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Like most Chinatown eateries, there really is no waiting area, just a bustling and crowded dining room. A closer look to your right will reveal photos of the owner with big name celebrities (Michael Douglass, Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson) as well as local celebrity chefs (Ken Oringer, Ming Tsai). Once we were seated, we were presented with an overwhelming menu of both classic and non-traditional offerings. Wanting to keep it simple, we ordered the fried Pork and Leek Dumplings ($6.50), the Scallion Pancake ($4.25), Mini Juicy Dumpling with Pork (Soup Dumpling) ($6.50) and Wide Noodles Sauteed with Chicken and Vegetables ($6.75).
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At first glance, the plates are presented in a traditional way and all came out at once. Upon further review, there was an unidentifiable red "goo" dripping from the side of our scallion pancake dipping sauce and an uncomfortable looking pink substance resting on top of one of our soup dumplings. Pushing those items to the side and looking past that, each of the items seemed to be unnecessarily slicked with grease, something that I usually think of as a bad stereotype for dishes of the Asian genre, but not usually the case.
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The Pork and Leek Dumplings were cute little packages with crispy exteriors, but weren't as flavorful as I was hoping. The Scallion Pancakes, while nicely fried and supremely crispy, were thinner and lacked that contrasting doughy center that I love so much. The Soup Dumplings were good, soft and delicate with a soupy center and the noodle dish had generous portions of tender chicken and bean sprouts wrapped around flat noodles.
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If you're looking for something to help soak up some of the aftermath of an over-indulging evening, this might be your spot. After all, the prices are reasonable and the food is good, I've just found far better and had a hard time getting past the greasiness.
12 comments:
I have been dying to make it over there - I have heard such GREAT things!
If you hadn't mentioned the greasiness, I would have said that everything looks amazing! Still, I bet it's a great place to recover from a hangover. Short term fix, at least...
The soup dumplings look good! Have you been to Hei La Moon? http://www.confessionsofachocoholic.com/dessert/dimsum-brunch I really like their dimsum...
Such a bummer that the food was greasy, but glad you got to try this place out!
Yeah, I was not too impressed by the quality of the food at Gourmet Dumpling House given their reputation. Check out my review: http://spoonhau5.blogspot.com/2011/11/gourmet-dumpling-house.html
If you want better soup dumplings and Shanghainese noodles, head over to Dumpling Cafe instead.
http://spoonhau5.blogspot.com/2012/03/dumpling-cafe.html
there's only one dish worth waiting for at Gouremt dumpling house and that's the Sichuan Fish slice soup. We always order that with their steamed veggie dumpling (fantastic) and you can never go wrong.
I have been going to the dumpling house religiously since 2005. This is one of the few Boston restaurants that I crave for any time or day of the week.
I have always had superb service and great food at this restaurant. All of the food is freshly made and promptly served. I have never experienced the greasiness of the dishes the author describes here. I frequently order the mini juicy dumplings which have never come out greasy. I noticed the other dumplings in the pictures seemed to be fried which would explain the greasiness.
One of my favorite dishes here is the sauteed spinach which is cooked perfectly with a clean and crisp taste. I also enjoy the veggie fried rice which is another traditionally greasy dish but I have never experienced the overwhelming effect the author describes in the article.
I would not limit this to a restaurant to soak up alcohol after bar hopping in Downtown Boston. They have a huge menu with great tasting food. I'm going to go tonight.
In a way, calling cheap, hole in the wall dumplings and the like greasy seems a bit obvious. I mean, I frequent places like this not to eat kale and miso braised steamed dumplings or something like that with the cultivated aura of health/flavor/quality. It's kind of like if you go to Roxy's Grilled Cheese truck and say the food was great (it is) but it was too greasy. You might be looking in the wrong places, I mean. But I guess to each their own?
I don't think that food that is fried means that it is greasy and that was the point that I was trying to make in this review. I've had the same dishes at other restaurants in Chinatown and throughout the city that weren't slicked with oil. My comments don't come from a health standpoint, it's more of a note that I found the food to be overly greasy on my visit.
This all just looks incredibly unbelievably delicious... too bad it was so greasy!
Sorry to hear that after all the hype the food turned out to be greasy and sub-par. I am a huge scallion pancake fan and I think the best rendition is at Jumbo Seafood in Newton Centre.
Greasy Chinese food is pretty much my nightmare. Too bad - it looks kind of pretty :)
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