Dumpling Inn

In the comments section of my post on Shanghai City, Mabel was kind enough to remind me of Dumpling Inn. I really don't know why, but we hadn't been to Dumpling Inn in a couple of years:

Mabel had also reminded me that Dumpling Inn also served Xiao Long Bao; but it had been so long that I'd forgotten about them. So I decided to drop by on a nice sunny weekend morning.

Dumpling Inn is a little hole in the wall, that has very loyal following. The restaurant has but 10 tables, so it's best to come early if you plan on getting a table during the week:

I placed my order and checked out the sauces and found the basic ones to be present; that would be chili oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, and vinegar; though I wished that it was Chinkiang Black Vinegar, but this would do in a pinch.

The first dish I ordered was the Jellyfish ($5.95):

I had remembered how much I enjoyed this dish on a previous visit. Though the portion seemed smaller than I recall, the taste was still "right on". Julienned daikon radish, cucumber, and carrot, along with slices of Jellyfish, were combined with a vinegarette of sorts. The Jellyfish was prepared perfectly, not a hint of the astringent taste that is sometimes present, and the crunchy texture along with the taste of the vegetables was good. If anything, the sauce may have been a tad too sweet, but overall this was very refreshing.

Just as I was finishing up, my Xiao Long Bao arrived ($5.75):

In direct contrast to the Jellyfish, these Xiao Long Bao were larger than I remembered! They were brought via Spider-Thongs on a hot plate to the table. Slices of Julienned Ginger acoompanied the dish. But to my disappointment no Shangai Dumpling Dipping sauce was provided. So I had to improvise, and mixed up vinegar and soy....  I know that a comparison to the Xiao Long Bao at Shanghai City is in order. So I thought I'd just list my own subjective thoughts. The wrappers on these XLB were much better, doughy with some "pull", and a nice wheaty-doughy taste. The filling was quite large, much larger than Shanghai City, and there was less "soup", also the meat filling had a taste closer to that of regular Northern Chinese Baozi(round dumplings) than XLB, almost like regular Pork Dumplings. It was very tasty, and delici-yoso, but I don't know if these qualify as XLB. But hey, I'm not an expert, it still tasted good anyway.

On a recent afternoon the Missus and I decided to have lunch at Dumpling Inn, so we stopped by, and after a short (15 minute) wait, we were seated and placed our order. The Missus, for some reason decided to order the Kung Pao Seabass ($9.75):

Not really Northern Chinese, but she had a slight cold, so wanted something with a bit of taste and heat. First the good, the quality of fish was excellent, soft, tender, and moist. It was also cooked to a seared perfection. The peanuts added a nice contrast to the buttery texture of the fish, and the onions were delici-yoso! Now the not so good, the heat was very weak, the dish was more sweet then spicy. The portion size was also very small, I think you can tell by the picture. This dish would be an excellent one in an American Chinese restaurant.

I ordered the Spicy Niu Rou Mien ($7.50):

Yes, I'm a Niu Rou Mein addict. This was probably the most expensive NRM (thanks Dylan) I've ever seen, but I couldn't wait to order it. The broth was very light, though the seasoning and heat(spice) were perfect, the beef flavor was obviously lacking. To put it in the words of the Missus, "it's as if a piece of beef was waved over a pot of boiling water". The noodles were not so great, I could get better at 99 Ranch Market, you could have "Home Made Noodles" though you'd add another $1 to the dish making it a $8.50 bowl of NRM. The beef had a good flavor (thankfully it was beef shank), but was not cooked to a desired tenderness. Kind of disappointing as a whole, and much too expensive.

If you're wondering why we didn't order any Jiaozhi, please look here. The dumplings at Dumpling Inn are very good, but I get as good, or even better at home. But please do try the Shrimp & Chive Dumplings($7.25), or "Potstickers" at Dumpling Inn, they are excellent. The prices seem a bit high, though the quality is good. Many of the dishes look Americanized, and it looks like the formula is working well! Oh, and I was amazed to watch a Gentleman order Jiaozhi and ask for Colman's Mustard and proceed to cover each dumpling with a teaspoon of mustard and cover with soy sauce, and tell his dining partner how tasty the dumplings were! Please don't eat your dumplings that way.....

Dumpling Inn
4619 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Comments

[Pam]

Hey Kirk,

So what you're saying is that your XLB was served without SDDS, and that the meat in the XLB was more like NCB?

Meanwhile, your expensive NRM was a little disappointing and you could have had HMN had you gone to 99 Ranch, but that the SCD at DI are quite good?

Ha ha, sorry I couldn't help it, I love all those Chinese acronyms that everyone uses(e.. XLB, NRM)...ask Dylan! They crack me up!

(BTW, now I'm craving jellyfish!)

[Kathy]

You ARE a NRM addict! But you have inspired me to go searching for quality NRM. Now that I think about it, Mini Garden back home does a pretty delicious version :)

[Kirk]

Hi Pam - WTF! LOL! FWIW the XLB @ DI TRBID (though really borderline in definition)is still PDG (pretty darn good)! :o)

Hi Kathy - There's lot's of good Niu Rou Mein all around in the SGV! And yes, I love my NRM.

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

I'm going to have to have some niu rou mein and do a post on it sometime. You've inspired me.

