Last night, standing with a plateful of various delicately steamed and fried dumplings in a small restaurant located just on the outskirts of Chinatown, I celebrated Chinese New Year. Chopsticks in one hand and an ice cold Tsingtao (Chinese beer) in the other, I watched as a dragon wiggled and weaved its way through the crowd to the beat of a large drum. Just another Wednesday night..
Much to my own regret, I haven't ventured too far into Chinatown so I was psyched when my friend Fiona invited me to the re-opening of Dumpling Cafe. There, I pulled a variety of meat and vegetable stuffed dumplings from bamboo steamers and piled them onto my plate. The steamed dumplings were so soft and tender, each bite packed with the flavors of fresh vegetables and various meats. In addition to the delicious dumplings, chicken meatballs and scallion pancakes were served. The meatballs were flavorful and addicting and the pancakes were lightly crisp on the outside and soft, tender and deliciously doughy on the inside. They had the slightest hint of scallion flavor and served as a great vehicle to mop up the slicks of sauce that the dumplings left behind on my plate.
In addition to having delicious food, you could tell that the owners/chefs cared about quality and wanted to make sure that every guest thoroughly enjoyed the food and that every need was met. That being said, they were not tricked into telling me what exactly was inside that delicious scallion pancake. Oh well, a girl can try, can't she?
I can totally feel a Chinatown kick coming on. Where are some other can't miss spots?
14 comments:
Obviously this means that a blogger meetup fro Dim Sum should happen! MMM Dim Sum! Looks delish!
Ooh. I definitely need to go here. Love dumplings! Sounds like a great evening! I really haven't been to CHinatown much either so I'll patiently await all the advice you get about where to go.
Looks delicious! We are Chinatown *regulars* - I'd first point you to Chowhound - do a search on the Boston board and see what appeals to you. Seafood? Peach Farm. BBQ/roast meats? Vinh Sun. Great Taste is one of our absolute favs too - and the attached bakery has my daughter's favorite dan tat (egg tarts). Great cream buns here, too (soft roll, studded w/coconut, slit down the middle and filled w/whipped cream). China Pearl or Hei la Moon for the authentic dim sum cart experience w/o a doubt.
The Chinese New Year fest is this coming Sunday, BTW - starts at 10 w/kickoff (usually w/Menino mumbling a few words) and then all-out mayhem w/lion dancers in the streets, LOUD firecrackers and ooooodles of peeps. Really fun though if you haven't been before.
Cheers!
Gourmet Dumpling House! The BEST dumplings. They have many other traditional Chinese dishes also. Everything is always killer.
looks awesome! I have never been to the Dumpling house, or many other places in China Town for that matter. I hear Shubu zen is good!
I take back what I said about dumplings. These look good!
I love the dirty mess that is Chinatown! And I love dumplings!! Need to try this place out!
How fun and those dumplings look delicious! Sounds like a great place too:)
I walk through Chinatown every night after work, and wonder which restaurants to try, so I am looking forward to seeing the responses of your culinary-minded friends!
Dim Sum from Hei la Moon was my favorite meal when we visited Boston last summer. I would go back just to eat there. The food and atmosphere were beyond anything I have found.
LOVING all these suggestions...please keep them coming! I smell a delicious day in Chinatown blog post coming up....
Oh man I need to try this place!
just finished catching up on your blog. wow, you have been up to so much fun food stuff outside of school! Asana desserts = amazing. this dumpling party = so fun! and obv i was excited to read about the latest burger friday. :)
Just stumbled upon this blog after reading your take on Gourmet Dumpling House. For the record, I wholeheartedly agree that GDH tends to be overrated, so I'll be sure to follow this blog to find out about your other forays into Chinatown. That being said, though it's over a year late, I had to point out that from a cultural perspective, you saw a lion, not a dragon. Lion dances feature two people as the lion, and the lion often interacts with the musicians and another person performing as the Buddha. Dragons, however, often feature five or more people holding long poles attached to the dragon, and the dragon often interacts with another person holding a long pole with a ball on the end representing the sun.
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