Dumpling Day with Jac & Vee

DUMPLING DAY with Jac & Vee

Dumpling Day was a huge success! 5 hours, 6 places and 14.5 Dumplings later I have successfully became a dumpling expert. Veronica of In Love & Lace and I tested the best of the best dumpling hot spots to create a guide of “the best dumplings in nyc”

We went to 6 restaurants all located within walking distance and in lower Manhattan.

Here are my ranks in order of preference!

#1 Shu Jiao Fu Zhou Cuisine
Address: 118 Eldridge ST. (Btwn Broome and Grand)

The corner restaurant is definitely a no frills spot! It is A rated and was jam packed with locals enjoying some dumplings & noodles. They only offer pork and chive dumplings and I loved the flavor that the chives added! The dumplings were steamed and perfect ratio of stuffing to dough. The order of 6 dumplings came to $2.50 and the restaurant is cash only!

#2 The Bao
Address: 13 St Mark’s Place

The Bao is known for their soup dumplings! I really enjoyed them and had 4! It was hard to compare a soup dumpling to a regular dumpling but the pork dumplings were very tasty and they definitely warmed me right up! An order of 6 dumplings came to $8.95 and there was a $10 minimum per person so Veronica & I ordered two. flavors.

#3 88 Lan Zhou Handmade Noodles and Dumplings
Address: 40 Bowery St.

These dumplings were the only ones that were fried! I needed a break from the steamed dumplings that Veronica preferred. These were also very delicious pork dumplings and fried to the perfect texture. This restaurant had more of a traditional restaurant feel and was another A rating and also very busy! An order of 8 dumplings came to $4.00.

#4 Vegetarian Dim Sum House
Address: 5177 24 Pell St #1

This restaurant only served vegetarian options. Naturally we ordered an order of veggie dumplings! We ordered the Water Cress Dumplings which came 8 in an order for $6.95. I really enjoyed the stuffing of these dumplings and thought the ratio was spot on. I also really liked that they had watercress as that was something new for me.

#5 Nom Wah Tea Parlor
Address: 13 Doyers St

Nom Was Tea Parlor was the only restaurant that we had to wait for a considerable amount of time for a table. It was absolutely packed!! I heard great things about the restaurant but felt a little too mainstreamed. The dumplings were very doughy and the stuffing was not mashed veggies but somewhat whole veggie bits (celery, baby corn, water chestnuts) The order of 3 dumplings cost $4.50 and they only accepted Amex or Cash.

#6 Mimi Cheng’s
Address: 380 Broome St or 179 2nd Ave

Mimi Cheng’s had a very pop up, fast casual restaurant vibe. The dumplings were mediocre and did not taste home made. (We later found out the they buy their dumpling dough and do not make it in house). I will probably not be back. The dumplings also felt a bit more expensive than the other locations. The order of 6 dumplings came to $11.16, also credit card only.