Dumpling Tops - Review - South Pasadena - Los Angeles - The Infatuation

"Dumpling Tops is a newcomer on a stretch of Fair Oaks in South Pasadena that's lined with restaurants that have been around for decades. But with its wooden furniture and faded mural of Old Shanghai, it already feels lived in, and is often full of friend groups and families with children running around, even on weeknights. Living up to their name, dumplings of all shapes, sizes, and levels of soupiness are on the menu, and they're all pretty good. But you should know that Dumpling Tops is a Taiwanese restaurant, so they also make a killer beef roll and serve those dumplings with a vinegary chili sauce instead of chili oil. Not everything on the sprawling menu is amazing (skip the Sichuan and Japanese dishes), but the highlights are good enough to make it the go-to neighborhood spot it deserves to become. Food Rundown Organic Chicken Soup Dumplings These chicken xiao long baos inject a lot of savory flavor into a fragrant broth that places them a few rungs above the other options on the menu. photo credit: Andrew Ryce Sea Bass Dumplings Boiled or fried, these dumplings have an intense fishy flavor, but it's more fresh than briny. Braised Beef Roll With Hoisin Sauce Not too oily and just sauced enough, this gooey, flaky roll could hold its own with any other version in a 10-mile radius. photo credit: Andrew Ryce House Special Filet Mignon Cubes With a zingy black pepper sauce, thick slices of button mushrooms, and beautifully tender filet, this feels like a dressed-up version of an old-school Chinese-American stir fry. photo credit: Andrew Ryce Crispy Salt Pepper Tofu This is a sleeper hit: crunchy on the outside, impossibly soft inside, and coated in tangy white-and-black-pepper dust. photo credit: Andrew Ryce Sichuan Spicy Chicken A pared-down, milder version of la zi ji, this isn't going to knock any spice lover's socks off, but the salty Sichuan peppercorn spice rub does its job. photo credit: Andrew Ryce" - Andrew Ryce