Rich and I started talking about the best dumplings in the city a year or two ago when I told him that my favorites were at Dumpling House Incorporated on Eldridge Street. Shortly thereafter we ran into each other there as he was checking it out and I was taking some friends on a dim sum expedition.
Unfortunately, Dumpling House closed down a little while ago and was replaced by Vanessa’s, which is at least twice as big. Last month, Rich claimed Vanessa’s was now the best, but I had some bad ones there and was more enamored with Good Dumpling on Grand. Rich dutifully tried Good Dumpling, but was not swayed. Hence it was determined that we should throw down the gauntlet and find the one true dumpling.
This was by no means a unique idea. In fact, I had recently stumbled upon @girluninterrupt who had posted her own dumpling review. Yet there’s nothing like discovering for oneself, so we embarked on a tour of dumpling places this past Sunday with our friends Ingrid and Gagan, and we were fortunate to have almost spring-like weather.
Rich, who maybe has a little too much time on his hands, didn’t take this lightly, and he printed up an itinerary of 7 places for us to try. In the end, we made two bonus stops and hit 9 locations in a single afternoon! Ingrid hit saturation after trying four places, and Gagan only tried one dumpling at the last few places. So that we could bring you a thorough and authoritative report, Rich and I downed at least two dumplings at each place and each had about 25 dumplings. Absurd? Obsessive? Perhaps, but it was a lot of fun. Even better, eating at nine dumpling places cost about as much as a single lunch at many restaurants. Good recession food.
We only considered authentic Chinatown establishments and didn’t try any of the places catering to the gentrified masses such as Dumpling Man or Rickshaw Dumpling. Paying more than a dollar for a handful of dumplings just doesn’t make sense when there’s so much tasty goodness a stone’s throw away. We also only tried the fried pork and chive dumplings in each place. Every place offered steamed varieties, but it should go without saying that everything tastes better fried.
A friend remarked to me that she usually rates dumplings in the broad categories of “tasty,” “super tasty,” and “not so tasty.” Well, when you’re comparing more than a few places, you need to be a little more refined in your description. We quickly decided that the primary judging criteria should be the thickness and chewiness of the skin, crunch (we like crunch), meat flavor, vegetable flavor, greasiness, and freshness (how recently cooked). Our focus was on taste, and, while the aesthetics of the establishment (usually none to speak of) is mentioned where noteworthy, it was not used as a judging criteria.
Without further ado, here are our top five rated places followed by the rest.
#1 Lan Zhou (144 E. Broadway between Pike & Rutgers)
Our top pick with three out of four votes, Lan Zhou actually defies typical dumpling conventions. Most of the places we went to specialized in dumplings and did a brisk trade in them. Lan Zhou is better known for its hand-pulled noodles, which we also sampled (and were quite good). Other places we visited were constantly making dumplings, but here they only cooked the dumplings when requested. In addition, the smallest order is 12 for $3, compared to the usual 4 or 5 for a $1. It forces you to bring a friend or make a meal out of them, where usually I have dumplings as a snack.
Lan Zhou’s dumplings have a thin skin and a delicate crunch to them. They’re smaller than average, but they really stand out for their exceptional flavor. In addition to good meat and a preponderance of fresh chives, the dumplings benefited from the subtle yet distinct flavors of ginger and garlic. Of all the dumplings we tried, these were the ones I’d be happiest to eat without any additional sauces. Every establishment we visited had dumpling sauce and chili sauce but usually only that. Lan Zhou also had vinegar and chili oil on their tables. A Lan Zhou dumpling with some dumpling sauce and a little chili oil on it is like manna from heaven.
Because we were used to getting 2 orders of 4 dumplings at other places, we accidentally ended up with 2 orders of 12 dumplings here. Even though that meant 6 dumplings a person, there weren’t any big complaints. The restaurant is relatively comfortable compared to some of the other places, and we enjoyed sitting and taking our time.
I question whether Lan Zhou’s dumplings really qualify as traditional dumplings because of their enhanced flavors, which we didn’t encounter anywhere else. Nonetheless, while Rich put it in third place, the rest of us stuck with the flavor and propelled it to first place.
