, sauce was definitely straight up soy, didn't even go the extra mile of just chopping up some scallions and throwing them in there to at least try and pull a fast one over on me.

Didn't expect much going in, and wasn't surprised at all.

A dumpling is a dumpling though,


2.8 out of 5

Eric