Vanessa's Dumpling House (Chinatown, NYC)

This week I headed on down to Chinatown, because where else does one go to get dumplings. I got a little tip to head on over to Vanessa's Dumpling House because the price per dumpling is crazy cheap and the interior is as bare bones as it gets, and that just sounded like music to my ears. 

Vanessa's Dumplings definitely delivered the decor was perfect, tables and chairs and the extra soda they cant fit into the refrigerator lying around. Spare all that bamboo and koi fish crap, I'm here for dumplings not to feel like I am an extra on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I stepped up and was met with my favorite person of all time, a tiny, angry Chinese woman with the sourest look on my face. She doest want any nonsense, just give her your order and take your food, no funny business. Definitely my kind of place, I'm here for dumplings, if your in front of me asking a million questions, this lady would definitely just straight up kick you out, and it's that dedication to customer service that I love. 

So to the dumplings, I obviously had to order all three style of fried dumplings otherwise I wouldn't be doing my job. So I got pork and chive, pork and cabbage, and chicken and basil. All the dumplings came out, and they were all identical which is perfect. Who doesn't love a little game of guess that dumpling.  The pork and chive where the best, the classic go to at all places and here that rang true as well. The chicken and basil, would be second, followed in last by the pork and cabbage. The pork and cabbage where definitely the under-performers of the group. The sauce was ehh, but the price unbeatable, if you're a baller on a budget I would definitely say head on over to Vanessa's. the dumplings were fairly good, nothing crazy just a good old fashion quick, crispy package of happiness.

Pork and Chive 4.35 out of 5

Chicken and Basil  4.15 out of 5

Pork and Cabbage  3.9 out of 5

PS. Make sure if you have a set day to get dumplings like every Thursday, you invite the usual suspects, or they will in fact be a little ang. Just sayin. 

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 

Aroy-D, the Thai Elephant (Food truck) (Hoboken, NJ)

It's no secret that every Sunday, I devour brunch, preferably bottomless manmosa brunches. This Sunday was no different, however, after brunch we decided to go to Pier 13 in Hoboken and enjoy the rays while simultaneously getting sauced on watermelon punch. I obviously had to get dumplings, because someone has to give the people a verdict on whether or not to order from The Thai Elephant food truck.

Pier 13 has a ton of food trucks, but the only food truck food that matters is dumplings. Aroy-D Thai Elephant fried dumplings fit the bill perfectly. Now, you all know fried dumplings are the far superior dumpling and these pups where deep fried making 'em even that much better. The filling was moist, the crunch was on point. Throw in a nice tangy soyish sauce,  and I think its safe to say these are a great complement to a day out getting boozed up while relaxing in the sun. 

Booze, check. Sun, check. Lawn chairs and Jenga, check. Dumplings, double check. 

I'd order them again that's for sure.

4.4 out of 5

Eric 

Giving me a fork for street food, who do they think I am, pfft. 

King's Co Imperial (Brooklyn, NY)

When Tyuck comes to town there's only one thing a couple of dumpling connoisseurs need to do; get dumplings. So with the help of his brother we hopped on down to Kings Co. Imperial looking for some soup dumplings...and they didnt have any. Instead we had to opt for an offering of all the dumplings they have on the menu. 

Nothing more satisfying than just saying give me one of every dumpling you offer. We ended up getting some chicken dumplings, some veggie potstickers, some pork long dumplings, and some pork/shrimp shumai, so this blog post has something for everyone, vegetarians to pure carnivores. 

I'll start with the veggie potstickers.

As you all know we prefer our dumplings fried, these were filled with a variety of vegetables with the biggie being bok choy. They were decent not to great, overall medium dumpling the sauce we used was the one for the chicken dumplings so much better than the standard soy on the table. I also tried it in this bomb spicy peanutty sauce which was amazing. 

On to the next the pork/shrimp shumai

Like I said before, steamed are alright, but it's always going to play second fiddle to the big dogs. These again were alright nothing special, but the sauce was amazing. It had a pleasant heat and tinge, that definitely upped the wow factory of the dumplings, but still a lack luster dumpling.

Now on to the power players starting with the pork long dumplings,

Now we are getting into the real gems. These pork dumplings had an awesome flavor, a little greasy, but overall very pleasant. Dipping them into the chicken sauce only elevated them that much more. Fired, check. Filling, check. Sauce, check. These made for  a dumpling that definitely could definitely get our stamp of approval. 

Finally we ordered some chicken dumplings,

Chicken dumplings always scare me because so much can go wrong and you're sitting there eating something so dry it makes 6 saltine crackers look appetizing. But these, these dumplings knocked it out of the park. Our clear number one out of the four samples. The sauce was the pinnacle sauce of the day. The dumpling was perfectly moist, the fry was simple and added the perfect amount of crisp. 

Popping into swanky chinese places, as a dumpling reviewer is never as fun as the little hole in the wall dive chinese spots. However, Kings Co. Imperial, definitely had a cool vibe, and dumplings fit the bill.

2.7 out of 5 Vegetable Potstickers

2.9 out of 5 Pork/Shrimp Shumai

4.2 out of 5 Pork Long Dumplings

4.5 out of 5 Chicken Dumplings

Eric 

Final verdict, if you can stomach the hipstery vibe that is brooklyn, and have pants tight enough to blend in and not look like you're a professional dumpling critic, head on over to Brooklyn. There's a lot of cool spots, and places to chow down. But seriously, hit the thrift shop first, or the looks of disgust will be many. 

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!