Where To Find The Five Best Chinese Dumplings In NYC
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In our neverending quest to find the best cheap eats in the city, we've come across a lot of dumplings. Some have tasted like little more than pork-soaked cardboard shavings, but some have been great. Still, it's important to remember that a dumpling takes many forms: from Japanese shumai to Polish peirogi to Italian ravioli, the concept of meat wrapped in dough transcends boundaries, and we can't cover them all in one swoop. So today, as a companion to our Best Chinese Noodle Soups rundown, we're name-checking five of the best Chinese dumplings in the city. Enjoy.
Photo via Flickr user fuzzirellaBest Fried Dumpling: Lan Zhou Hand-Pulled Noodle. Yes, we also love their hand-pulled noodle soup. But the fried Fujianese-style dumplings were the first thing we ever tasted at this East Broadway hole-in-the-wall, and we remain smitten. Forget the doughy, deep-fried monstrosities at your average takeout joint. The triangular pork-and-chive dumplings get packed tight into an enormous pan, so the bottom of the paper-thin wrapping gets bulk of the oil, allowing the top to stay tender and pliant. Slather them with the house-made sweet-soy-and-garlic sauce and commence shoveling. 144 East Broadway // (212) 566-6933
Photo Jamie FeldmarBest Soup Dumpling: Nan Xiang Dumpling House: Xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, are named in honor of the supremely delicious melted gelatin broth that busts out of the wrapper upon first bite. (XLB are potentially very dangerous to the roof of the mouth, so hasty eaters, proceed with caution.) The XLB at this Flushing dumpling mecca (which does, for what it's worth, offer table service and an English menu) have a wrapper slightly thicker than traditional Shanghai-style, but they're not too doughy, and the pork and crab filling is always fresh. Skip the tourist lines at nearby Joe Shanghai (whose XLB don't have enough soup, anyway) and head here insteadâthough it can get crowded on weekends, the brusque service ensures a lickety-split turnover. 38-12 Prince Street, Flushing // (718) 321-3838
Photo via YelpBest Fried Tiny Buns: 456 Shanghai Cuisine: Fried tiny buns, aka sheng jian bao, are basically the fried cousin of soup dumplings, but encased in thick, bready shell instead of a delicate steamed wrapper. Theyâre cooked in a massive circular frying pan, packed in tightly like a hundred ping-pong balls, crisped up on one side, with a healthy sprinkling of sesame seeds and scallions on top. People eat them for breakfast in Shanghai. SJB are hearty, fatty, and sadly never seemed to take off here the way that soup dumplings or potstickers have. Fortunately, a handful of places in NYC do them right, like 456 Shanghai Cuisine, which Sam Sifton awarded one star to not long ago. 69 Mott Street // (212) 964-0003
Photo via YelpBest Spicy Wonton: White Bear: This teeny-tiny Flushing storefront with a ripped awning serves mind-blowingly good Northern Chinese-style dumplings. The plump little chili oil wontons, stuffed with minced pork and cabbage, arrive drowning in a fiery red oil and topped with pickled vegetables, ground chilis and scallions. Your taste buds will be shocked and awed. Expect Styrofoam plates, tiny tables, and come prepared to pointâEnglish isn't the first order of business here.135-02 Roosevelt Avenue, #5 // (718) 961-2322
Photo via YelpBest Dumpling Soup: Yunnan Flavor Snack: As of right now, Sunset Park's Yunnan Flavor Snack is the only place in the city for Yunnanese food, hailing from the southern Chinese province bordering Vietnam (though we hear a new place is opening in the LES soon). Until that happens, get your butt on the R train and head to YFS for their hot-and-sour dumpling soup. The dumplings look like little wrinkly brains, thin-skinned pork slippers bobbing around in a delicious hot mess of chili oil and pork broth guaranteed to take care of that winter cold right quick. 774 49th Street, Brooklyn // (718) 633-3090
Photo via Cherry Patter