Dumpling House: Insudstry Picks

You know you have truly made it in New York when you have no time to cook at home.

Somehow I have time to party until 6AM in the morning, eat at fantastic underground restaurants, sleep for 3 hours and go back to work again but (sigh) no time to cook at home.

So I'm adding a new category to my blog: Industry Picks. In other words, restaurants that all the cook's eat at in NYC.

Here's the criteria:
1. Open late or early in the morning
2. Reasonable in price
3. Fast
4. Must have a kick ass signature dish
5. Seriously cool.

Well, cook's are cool these days. Ten years ago we were just a cut above certifiably insane, but now there seems to be a rock star allure to being ADD and unable to sit still in an offfice all day.

This restaurant is not only a well loved cook's hangout but also a neighborhood hotspot. The Dumpling House serves ridiculously yummy food at a very reasonable price.

There's nothing like a soft and salty, squishy, hand made, meat filled dumpling to soak up all the toxins and revive the creative juices. And you can have them steamed, pan friend, tossed in soup, or served up plain.

"This place is awesome. It will cure you're hangover." He promised.

"Not possible." She moaned, forehead in hand throbbing with pain.

"Oh, it's possible." He laughed with the sage knowledge that one dumpling could remedy a plethora of problems and bestow good luck, fortune, security, and safety all in one bite.

"I'm not even hungry right now, I just wanna dive face first into my pillow and never wake up again. There's no way I can cook today. I can't even see straight."

"Meet me in the Lower East Side at The Dumpling House."

"You're crazy. I'm going back to bed."

"Just meet me there..."

"I'm broke."

"It's $3 for 10 dumplings. It's so cheap you can splurge on a taxi. 118 Eldridge between Grand and Broome in 20 minutes or you're missing out..."

The making of dumplings in China is often done by women. And I was not surprised to see that the restaurant was almost entirely staffed by woman making the dumplings, cooking them up in huge steamers and woks, and running the front of the house.

Even if you're not a dumpling lover, this restaurant it is still well worth a visit just to see the precision and speed of the women who sit in the back and make the dumplings. And I suggest coming at off peak hours – they fill up for lunch fast.

The Dumping House
118 Eldridge St.
New York, NY 10002
nr. Broome St.
(212) 625-8008

Comments

[davide]

lol, late night munchie category. The first thing that came to my mind when I read the criteria was Taco Bell, I'm sorry. I live in a smaller town and we don't have those options. Us chef's here are forced to whip something up on those nights. Love you, Love the Blog!

Ciao

[Het]

Yum! I love dumplings at any time day or night. What an excellent discovery. Look forward to more posts about NY city's good eateris... Thank you! Het

[Joseph Bayot]

I love entries like this! That is, an insight into the things that make cooks cooks and/or things cooks love.

Keep 'em coming.

P.S. Feel free to tell us where you're working anytime =P

[chefrobear]

Classic!!! It was always the Kiev for me on 2nd Ave. Blue Ribbon when it first opened.

[Anne]

I visited this place when I was in Chinatown! A vegetarian friend and I went in and ordered the vegetarian dumplings. The cashier says, "Vegetarian, okay, okay," and hands us a big pile of dumplings on a paper plate. We thank her and walk outside.
I take a bite; it's definitely pork. We take the dumplings back inside and tell the cashier that they're pork. She looked at us blankly and said, "Yes, pork."
"We asked for vegetarian."
"No vegetarian today!"
Okay then!

[Bob delGrosso]

Okay, so you have begun the next phase of your journey to Homeric fame: the journey through the underworld. Theseus did it and Orpheus did it too. So too did everyone whose life story became legend.

This is good, very good.

[starman1695]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Top Cooking Schools]

Good post.
Its almost like a review.

Thanks,
Katherine

[Mrs. G. F.]

Oh..dumplings. They are in the top 3 things I miss since going having to eat gluten free...these look amazing...and delicious,& fun NY experience!

Danielle

[San]

Would you mind sharing with us a recipe for making simple dumplings?

[chinese dumplings]

haha nice,i hope it taste the way it looks.I usually make dumplings my self for i am good at it.

one question, how can I add your blog into my rrs reader.