The iblog crew decided that it was finally time for us to suck it up and do a dumpling crawl through NYC’s Chinatown in hopes of finding the best dumplings in New York.  In case you are curious, the eaters of this crawl were: Margaret, Eric, Yin, Weffen, Steve, and Paul.

What did we judge them on?  The dumplings were judged on three things: the wrapper, inside filling, and overall freshness.  While obviously the whole process is a bit subjective, we were all able to come to an absolute conclusion of which dumplings were the best and which were the worst.  You could argue the ones in the middle, but what’s the point – just go eat the good ones.

The following (in alphabetical order) are the 9 dumpling houses / restaurants in Chinatown that we went to on our dumpling crawl.  As was the case with the cupcakes, this list may be amended in the near future to include any places we may have missed.  If you know of a places that we NEED to go to, please leave a note in the comments section or send me a message.

• Dumplings (Finest Dumpling Restaurant) – 25B Henry Street (near Catherine), New York, NY
• Excellent Dumpling House – 111 Lafayette Street (near Canal), New York, NY
  
• Fried Dumpling House – 106 Mosco Street (near Mulberry), New York, NY
  
• Fu Zhou Cuisine – 118 Eldridge Street (near Broome), New York, NY
• Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling – 144 E Broadway (near Pike), New York, NY
  
• China North Dumpling – 27a Essex St. (near Hester), New York, NY
  
• Prosperity Dumpling House – 46 Eldridge Street (near Hester), New York, NY
• Tasty Dumpling House – 54 Mulberry Street (near Bayard), New York, NY
• Vanessa’s Dumplings (Dumpling House) – 118 Eldridge Street (near Broome), New York, NY

Here it is – the list of the best dumplings in New York (NYC), as per our NYC Dumpling Crawl, in reverse order:

#9 – Dumplings (Finest Dumpling Restaurant) - “the only thing worse than bad dumplings is no dumplings – Paul”

During the dumpling crawl I used the Notes app on my iPhone to take down notes at each Dumpling shop we went to trying to capture everyone’s immediate reactions and gather their feedback.  The only thing that I wrote down for Dumpling is ‘WTF’.

While it’s quite possible that the dumplings at Dumplings weren’t the worst of the worst, the lady that was working there was ridiculously rude.  We originally ordered one plate of fried dumplings and another of boiled dumplings.  As shown below, she obviously decided she didn’t want to boil any new dumplings for us and gave us a plate of pork buns instead.  Then Yin (who speaks Chinese) tried to order another plate of boiled dumplings a few minutes later.  The lady refused to make them for her saying that she didn’t have any left, even though it was quite clear there were plenty.  Lame.

In terms of where Dumplings falls in the rankings,Paul said it best when he said, “the only thing worse than bad dumplings is no dumplings.”  In case you were curious, the fried dumplings we did get weren’t very good either.  They were stuck together and the texture of the wrapper overwhelmed the filling.

fried dumplings at Dumplings (Finest Dumpling Restaurant) on Henry Street

China North Dumpling on Essex Street in NYC

#8 – China North Dumpling - “these dumplings taste like sh*t – Weffen”

I think that quote from Weffen says it all.

Honestly, I think that China North Dumpling was the most disappointing to me.  I read quite a few reviews on the Internet that made this place seem like it was some sort of hidden gem on the outskirts of Chinatown.  The dumplings there were just terrible though.  The wrappers tasted like paper, the filling was bland, and the boiled dumplings were watery.

fried dumplings at China North Dumpling on Essex Street in NYC

boiled dumplings at China North Dumpling on Essex Street in NYC

Fried Dumpling House on Mosco Street in NYC

#7 – Fried Dumpling House

We quickly discovered that the Fried Dumpling House was true to its name and only served fried dumplings.  The Fried Dumpling House was an interesting little place tucked in a semi-hidden area on Mosco Street in Chinatown.  While the dumplings there were average, the ladies working there were quite nice.

I’m not sure if the pictures below adequately show it, but the dumplings there were a bit overcooked.  Additionally, the wrapper was thicker than you’d expect and was surprisingly greasy.  As for the dumpling filling, it felt as if something was missing that left you feeling unfulfilled.  Margaret voiced that she disliked this place while Weffen felt it was middle tier at best.

lots of fried dumplings and pork buns at Fried Dumpling House on Mosco Street in NYC

close-up of the fried dumplings at Fried Dumpling House on Mosco Street in NYC

close-up of the boiled dumplings at Fried Dumpling House on Mosco Street in NYC

#6 – Fu Zhou Cuisine

Fu Zhou Cuisine was an interesting experience.

Not one of the employees there spoke English, which made ordering a not-so-great experience.  In the end we ended up with some dumplings, though they weren’t exactly what we were hoping for.

