Jamie N.
Yelp
Since our first choice for dumplings was closed, we decided to stop in here. Upon entrance, the establishment was quiet with an employee passed out on the table. Sprawled across the table, the day must have taken its toll...I have to admit, it was pretty hot that day.
As we awkwardly stood at the entrance, another employee came from the kitchen and directed us to our seats lol. Once seated, menus and water was provided. Dehydrated, I drank the water in one shot, but refills are hard to come by unless you ask, which I made sure to do so!
As we reviewed our options, you get three choices on how you get your dumplings served: steamed, boiled or pan-fried. We settled on steamed pork/leek dumplings and per our server's recommendation, pan-fried lamb/leek dumplings. She said it's her preference and that it's popularly served that way. Okay, sure! to balance the amount of meats, we also got a cucumber salad on the side.
Portion servings for the dumplings are plenty. There's about 12 dumplings each and they are filled with a decent amount of meat with some soup. Definitely eat with caution since the soup will spray everywhere if you don't, which just leaves you a hot mess.
If you like the flavor of lamb, you'll appreciate this one since it distinctively tastes of lamb. The pan-fried dumplings had a nice seared bottom, but it didn't have the crisp texture I was hoping for. Regardless, they were really good.
Condiments are provided on the table, but it's just soy sauce, black vinegar and chili oil. I was hoping for the chili paste since I think that would have been more suitable to my preferences, but the ginger from the marinated cucumber salad (similar to that of cucumber kimchi) provided a bit of the heat I was looking for.
Overall, the meal was great, but not the best. Service was a tad slow, but we also came through during an off time, which was right around 4-5pm. What I do appreciate is the portion in comparison to price. Two sets of dumpling was a little much, but one would have not been enough. Come hungry.