Mr Dumpling

*** Mr Dumpling has closed

Ever since PedMa and MrC mentioned that a restaurant called Mr Dumpling was opening up, the Missus & I kept tabs on the place during our trips to 99 Ranch Market. We both found the location, on Convoy Court, away from Clairemont Mesa Boulevard to be a bit strange.

 

But the Owners have done a really nice job with the place, from the very clean and uncluttered interior, to the orchids adorning the patio. Mr Dumpling the restaurant, does not resemble what I'd imagine a "Mr Dumpling" to look like.

 

The tables are covered with crisp white tablecloths, and the earthy tones, are quite nice and relaxing. Of course, the Missus couldn't help but say, "of course it's nice, they just opened up....give it a couple of years."

The menu looked like a scattershot of various Mainland Chinese dishes, everything from Mapo Dofu and Hunan Dofu, to of course, Jiaozi. The array of offerings did cause some head-scratching, but we're pretty familiar with the Chinese clean-cafe-eatery, phenomenon in LA. Actually, this is not isolated to Chinese cuisine, FOYs, Beach, Chubbypanda, and I had discussed this with regards to Vietnamese Restaurants in Little Saigon as well. Even a brief discussion would take up several posts, so I'll pass on that subject this time around.

Back to Mr Dumpling. We were informed that the "Chef" is from Shandong, which helped to give the Missus and I bearings with regards to ordering. While perusing the menu, we encountered our first mildly disturbing "sign", our pot of tea was delivered..... with the tea bag label sticking out of the pot. That single teabag tag sticking out of the top of the teapot just seemed out of place, and in stark contrast with the surroundings.

We started with a dish that the Missus has been eating since a young child - The Shanghai style Smoked Fish (Su Shih Hsun Yuu ), the price ($9.95) was a bit startling, but it's a dish that we can't help but order everywhere we go. It is a Shanghainese dish, but one that is very popular in Shandong.

   

This was just wrong on so many levels; first, this was a very, very, small portion(for $10)....check out the tines of the fork for comparison. Second, there was none of that sweet-5 spice flavor that is the hallmark of his dish. Third, the type of fish was wrong....the texture was too meaty, and tasteless, like really bad albacore tuna. Click on any of the links above the photo, and you'll see what we were expecting. The Missus's maternal Grandmother was master of this dish, and Her Fifth Aunt, who is the best cook in the family, carries on the tradition. My Mother-In-Law believes the version at Chin's, is spot on. I dunno what this was, but it sure wasn't Shanghai Smoked Fish. We'd have been satisfied if this wasn't a classic rendition of the dish, and had some redeeming qualities, but this was plain bad.

The next dish to arrive was something whose very mention can cause the Missus's mouth to water; Dezhou Pa Ji - (Dezhou Style Braised Chicken, $6.99).  Dezhou a city located in Northwest Shandong, is well known for their braised chicken. This dish evokes so many deep-seated memories, that the Missus wrote Her one and only post on it.

    

The dish arrived, steaming hot.....but the skin was dry.....microwaved perhaps? All the Missus's hopes were dashed after one bite. Again, this was bland, with just a hint of flavor, which was more like soy-sauce chicken than Dezhou Pa Ji.

Alas, this meal was not going very well from the food standpoint. The service however, was very attentive, our plates changed, and our water refilled. Soon a tray of vinegar and soy sauce was placed at our table.

This last dish we ordered, if good, would make the entire meal worthwhile. If there is just one item that immediately comes to mind when the very word Shandong is uttered, it would be Jiaozi. Over the years, I've come to understand what an important role Jiaozi plays in the Northern Chinese household.

 We ordered "Mr Dumpling's Special Dumplings" ($6.99).

 

First off, these dumplings took 40 minutes to get to us. I really didn't mind, I had mental pictures of fresh dough being made, rolled out, and formed by hand to order, floating through my head. Well, this didn't quite deliver, the filling, a combination of pork-shrimp-chives, had decent flavor. But the dough was hard, noodle-like, tearing instead of having any pull. As the Missus says, "it's all about the wrapper". From that end, this was pretty mediocre. Again with the Missus: "this place makes Dumpling Inn seem more like Dumpling King." We had thoughts when initally looking over the menu, of seeing what the food was like, and than ordering more; a strategy that I'm glad we took.

 For us, the food at Mr Dumpling didn't live up to the decor, service, and price. Driving home we were trying to figure out what was going on. Perhaps the Chef was new to the various ingredients sourced in the US? I'm going to give this place a long rest, I hope the food improves.....

Silver Lining Note: The Missus felt so bad for me after this meal. So She decided to come out of Her self-imposed Jiaozi "retirement". I had Shrimp and Chive dumplings the next day!!

Mr Dumpling
7250 Convoy Ct
San Diego, CA 92111

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Comments

[Carol]

Aw, too bad none of the dishes were decent. Bummer. I was hoping the Dezhou Pa Ji would be decent. Boo.

[stephen]

wow, what a disappointment! so is there anywhere within San Diego County where someone can get a decent dumpling, or do I have to learn how to do it myself?

[P]

I'm disappointed.

[howie]

I guess it's worth it if it got the Missus to make jiao zi. Her XLB, at least, looked very tasty!

[sharon]

Oh, that's too bad. Any restaurant with the name "dumpling" in it is worth a try, but maybe I'll pass till they work out some of the kinks.

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - Yeah.....a bummer...

Hi Stephen - I think Dumpling Inn's Shrimp and Chive dumpling is pretty good.

Hi P - Not as much as we were... ;o)

Hi Howie - I can always count on you to see things in a positive light!

Hi Sharon - I hope they do work out whatever kinks they have.

[foodhoe]

ooh lucky you and the silver lining kirk! I am reading a book called Serve the People, on the chapter about making dumplings. I am getting a serious hankering...

[Kirk K]

Hi FH - I really enjoyed feed the people. If I'm in Beijing, I'm gonna try and take a class from her cooking school - many of the characters from the book work there!

[Christine Peterson]

I tried the restaurant today with my folks. We too were disappointed with the quality of the food. The decor is excellent. As my mom put it, it's so hard to find a decent chinese restaurant in SD. Now can someone help with the pronounciation of the second character in the restaurant name? Thanks

[Kirk]

Hi Christine - I'm not sure of the exact Pinyin..... but we think it's "tong".....

[jeffrey c]

Kirk,
My grandfather from my mother's side was from Shandong and they used to make Jiao tze every week. Of course it had way more chives than meat because this was back in the very lean years in Taiwan. You and your Missus are right. THe one thing thats worse than bad fillings is the wrapper. I have to get lessons from my grandmother or my aunt to learn how to do the dough. They are the only ones in the family now who know how to do it.

[Kirk]

Hi Jeffrey - My MIL still makes Jiaozi at least every other week. I've learned that the wrapper makes the dumpling....

[chinese dumplings]

haha I am chinese from shandong, and in our place i perfer to fried meat!

[PJ]

I went to Mr Dumpling and had the all you can eat hot pot for $17 (grand opening price which eventually will increase to $20). It was very very similiar to Little Sheep (almost identical), but the service was a little better. The hot pot menu was slightly smaller but it includes 5 dipping sauces as well (they charge 50 cents extra for each sauce though). The Beef was a little tough but the Fish, Lamb, Pork, Cuttlefish and everything else was great. I had thought about making another visit to order off the other (non hot pot) menu but after reading your review I will just be going there to order hot pot!

[Kirk]

Hi Paul - That's great to know, thanks for the info!

[mk]

Has anyone been recently? We went last week and liked it.