#2 Vanessa’s Dumpling House (118 Eldridge between Broome & Grand)
The expanded location of what used to be Dumpling House Inc, our panel voted it #2 with three out of four votes. I swear the taste is not the same as it was and I ranked it fourth.
4 for a $1, dumplings are in constant production here and come piping hot. With a little thicker skin than Lan Zhou, a bite of these dumplings is more substantial. The chive flavor is apparent, and, while there is some crunch, we thought a little more would have been preferable. It’s a nicely satisfying dumpling.
#3 Prosperity Dumpling (46 Eldridge between Canal & Hester)
Prosperity took third place with Gagan and Ingrid voting it third, Rich voting it first place, and I voting it second. This was @girluninterrupt’s first place winner, and by coincidence she was actually there within a half hour of us. Come to think of it, I think I remember someone picking up some frozen dumplings just as we entered…
Lightly skinned and 5 for $1, I personally thought the dumplings were richly flavored, more so than Vanessa’s, and had a good balance of meat with chive. However, we all agreed that they were a little too greasy and could use more crunch.
Prosperity is the size of a large closet and doesn’t have any seats. We barely had space to eat our dumplings standing up.
#4 Tasty Dumpling (54 Mulberry between Bayard and Worth)
Beyond third place, the votes are not as conclusive. Tasty Dumpling takes third by virtue of Rich ranking it fourth and my ranking it third. It was the seventh place we visited, and Ingrid had already decided that she was going to explode if she had another dumpling. Gagan was down to only trying one dumpling per location. I’m sure if he’d had another here, he would have ranked it higher.
What I like about Tasty Dumpling is that they remind me of the dumplings I had growing up in San Francisco, which we called pot stickers. Shaped like crescent moons, they have a substantial skin, that’s not too chewy, with a satisfying crunch. The meat did taste a little fattier than others, but for some people that just means more flavor. 5 for $1.25.
#5 Good Dumpling (214-216 Grand St between Elizabeth and Mott)
I am unilaterally declaring Good Dumpling to be in 5th place. We had finished our tour of 8 places and stopped for a beer. Gagan and Ingrid surrendered and went home, and I barely managed to twist Rich’s arm into coming here for the final stop.
You only get 3 for a $1 at Good Dumpling, although $2 gets you 8. The only incentive pricing we saw that day. Two things you need to watch out for here. a) Be sure to wait for fresh dumplings. Sometimes they leave them sitting around which seriously degrades the flavor, and b) be sure to pour dumpling sauce instead of soy sauce on your dumplings. I made the latter mistake, which made them needlessly salty. Yet, if you follow these two rules, I argue that these thinly skinned, slightly greasy dumplings are worth a stop.
We also sampled the places below, but I wouldn’t recommend them unless you want to thoroughly try the alternatives.
#6 Dumplings (25B Henry St between Catherine and Market)
Who knows what this place is really called, but the only English word I saw on the awning was “Dumplings”. These dumplings were bigger and flatter than average, relatively doughy, and could use more crunch. 5 for $1, the flavor was average.
What was most notable about this place was that there were four German girls with a spread of food laughing at the four of us sitting down to share a single order of dumplings.
#7 Fried Dumpling (106 Mosco St between Mott and Mulberry)
The second of two places of this name we visited. We had to stand in the line in the street while we waited for the dumplings to be ready. Doughy and sticky, they were only average. After having just visited 5 other places, it was clear to me that the people standing in line and taking photos of the awning had no idea there were much better dumplings elsewhere.
#8 Fried Dumpling (99 Allen St between Delancey and Broome)
This was the very first place we stopped, so it is through a bit of a haze I recall the details. But I had noted that the dumplings were not hot out of the pan, and they were lacking in crunch and the taste of chives. Considering how hungry we were when we started, it is notable that these dumplings didn’t make an impression.
#9 Excellent Dumpling House (111 Lafayette between Canal and Walker)
Excellent Dumpling House earned the distinction of being the most expensive dumplings we tried at $4.95 ($5.40 with tax) for 7. In its defense, it was a more of a sit down restaurant where the other locations did a lot of take out. However, what was inexcusable was the poor dumpling quality. We were initially impressed by the uniform shape and hard looking shell of the dumplings. Finally, a dumpling with real crunch! However, once you bit in, the shell tasted pasty, the meat was plain, and there were no vegetables to speak of. Fail.
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