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.

Komegashi Too (Jersey City, NJ)

 Hopped on over to Komegashi Too, last week for a little dumpling/ office party Thursday. I mean how could I not, open bar, unlimited sushi, and the cherry on top all you can eat dumplings. Now granted whenever dumplings are made in huge quantities and kept hot by a sterno, they are setting themselves up for failure, so I wasn't going in to strong. I also had to go in fast though, before the effects of the open bar start to appear. 

That being said, these were some solid 'lings. They were a tiny bit soggy but that comes with the territory of having to hang out in the buffet dish, but I can look that off if the taste is there. Komegashi Too, they had the taste pretty on point. The inside had some flavor, you can taste the chives, it had some substance. Overall good filling; the ratio of dough to filling was spot on, and like I said the only flaw was the dough being a smidge soggy, but its the Christmas season. I will also say get deeper dishes for the dumpling sauce. I need to dunk my dumpling in sauce. It has to be submerged into that heavenly liquid. I can't be spooning it on to a plate, to then have to mop up like some poor. Get it together this goes for all buffet spots with the small round plates that can barely hold any liquid. I don't want to have to start bringing my own little clear solo sauce container to pour into. Their sauce was good though, even though I was mopping it instead of dunking.

3.9 out of 5

Eric 

Merry Christmas ya filthy animals

That's if I don't post another entry before then, but I probably will. Who really knows though.

Sri Thai (Hoboken, NJ)

When the Jets are on a prime time Monday Night Football game, there's only one thing that could even help me get through this trainwreck of a season...dumplings. I was feeling a little switch up and wanted to get some curry, so that led me down the tracks to find a Thai spot. I have my go to chinese place, my pizza place, now onto my Thai spot. With that said, I ordered some Thai dumplings from Sri Thai. 

First off, steamed dumplings are always behind the 8 ball, so Sri Thai needed to bring the fire...and they fell so flat. The flavor was not on. They were greasy, the dough was way to soft and falling off. The ratio to filling and dough was horrible. How about the fact there wThrow all those negatives with the fact that the Jets played worse than the early movie Little Giants, ya know when half of them didn't even have the right equipment. Actually that's a horrible comparison because those kids had grit and determination and heart. The Jets lacked all of that, and these dumplings could be lumped in that category with them. Heartless, tasteless, greasy, no bueno. 

0.9 out of 5

Eric 

The curry was good though, can't be a hater all the time. 

Okinawa (Hoboken, NJ)

Thanksgiving is a fantastic holiday, but it would be better if it were acceptable to throw in dumplings to the mix. Pass the cranberry canned jelly, and the pork fried dumplings is a sentence that needs to be uttered more in America. It's what the pilgrims would have wanted. Continuing in the great tradition of eating raw fish just like the Native Americans and Pilgrims did like 400 years ago (I think or sometime in the past), I ordered some sush, and obviously some gyoza to start of the meal. 

Surprising these gyoza were still very crisp. The sauce was fairly good, and the filling was tasty as well. The ratio was spot on too. Gyoza being a little thinner than the traditional dumpling is something I always have to consider. These guys did a bang up job. Go to Sushi place now strictly because the gyoza was on point.

4.4 out of 5

Eric 

Some people throw out photo creds. I throw out chopstick creds. Shoutout to Izzy, best chopstick plug in the business, competition is not even close. Look at that tale too. Damn, try to find that bad boy at restoration hardware, not possible. 

Rice Shop (Hoboken, NJ)

 It's Thursday, so here is your weekly dumpling review for all the NY metropolitan, Hudson county living Hobokeners. I'm bringing you Rice Shop this week over on Washington. I ordered both the gyoza and the dumplings, because uhhh they are pretty much the same thing. Beautiful pieces of heaven wrapped in a delectable cloud with a side of pure happiness. Gyoza,dumplings, ravioli, hot pockets, I'll review anything with those three pieces of the puzzle. 

Now right off the back, Rice Shop did not impress. I'm still in love with No.1 Fine. The gyoza were better than the dumplings, but only because they messed up and gave me steamed dumplings like I am some sort of granola eating health nut. If I wanted to be health conscious and order steamed 'lings than I am in the wrong business. 

The gyoza had a decent fry to them the wrapper was nice and thin, the filling though did not bring it. Flavor city, up and moved because there was nothing going on here. Sauce too sub par. Gotta bring the heat, if you want my unyielding support. The dough was crisp just enough to put them over the regular dumplings. 

The dumplings, were steamed. That is pretty much all I should need to tell you. They could have had potential. The filling was super dense and the ratio of dough to filling was pretty good too. Sadly, they followed in the same footsteps as the gyoza. Basically just a dense pocket of tasteless meat. The sauce was wildly underwhelming as well. A one, two K.O. in the dumpling world. I wanted to like Rice Shop, I really did.

Gyoza 3 out of 5

Dumplings 2.8 out of 5

Eric 

Can't blame this low score on my tonsils either, you done did this to yourself Rice Shop 

Jade Wok (Jersey City, NJ)

 A little update for everyone, I had some problems with my tonsils, but you better believe that didn't stop me from trying to swallow a dumpling to get a review out to everyone. It is true what they say, "dumplings >the ability to swallow,"it's an old saying. I was able to muster these down, and don't think that because it was painful that my standards wavered.

These dumplings are a classic case were a good dumpling sauce shined but the 'lings themselves struggled. For one thing, the dough to filling ratio was off; there was much more dough. This could be overlooked if the filling was outstanding, but in these dumplings the filling fell flat. The crisp was alright, the filling was a tad bland, and the sauce was actually the highlight. All of these factors lead to a dumpling experience that I would quickly forget. No.1 Fine Chinese still retains the crown. 

3.2 out of 5

Eric 

A lackluster score for a lackluster dumpling. Not to mention I still have no idea if this restaurant is called Jade Wok, or Jade Garden sooo, there's that. 

Mimi Cheng's Round 3 (New York, NY)

Another month, another Mimi Cheng's dumpling of the month. The October dumpling is a vegetable dumpling with squash, mushrooms, noodles, celery, and a beat puree sauce. Fans of the blog know I'm not into vegetable dumplings. They always pale in comparison to the traditional pork dumplings. The October dumplings, though, these ling's where amazing. They tasted pretty hearty, and the beat puree only upped the overall flavor profile. I can't believe, I'm saying this but the October special is better than the regular reinvented classics (pork).

They were topped with some spring onion and black sesame seeds. The toppings, along with the beat puree, made for a beautiful presentation too. All in all, I would recommended them to anyone vegetarian or not, but since you are reading this...they are already on to the the November special. Don't worry I'll give you the scoop on them too. Don't forget always order the dumplings fried. Fried dumplings > boiled dumplings 10 times out of 10. Every time. You may find some exceptions in other blog post, but just forget about them right now. 

4.75 out of 5

Eric