Illuzion (Hoboken, NJ)

I order sushi, strictly for the gyoza. I'm getting close to hitting all of the Hoboken sushi/chinese. Just throw Illuzion on the list today. Gyoza here obviously ordered. I went classic pork. Always. go. classic. pork. at least at first.They had a couple other flavors on their menu, but I'll leave them for anther person to try.

The gyoza here, are pretty good. The crisp stayed crisp even though I ordered them delivery. If you order pick up you're a chump, or just not a dumpling mogul. These gyoza were flavorful on the inside, I liked the fact that the dough wasn't too much. Can't have a thick dumpling like dough, on a sleek tender gyoza. I like my gyoza to be almost translucent. These were a decent gyoza.

Sushi is a totally different game, and I'm sure someone out there has a review on illuzion, but it's not me. I would get these again sure, but there are better dumplings and better gyoza out there.

3.8 out of 5

Eric MacPherson

Flushing, I'm coming for you.  

Ling-ling (Bridgewater, NJ)

Long days seem a little less long when you throw some 'lings down at lunch. These dumplings are brought to us by Ling-ling, the restaurant so nice they named it twice. Never been before so I can't vouch for how accurate that previous statement is, but on to the stars of the show.

Fried. Pork. Dumplings. Now these dumplings had a good crisp and good texture. The dough had a good bite. Aside from that, these dumplings didn't shine too bright. They were lackluster in taste. The filling was ok, and the sauce was ehh. The service though, grade A. Waiter was all time, props to that guy, If you're looking for a solid, quick, lunch dumpling in the Bridgewater area, I think Ling-ling is a decent little spot.Great lunch deals too.

3.1 out of 5

Eric

How come whenever a soup comes with the meal and I tell the waiter, I don't want any soups, they look at me like I have 7 heads? Like seriously it's alright don't waste your soup on me. I came for one thing and one thing only...dumplings. Keep the soup in the kitchen, I promise it's cool. 

Mimi Cheng's January Special (New York, NY)

Another month, another Mimi Cheng's special 'ling. This month is none other than the brunchling, and I for one couldn't have been more excited at this announcement. Combining my love of both breakfast foods, and dumplings can only lead to a delicious experience. 

These 'lings are stuffed with scrambled eggs, onions, sausage, and cheddar, and fried and topped with everything seasoning. Bam. These dumplings have climbed to number one on my Mimi Cheng's special list, which has some heavy hitters on it already. How can you not love a breakfast bite tucked into a beautifully crispy dumpling skin. The crunch, phenomenal as always. The insides, although simple, are spot on. It's hard to mess up eggs and sausage, but that doesn't mean its not an A+ lineup. Somethings, just work, like those guys. Throw in some ketchup on the side to dip into, if you're into that sort of thing, and you are left with my favorite special dumpling of the month to this point. 

It's no secret I am a breakfast food fanatic, surpassed only by my love of dumplings. Combine those two and I am in absolute heaven.

BOOM

Eric 

4.9 out of 5

These brunchlings scoring this high, is completely different than the classic pork fired dumpling scale I use. Apples and oranges up in here. 

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.