The jellyfish is not something that I'm used to seeing prepared in that manner, but then again, I haven't eaten it in a while. In fact, the last time I had jellyfish was as a cold appetizer at China House.

The xiao long bao skins look a bit thick. But judging by your comments, you seemed to like them. I'm going to have to post Shanghai Bistro soon. I have a few places to catch up on. *sigh*

[clare eats]

mmmm dumplings!
I am SO going to have them on the weekend!!!!

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - Come to think of it the wrapper was kind of think, but I enjoyed the "feel", I've had various thicknesses of XLB dough in the 5-6 places I've had XLB all over SoCal - but have never been to Shanghai, so I don't really know what they should be like, maybe I'll meet you there someday? I know in "old school" Cantonese they serve Jellyfish w/cucumber, but I've had many places serve them in almost a cold salad.

Hi Clare - I'm sooo looking forward to the report!

[mabel]

I'm glad the XLB were up to your standards! I've had some disappointing dishes at Dumpling Inn (never EVER order the dan dan noodles), but I always go there when the XLB cravings hit.

Another food recommendation: Nozomi on Convoy. Yesterday I went there for lunch w/ my boss and had the green noodle soup (kalguksu, I think?), and the Korean chirashi (it's like a big salad w/ rice and raw fish mixed in). If it's busy, you'll probably see a lot of people eating both. Very tasty!

[Kirk]

Hi Mabel - Thanks for the req - I know Ed from Yuma would be interested in this - he loves Hwe Dup Bop - what you call the Korean Chirashi. Funny, I saw a bunch of people eating Dan Dan Noodles when we were at Dumpling Inn.....just goes to show you, them and the guy smothering mustard and soy all over his dumplings!

[elmomonster]

I had to confirm with my family, but alas, I've eaten here! And I kind of got the same impressions you had. Not bad, but not great.

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

I had to re-read this post, and then I realized that Dumpling Inn was mentioned in the latest issue of Gourmet magazine (October 2005). They actually said the spicy dan dan noodles and the honey glazed shrimp are pretty good.

Judging by your comments and those of Mabel, I wonder if I should really trust what's written in this publication.

[Kirk]

Hi Elmo - Good ingredients, good dumplings, everything else okay to not so good - some pretty expensive prices.

Hi Reid - Well let me check out the magazine. Alot of people were eating the Dan Dan Noodles. so I guess they are popular......

[Ross]

My girlfriend (who is from San Francisco) agree that Dumpling Inn is one of the best Chinese Food Restaurants in San Diego. Not too fancy, but good basic food. The XLB are the best we've had in San Diego (most don't contain enough soup), and the rest of the dumplings are quite good. In particular I like the potstickers and the boiled pork and chive dumplings in "spicy oil" (the name is a bit deceiving because the sauce isn't very oily at all). Chinkiang vinegar is available, but you have to ask them for it. Apart from their dumplings, we enjoy the lamb dishes (lamb and scallion stir fry or lamb chow mein). The soup at Dumpling Inn is typically pretty light--we occasionally order deluxe tofu soup or wonton soup which is both pretty good. One of the real strong points of the restaurant, however, is the fish. I've tried all of the different fish dishes, and I think the best is the garlic baked sea-bass. The filets are coated in a sort of eggy batter and cooked in a very garlic-y sauce over a bed of baby bok-choy. The salt and pepper fish, which seems to indefinitely be on the specials menu, is also good and worth trying.

[Kirk]

Hi Ross - Glad you enjoy Dumpling Inn. I think the XLB filling tastes more like Baozhi filling, then XLB, but that's just my opinion. Personally, I enjoy the XLB at Shanghai City, better. I requested Black Vinegar twice, but they didn't have any. I find that many of the dishes taste very Westernized, but the ingredients used are quite good.

[Susan]

Kirk- I recently visited Dumpling inn and didn't see XLB on the menu. Does it go by another name? Also, did you know that Jamillah Gardens closed? I wonder if the one in Tustin is still open. Any word?

[Kirk]

Hi Susan - I think it's on the menu as Small Steamed Pork Buns or something like that. You can ask for Xiao Long Bao, and they'll point it out to you. And yes, we drove by and noticed Jamillah Garden closed last weekend...I'm doing a post tonight. I don't know about the OC location......

[Hao]

Just came back after having some XLB and dumplings. Prices have gone up (as expected): 6.95 for XLB (10), 7.95 for shrimp dumplings (10), and 6.75 for pork dumplings (10).

XLB were good, though I had to ask for spoons. The ginger seemed a little off to me, but was otherwise ok. The dumplings were on the bland side and lacking in filling: the ones I make using store-bought wrappers are slightly to significantly better, so I would say these aren't worth the trip.

Oh, and I checked out the NRM price, I think it's at 8.50 or 8.95 now. (!) I do not understand why it should be nearly 2x pho prices... makes we want to go to Ba Ren to take advantage of their current discounts, which seems like a genius business move assuming they knew you were going to blog about it.

[Kirk]

Hi Hao - For me the XLB at Dumpling isn't very good - the wrapper is too thick, the ratio of soup to meat is off, and the filling tastes like Jiaozi filling. I think the best Jiaozi there are the shrimp and chive.