Caylie F.
Yelp
I really want EA Dumpling to succeed. I'm such a huge fan of Taiwanese and Shanghai food and I've been to all the best places. We need more good places locally.
Anyway, I've had EA's pork soup dumplings (at this new location) three times so and their spicy wonton once by accident (because they gave me the wrong order) and once because I had to order them the next day e since they were amazing the first time. They just need some peanut sauce and chili oil but the quality of the wontons is excellent. I chatted with the workers about obtaining chili oil (one worker actually sat down at my table for a friendly chat the first time I was there) but I was told that Taiwanese food is not served with chili oil.
The last time I went, I immediately noticed that the soup dumplings were greatly reduced in size. They are now extremely small and my photo below does not capture how small these dumplings are even with the quarter placed in the photo for scale. But Milo C's review below, from May 22, 2024, was not exaggerating and, as mentioned, there's barely one drop of soup in them. No exaggeration and it's not because they burst open. They did not break.
Unfortunately, I definitely saw them remove the dumplings from a freezer bag in the back to reveal that the dumplings were frozen and definitely not made fresh. They are similar to the Trade Joe's chicken soup dumplings which are somehow better than these EA Dumplings bc they at least have some soup inside. I never thought I'd say this.
EA Dumpling initially had a steady stream of business soon after they opened (I was so excited to see this), but every time I pass by lately (multiple times per day often during dinner time) NO ONE IS EVER THERE and the workers are all sitting around.
The workers are the absolutest sweetest and the place has so much potential but if they don't improve I'm afraid they won't last because $7.95 for 6 very small dumplings with no soup is too expensive. So what I fear is they will lose business and the food quality/quantity will continue decreasing, thereby further decreasing business until they are forced to close. I wish they could increase the quality and take the hit for a while such that they will regain the customers. It's a huge risk during such a difficult time but I just see the beginning of a vicious cycle here and it's just unfortunate.
To further complicate things, EA Dumpling has been very recently covered in that nasty NYC scaffolding that will probably be there for 5 years. That's often the kiss of death. I was hoping HMart would bring EA Dumpling more business but I'm not afraid, at this point, that folks will just fulfill their craving at HMart (especially once their hot food section opens) instead of crossing over to EA Dumpling. Still, if they were good, I can see customers dropping by after HMart to pick up some appetizers.
Anyway, I encourage everyone to give EA Dumpling UWS a chance. There is potential here and they are so nice. Maybe if there's a boost to business, they will increase the size of the dumplings again and offer more specials