Meet Dumpling

At then end of June, I read about a Jiaozi shop opening in of all places Point Loma? Soon, my good friend Candice sent me a text telling me the place was legit and worth a visit. So, I packed up the Missus, who is even tougher to please with regards to Jiaozi, having been raised on the stuff. We got to the strip mall on the corner of Shelter Island Drive and Scott Street and even found parking in the cramped lot. But sadly, the little four table shop was packed with folks waiting outside for takeout. So, we ended up going to Supannee for a nice meal. 

A couple of days later I received an email from "FOY" ChrisR, who sang praises about the shop. I'm assuming he liked the filling because he called the place "Meat Dumpling"!

Anyway, the following week I was heading over to TunaVille (post upcoming) to visit the one and only Tommy Gomes and then headed on over to Meet Dumpling. I got there right before opening.

And was the first customer in the tiny shop.

The gentleman working was very nice and friendly, super easy going. I believe his mom was working the kitchen because I could here him addressing her as "Ma".

I placed my order and just relaxed. The shop soon filled up and several takeout orders were placed.

I had ordered some Jiaozi and a couple of liang cai (cold dishes). 

First up, a favorite of mine, Bean Curd Skin ($7.99).

This was really bland, typical grocery store bean curd skin strips, as you can tell, not enough chili oil/sauce/garlic. I ended up pouring black vinegar on this for more flavor.

The best item of the day was the Pig Ear ($8.99).

Nice and crunchy, the sauce had a good amount of garlic and salty-sour tones and was quite refreshing.

Because this was my first visit; I went ahead and ordered the Napa Cabbage and Pork Jiaozi ($11.99).

   This was not bad, the dumplings were on the smaller side, but it came with 14 in my order. The skins were a bit on the more chewy-doughy side, decent. The filling was pretty finely minced, light and tender, very moist, though the flavor was quite mild. The black vinegar came in handy in upping the flavor.

Don't get me wrong, these were good jiaozi by San Diego standards, but like I always say, "I'm not happy to just have something available."

A couple of weeks later, I was headed to TunaVille again, and decided to drop by an get the dumplings the folks that emailed said were the best. Again I got there right at opening. This time a very kind woman was working. I placed my order and we had a nice chat. The owners are from Shenyang. She cracked up when I asked her why there wasn't any "Yang Rou" (lamb) jiaozi on the menu. This time I got me order to go. I also ordered the Cucumber and Wood Ear Salad ($7.99).

The cucumbers were very fresh, crisp and crunchy, though there wasn't much wood ear in the dish. Like the bean curd strips, this fell a bit short in overall savory-pungent-sour-spicy flavor for me. I actually added Sichuan Chili Oil to it.

Folks who contacted me about Meet Dumpling recommended the Chive, Shrimp, and Pork Jiaozi ($12.99).

   So, how did the dumplings handle the drive back home? Well, even though the wrappers looked a bit "stiff", these were more tender then those on my previous visit. A good amount of chives provided an almost garlicky "zip" to the dumplings. Even though I really couldn't make out shrimp in the finely chopped filling, I could taste them. Again, the fillings were fairly light, and this went rather well with the 6 year aged Zhenjiang Black Vinegar we keep at home.

Overall, I find things decently priced for San Diego and in my opinion better than anything you'll get in the Kearny Mesa area. Really nice folks running the place. Not sure if it's worth going out of the way for, but heck if you're in the area.....and I'm trying to make TunaVille a regular stop, it might be worth your time. You can go and "meet" some dumplings.

And so you might be asking, how does this compare to Ju Feng Yuan....well that one is coming up soon.

Meet Dumpling
2907 Shelter Island Dr.
San Diego, CA 92106
Current Hours:
Tues - Sun 11am - 230pm, 430pm - 8pm
Closed on Mondays

Comments

[kat]

nice!

[RedDevil]

Thanks for the post as this place is FAR from me so not likely I’m making it very soon unless you had loved it. Thanks again and take care.

[Kirk]

It was good Kat!

Yes, not worth a special trip RD! Of course, if you're going to drop by TunaVille, it might be worth it.

[Dereck]

I get down to that area once in a while, and will try this out sometime. Maybe before a show at Humphrey's..

[Kirk]

It is worth trying if you're in the area Dereck. Though the restaurant is pretty small.

[Jason]

Yeah, even though we love Tommy, we visited Tunaville when it first opened but found it hard to consistently go there given the distance to us. We actually end up going to Hawaiian Fresh Seafood when we want fresh fish since they have a fish case (they just moved a new place too!). Like you, maybe we need to pair a trip to Tunaville with a visit to this new restaurant and give it a try, so thanks for the post!

[Kirk]

Yeah, I gotta get a post done on the new location at Centerpark Labs Jason!

[Sandy]

I went to Supannee Thai for the first time, and and made a mental note to try Meet Dumpling next time. However, I'm not often in this area, so who knows when that will be. Guess I'll have to combine it with a stop at Tunaville.

I didn't realize that Hawaiian Fresh Seafood moved; thanks for the heads up, Jason. I saw a social media photo of the line outside, and thought someone mis-identified the restaurant.

[Kirk]

It's worth a try if you're in the area Sandy! Also great to combine with other stops if it's out of the way.