Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, July 7, 2005
Rickshaw Dumpling Bar
61 W. 23rd Street
For a late lunch/early dinner before class across the street (Institute of Culinary Education), I stopped off to try this hotly contested (at least on Chowhound.com) dumpling outpost to make my own opinion.
I ordered six classic pork and chinese chive dumplings, steamed as well as an order (three) of the chocolate soup dumplings and a glass of the watermelonade.
The dumplings are terrific. A blessing after the last ones I had at Noodles on 28 which were downright awful. After my second one I wished I'd ordered nine instead of six.
The watermelonade was excellent as well, a far better option than the fresh squeezed watermelon juice being served all over the city this summer.
The chocolate soup dumplings were also very good although, perhaps by design to prevent the molten chocolate from splattering, the skin of the dumpling was remarkably thick. The black sesame seeds are good and add a nice texture to it, but became somewhat tiring of a flavor. Still, it was worth trying at least once.
The space was much different than I thought it would be. Very tall ceilings, remarkably simplistic (read: cheap) design and mostly deep and narrow. Very comfortable for dining in and boring enough to want to eat and run/not get comfortable.
The place is a goldmine and will do remarkably well if it hasn't already. I think I will be visiting this dumpling bar several times in the near future, but I do wish that they would offer a sampler of some kind. Or at least allow you to split an order of six (three each of two different types) so that you can mix it up a bit. As business practice, it makes sense not to, but makes it rotten for the diner.
61 W. 23rd Street
For a late lunch/early dinner before class across the street (Institute of Culinary Education), I stopped off to try this hotly contested (at least on Chowhound.com) dumpling outpost to make my own opinion.
I ordered six classic pork and chinese chive dumplings, steamed as well as an order (three) of the chocolate soup dumplings and a glass of the watermelonade.
The dumplings are terrific. A blessing after the last ones I had at Noodles on 28 which were downright awful. After my second one I wished I'd ordered nine instead of six.
The watermelonade was excellent as well, a far better option than the fresh squeezed watermelon juice being served all over the city this summer.
The chocolate soup dumplings were also very good although, perhaps by design to prevent the molten chocolate from splattering, the skin of the dumpling was remarkably thick. The black sesame seeds are good and add a nice texture to it, but became somewhat tiring of a flavor. Still, it was worth trying at least once.
The space was much different than I thought it would be. Very tall ceilings, remarkably simplistic (read: cheap) design and mostly deep and narrow. Very comfortable for dining in and boring enough to want to eat and run/not get comfortable.
The place is a goldmine and will do remarkably well if it hasn't already. I think I will be visiting this dumpling bar several times in the near future, but I do wish that they would offer a sampler of some kind. Or at least allow you to split an order of six (three each of two different types) so that you can mix it up a bit. As business practice, it makes sense not to, but makes it rotten for the diner.
posted by Michael Mahle at 1:58 AM
1 Comments:
I've been back a few more times and am happy to report that the lemongrass chicken (fried) and the traditional pork dumplings (also fried) are excellent. I think that I prefer the chicken dumplings fried but the jury is still out on the pork dumplings. Both fried and steamed only are great. Perhaps it is possible to have a tie in such things.
Post a Comment
<< Home