Tasty Dumpling (New York, NY)

When the Mets lose, the Houston Cougars lose, the Jets lose, and you get runover by a car on your bike, there's only one thing that could turn the week around...yep, dumplings. For this review I called up my friend Tony, born and raised in China, now living in Chinatown. I asked him where we should get dumplings, since I finally had someone that could read all the signs. 

We ended up in Tasty Dumpling. A tiny little spot next to my favorite park, where everyone is playing Chinese chess, and there is definitely gambling being placed on the matches. So we went in and Tony did his thing speaking Chinese to the woman in the back. As he did that I looked around and noticed, this place was packed all of them tourists too. I don't know who the PR manager is, but they deserve all of the money. I don't know what backroom deal went on to put them on a must eat list for all of these tourists, but good on them.

 We ended up getting some chive and pork, and cabbage and pork. They were alright, definitely not living up to the hype of all these tourists. The chive and pork were better, than the cabbage and pork. The chive had some layers of flavor, the cabbage though nothing special. They were a tad bit greasy too, and not as crispy as they could have been. Soy sauce as a dumpling sauce too should tell you everything you need to know. Lackluster and I can give you 5 better dumpling spots within a 10 block radius. 

Chive and pork 3 out of 5

Cabbage and pork 2.8 out of 5

Eric 

PS. again props to the marketing person here, because they are definitely not spending the money on interior, and how else do they get all these tourists jammed in there. There's a list of top dumplings out there and the only logically explanation for why Tasty Dumpling is on it, is the writer is receiving a lifetime supply of dumplings, and if that is the case I don't blame him/or her one bit. 

Confucius (Jersey City, NJ)

Another Thursday which means another dumpling review. These come from Confucius in Jersey City. Obviously, pan fried, pork, everyone knows the drill, I'm still looking for my go to dumpling. These dumplings, are decent. They will not be more go to but they are okay. The dough was thinner than what I want in a go to dumplings. the filling was packed inside, but the dough along the edge was too much. The filling flavor was good, not bland, but nothing to write home about. The sauce was clearly just soy, so that wasn't bringing anything into the table. Confucius won't be the go to spot, decent dumpling though.

3.7 out of 5 

Eric

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.