Seoul (New York, NY)

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​You can't be wondering around in Korea Town and not get dumplings. So when the crew opted for churros at Sweet Churro, I opted for dumplings at Seoul, because who would listed to my reviews if I went with a churro over a 'ling. 

These dumplings came out piping hot, straight out of the fryer. The inside was a pork, veggie mixture, and tasted like a egg roll. It also lacked in flav, but it was a clean, light filling. The dough on these pups, though, is everything. I mean look at that golden brown tan on these, ow ow. The crisp was perfect, adding even more to the overall egg roll taste. The sauce played a minor roll in the flavor of these dumplings, crisp is the star. Don't want to name names...hmmm...but if you don't like egg rolls, you probably won't enjoy these 'lings, if you live for the chinese lunch special with the egg roll and fried rice on the side and are wondering Korea town, pop in and get them. 

A decent dumpling,

3.5 out of 5

Eric 

Mimi Cheng's (New York, NY)

As most of you guys know we have moved our headquarters to the big apple, but have yet to crush a dumpling spot in Manhattan. So when some friends wanted to grab some dumplings, you know I was immediately down. So we stopped on down to Mimi Cheng's. 

Obviously had to start out with a Brooklyn Summer Ale, before moving on to my order. Had to get both the chicken and the pork, because what kind of dumpling critic would I be if I didn't give you all the scoop on a few of their offerings.

Let's start with the pork, obviously I always go pan-fried, and these were perfectly crispy. The filling was a pretty standard take on the classic dumplings we have all had. Through in their secret soy sauce on it was a marriage made in heaven. The filling was great with flavor, but not full of useless hipstery vegetables that people sometimes throw in. These were an overall very solid dumpling by my girl Mimi.

Now let's move on to the chicken, and what I am going to say might be a little controversial but I think I preferred these to the pork. The dough was crisp like the pork and combined with the same secret sauce, these dumplings definitely fit the bill. The flavor on the filling was on point, and again devoid of all that garbage vegetables they sometimes sneak in, I'm not saying vegetable dumplings are bad, what I am saying is when I order meat, thats all I want. 

If you're down on 2nd and 11 and are looking for a low key place that is reminiscent of a beach bungalow on some island even though you're in the middle of the city, I'd pop into Mimi Cheng's, they also have special dumplings but I'll leave that for another time. Also gotta a hot scoop on another low key dumpling spot that I will obviously check out.

Pork 4.4 out of 5

Chicken  4.7 out of 5 

Eric 

Hunan Wok 2.0 (Sparta, NJ)

While Tyuck is galavanting around in Asia, I'm here in the Garden of Eden fro dumplings; yes you guessed it New Jersey. Asia might seem like the most logical place to get dumplings, but any real connoisseur knows the the great New York Metropolitan area is the primer dumpling hotspot.

Sparta seems to have a Chinese place every 10 feet. These morsels of heaven come from Hunan Wok. Now Hunan Wok is across, so its about time I try them out hot. Other then not having rated these dumplings properly before (see previous Hunan Wok post), I am also coming down with a cold so I obviously needed some dumplings to help boost my immune system. Vitamin C wishes it was on the same level as a fried dumpling.

I went in with my expectations not too high, I was just looking for a quick dumpling and one I haven't properly rated. These blew my socks off for not expecting much. The dumpling center was tasty, the dough ratio was great, but those alone would have only made these good dumplings. What took this dumplings from good to potentially my new replacement for Lucky House (Never Forget), was the sauce. It was so much more than just your standard soy sauce with chives thrown in it. It elevated the dumplings to another level. Its like when you open a brand new pair of socks on wear a pair right out of the bag. That feeling of fresh socks makes you feel like you could climb everest, if you weren't currently scrolling through the TV looking for something to catch your attention for the next 20 minutes. This sauce was a pair of new socks. Sure maybe after a while of eating it its allure wears off, sure it could possibly be I haven't had a dumpling in a bit, or I'm coming down with a bit of a cold, but deep down I know this sauce was a fresh pair of white crew socks fresh out of the package and with that I give these dumplings-

4.1 out of 5

Eric

Now where did I put my socks.

Kao Sandwich Shop (Brooklyn, NY)

Brooklyn's Smorgasburg is a weekly food flea market held at the East River State Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Every Saturday hundreds of vendors flock to the seven-acre waterfront park in search of that perfect deep-fried oreo, mozzarella-basil pizza, ramen burger, or in our case, the perfect dumpling. It is a constantly evolving search -- our efforts becoming more and more addicting, our standards higher and higher. We are like the cat chasing the laser pointer. We may never find the perfect dumpling. But if we look a little harder and keep our ears to the ground, claws extended, that perfect dumpling may fall into our paws.

The dumplings came from a tent rented by Kao Sandwich Shop. The dumplings came out swiftly and steaming. These dumplings were clearly the work of fine craftsmanship and attention to detail. Each dumpling was wholesome, artfully put together and cooked to perfection. The light sprinkling of cilantro was the perfect touch. They were delicious. And yet, the problem upon serving was their heavy hand in the soy sauce. They might have found more success in keeping the soy light as well, but alas the dumplings found towards the bottom of the bowl were drowning in sodium. If not for that, these may have been a perfect five

4 out of 5 stars

Until next time

Tyuck!