Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co.

Tom Valenti Returns with Oxbow Tavern, and Gimmicks to Go at Lucky Pickle | The New Yorker

"I prefer that very Upper West Side attitude to the attempts at outdated hipster aesthetics you can now also find in the neighborhood, exemplified by Jacob’s Pickles, which serves mac and cheese in cast-iron pans and cocktails in jam jars. The latest from its owners—who are also behind Maison Pickle, down the street, a maximalist mess where offerings range from a Reuben French dip to chicken-and-eggplant parmigiana—is a tiny dumpling shop called Lucky Pickle, where cash is not accepted and you must order using a touch screen, and where all food is put in to-go bags, whether or not you’re planning to go. (Inanely, there are hooks to “recycle” the bags if you’re staying.) The dumplings, vaguely Asian and served five to an order, in broth or, in the case of the shrimp variety, melted butter, are mostly bland, with mealy filling. The fruit juices taste precisely like melted popsicles. But, to my surprise, I was delighted by what I had taken for pure gimmick: the pickle-flavored soft serve. As refreshing as cucumber water, its subtle but distinct hint of brine gives it a frozen-yogurt-like tang. I could have done without the candied-pickle-slice garnish, but I’ve found myself craving another big green swirl." - Hannah Goldfield