Fu Zhou’s dumplings had a nice, thin wrapper and a fresh inside filling.  I don’t know if you care, but Paul said that he detected that Fu Zhou uses a bit too much MSG which turned him off of their dumplings. To me the dumplings were decent overall, so we decided that placing them sixth on this list is fair.

Fu Zhou Cuisine on Eldridge Street in NYC

boiled dumplings at Fu Zhou Cuisine on Eldridge Street in NYC

#5 – Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling

Out of the 9 places that we tried during this dumpling crawl, Lan Zhou had the most mixed reviews.  While Yin said their dumplings were just “okay” and that it was their noodles that were amazing, Paul and Weffen felt as if the dumplings were better than a lot of the other places.

Lan Zhou’s dumplings had a nice thin wrapper and a tasty inside filling.  A couple people complained, however, that the inside filling was a bit too salty for their tastes.  Lan Zhou gets extra props for having a tastier sauce.

Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling on E Broadway (near Pike), New York, NY

sign outside Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling

Paul fixing up some fried dumplings at Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling

fried dumplings at Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling

#4 – Excellent Dumpling House

The dumplings at the Excellent Dumpling House were the definitive middle of the road dumplings.  While the majority of those involved said that the fried dumplings were decent, the other dumplings that we ordered there were just edible.

I don’t know how, but the middle of a dumpling came out onto the plate while Weffen was eating.  Yin took one look at it and said that it was Americanized.  You can interpret that however you’d like.  To me, this place is somewhere between a C+ and a B-.

Excellent Dumpling House on Lafayette Street, New York, NY

fried dumplings at Excellent Dumpling House on Lafayette Street, New York, NY

seafood dumpling soup at Excellent Dumpling House

soup dumplings at Excellent Dumpling House

#3 – Vanessa’s Dumplings (Dumpling House)

The night before the planned event, the dumpling crawlers and I decided to take a trip down to Chinatown and try out Vanessa’s Dumplings.  As you can see below, we ended up ordering some dumplings and a few additional items.  While we’re obviously only judging their dumplings in this post, I thought I’d include the other pictures in case you were interested in eating there.

The dumplings at Vanessa’s were good, just not jump out of your seat fantastic.  I personally thought that the filling was good, however, the dumpling wrapper was just meh.  A bit too thick maybe.

Just a warning – Vanessa’s Dumplings gets very busy at night, and it’s quite difficult to land a table if you want to stay there to eat.  Also, be sure to keep your belongings close to you.  Paul had his bag stolen from him while he was eating there.

Vanessa's Dumplings (Dumpling House) on Eldridge Street, New York, NY

food order from Vanessa's Dumplings (Dumpling House)

cucumbers from Vanessa's Dumplings (Dumpling House)

bok choy from Vanessa's Dumplings (Dumpling House)

pork buns from Vanessa's Dumplings (Dumpling House)

pork wonton soup from Vanessa's Dumplings (Dumpling House)

dumplings from Vanessa's Dumplings (Dumpling House)

#2 – Tasty Dumpling House

Tasty Dumpling House is a really close number two.  Their dumplings were generously filled and were freshly prepared when we arrived.  The only critique of the dumplings at the Tasty Dumpling House was that the wrapper of the boiled dumplings was a bit thick.  The fried dumplings at this restaurant were outstanding though.

It’s worth noting that the Tasty Dumpling House had a fairly more extensive menu of choices than some of the other dumpling joints.  If you’re going out to eat with someone who is picky, this place might be a good location for you.

Tasty Dumpling House on Mulberry Street, New York, NY

fried dumplings from Tasty Dumpling House

boiled dumplings from Tasty Dumpling House

#1 – Prosperity Dumpling House

I’m not sure what these people put in their dumplings, but Prosperity Dumpling House had by far the best dumplings out of the 9 places we went to during this crawl.  What surprised me the most was that there weren’t even any dissenting opinions.  Literally everyone who went and made it through to the end agreed that Prosperity Dumpling House was the best.  I have to thank NYC Girl Uninterrupted for blogging about Prosperity Dumpling House first and letting us know about its existence.  Not surprisingly, she ranked it as the best dumpling house as well.

If you’re ever in Chinatown, be sure to make it a priority to hit up Prosperity Dumpling House on Eldridge Street.  Their dumplings are fresh with a delicious filling and feature a nice thin wrapper that doesn’t dull the dumpling’s taste.  Even if you’re on a diet, you should at least try one of the fried ones.

Prosperity Dumpling House on Eldridge Street, New York, NY

fried dumplings from Prosperity Dumpling House

boiled dumplings from Prosperity Dumpling House