Tasty Dumpling is one of the best dollar dumpling places
Being an ultra cheap person, it generally creates a lot of difficulties in my life. Seriously you can ask my friends and my girlfriend about the extent of my cheapness, but it really knows no bounds. Obviously I've been a long-time fan of "Dollar dumpling" places in Chinatown. I nearly got a boner last week when Serious Eats covered fried dumpling places in Chinatown. I actually hadn't even heard of some of the places they went. Their top three were Tasty Dumpling, Prosperity Dumpling, and Vanessa's Dumpling House. I frequent the latter two because they're on Eldridge and closer to the orange line (B/D) subway lines. It had been a while since my last visit to Tasty Dumpling and I had to go check out this place that's supposedly better than my personal favorite, Prosperity Dumplings.
First thing is first - each dumpling at Tasty Dumpling comes out to a quarter. It's five for $1.25. At Prosperity, it's 20 cents per dumpling so it's five for $1 dollar. Since I'm a cheap SOB, that's my song right there. Vanessa's does four dumplings to a $1 which makes it easier because you don't gotta fumble around with change. I usually go to Prosperity because they're less busy than Vanessa's which is mad house almost all the time, and Prosperity still is busy enough that the dumplings are fairly fresh most of the time. Tasty Dumpling apparently has no problem with staying busy either because when I went, it was filled with white people. Serious Eats, y'all doing your job right! For reals though, you want to find a dumpling place that's busy enough that they're making dumplings throughout the day because if they sit too long, they're just no good. And I've had cold dumplings that had been sitting there for a while... they're stale and not even worth a dollar.
Tasty Dumpling does a good job of getting crisp wrapper on the bottom side of the dumpling. They're way better than the dollar dumpling place around the corner on Moscoe Street. You can pretty much skip the place on Moscoe. They're just very average. At Tasty, the filling is definitely above average and very delicious. It's pork and chives and it's plenty juicy. The wrapper is sturdy enough to hold up to being pan fried and also not too thick. It's definitely a top 3 dumpling place in Chinatown. The one thing they kinda do ghetto is the Sriracha. It was watered down which is not as spicy, obviously. I guess they do it either because they don't think some customers can handle it or because they wanted enough bottles on the tables and they were short. Either way, do it right!
Also, obviously not all dumplings are gonna be perfect. The first three I had were superbly fried. They good ones were like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls. The last two were soft and flaccid. They're like the coked-out version Lindsay Lohan, sad and pathetic. Just not as delicious and disappointing. It's ok though, since the whole meal cost just $1, therefore there isn't much room for gripes. Anyway I covered my thoughts on the dumplings places via mp3/podcast in a post yesterday about roast beef sandwiches. So check that out if you want but I basically say the same shit.
Tasty Dumpling
54 Mulberry St.
New York, NY 10013
212-349-0070
(I invite you to follow me on Twitter so you can get more of my non-sense in another medium.)
I don't think I'm supposed to say this since they're paying me and all, but I verily disagreed with that "best of" post. I don't care what anyone says... NORTH DUMPLING FTW (I don't know why they added "China" to the name. Nowhere in their name is the "China.")
Nicholas
February 24, 2011 12:32 am
@Nicholas,
North Dumpling is awesome. It's just really really far out of the way. haha. I think if they were closer they'd be even more awesome. Prosperity is still my favorite. And I've been going for so long that their consistency is never in question. Tasty is good too. Hell, a lot of these guys are good. When they start telling me there's sit-down restaurants that beat these... that's when I'm gonna start doubting them. Because most restos in Chinatown suck at doing dumplings. These dollar dumplings places put them to shame.
Danny
February 24, 2011 12:51 am
Sometimes I see more non-Asians eating these dumplings than Chinese eaters, not that there's anything wrong with this. :) I sometimes buy these cheap dumplings for my mom. It's a buck. What can you lose, right? :)
Lindsay analogy? Ouch! You know. I feel bad for that girl. She had so much potential. Yes. I admit it. I did enjoy watching The Parent Trap. She was so innocent. Not like Dakota Fanning. Too precocious. I really hope Lindsay would straighten up soon. It's tough to be a child star. She needs a positive role model.
kim
February 24, 2011 9:58 am
@kim,
Agreed, sometimes I see more non-Asians at the dollar dumpling places as well. That's totally OK. I just wonder what alerted them about the place, that's all. And right on about the Parent Trap. Man, she was in a different world then!
Danny
February 25, 2011 10:55 am
I hat the fact that the dumplings made in Chinatown are so greasy inside but I guess that's what gives it flavor.
ellen wu
February 25, 2011 3:36 pm