Best Chinese Dumplings in NYC – New York

In some parts of New York, you can’t walk five feet without stumbling into a steam basket full of perfect, pillowy dumplings. And in a town with so many choices, you have to know where to find jiaozi, wonton, and xiao long bao. If you want to impress someone with your knowledge of where to find the best Chinese dumplings, this is your guide.

SPOTS

Shu Jiao Fu Zhou is a small, always busy place on Grand Street that serves traditional Fujianese dumplings, sunflower seeds, and soup. There’s not much going on here in terms of decor, but we didn’t care – the food is good. We are happy to sit at the counter facing the street with a bowl of the best dumplings $3 can buy. Pork and chive, chicken and cabbage dumplings have very thin skins, and are so juicy that they don’t even need dipping sauce.

The walls of Mr. Bun, a Shanghainese place in Bensonhurst, is decorated with cute anime characters that think cute and smiling. We understand the desire to create art inspired by food here. The dumplings at this local restaurant are good. There are obvious successes, such as the thin-skinned but crisp dumplings, with pork or pork and crab. Then there are the less obvious ones, such as the sticky rice shu mai with steamed rice wrappers, which are small packets of very moist, slightly chewy rice.

If you want special dumplings, go to White Bear in Flushing. A small take-out window, it has a large menu taped to the top of the counter with 34 options on it. The most popular item is the wonton bowl with hot sauce (no. 6). The wontons come filled with pork and vegetables, and are surprisingly soft and slightly chewy. The package comes with 12, which is great for a light meal (you can get 100 frozen wontons to go if you want to make some at home).

Mama’s Noodle House is Brooklyn’s answer to White Bear. Edit the number. 5 Hot and Spicy Wontons and you’ll find big, juicy balls of pork and shrimp in cute wraps. They are covered in sichuan peppercorn sauce and this will make your lips tingle, as well as the fresh green flavor. This tiny place is take-out only: you’ll order directly from the two chefs who run the place, then find a nice side street where you can indulge in wonton-induced euphoria.

At Best North Dumpling Shop, watching the chefs cut cabbage so perfectly it looks like it’s straight out of a Studio Ghibli movie will make you tear up a little – and make you hungry for the 12 types of dumpling available here. Flushing mall. The lamb stuffed with beef is juicy, the flavors strong but pleasant – but if that’s not your thing, go for pork and cabbage or pork and fennel instead. There are several tables across the hall where you can sit, eat, and enjoy the atmosphere.

The pork and scallop xiao long bao at Liu’s Shanghai might be our favorite soup in the city. Inside the thin, golden skins, you’ll find dry scallops that have been brought to life thanks to the soup sauce inside. It’s like drinking ocean water, if the ocean had the perfect texture of xiao long bao and served with black vinegar and spicy ginger sauce. This sit-down spot in Bath Beach also serves pork and crab xiao long bao, as well as fried wontons as a dessert with chili oil, peanuts, and sugar that are worth a try.

Deluxe Green Bo is a great place to bring a small group to Chinatown, as there are round tables that comfortably fit six people. The decor is bare bones, but the service at the cash register is always excellent. Start with an order or two of xiao long bao. There are no fancy or overstuffed skins here, but the highs are simple and delicious. The fried pork chops are always a must-have, and we love the hot and spicy buns tossed in peanut sauce and hot oil.

Wei Mei Xian is a Fujianese restaurant with counter seating and a few tables, making it a great option for a quick, cheap meal (and a bathroom stop if you’re on the Sunset Park food trail). Their pork and chive dishes are $3.50 for an order of 10, with a crispy coating and a meaty, flavorful filling. Also try their version of xiao long bao, which is like a cross between Shanghainese soup noodles and pork chops. The meat inside is delicious and salty, and the sauce is thick and rich, like soup.

The dumplings at Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen have a cult following, for good reason. The crab and pork xiao long bao have very thin skins, and are much tastier than what you can find at tourist places like Joe’s Shanghai. You can also find soupless pork belly soup in both grilled and fried versions. The place is large, with lots of space and interesting wall art, so it works just as well as a date night party or a cheap group meal as it does for a quick private meal.

This is a place where you’ll want to duck when you’re caught in the rain and you can use the excellent dumplings snacks that cost $4 for 10. King Dumplings is a Chinatown place that has been given an old-school feel. renovation—that’s wall art with an anthropomorphic dumpling, a table and a few reading chairs. The dumplings are long-skinned, very simple but satisfying.

At Taiwanese junkyard Sanmiwago, everything is shiny, clean, and feels high-tech. But there are plenty of seats, and the dumplings are very good with very thin skins. The filling is simple but delicious. Baked or fried, there is no wrong answer here. Both options have a spicy chili and a bunch of fresh herbs.

One of our go-to places for the styrofoam container filled with fried pork and chive dumplings, Sweet Dumplings on Mulberry Street is a bare-bones, money-making place. The wrappers here are on the thick side, and they stand up well to make the battered pan look good on the outside. At $2 for an order of four dumplings, this is one of the best meals in lower Manhattan. Grab one of the tables and see Columbus Park.

Good dumplings in the West Village? Yeah, we said it. Lin & Daughters is a shop for women and girls with cute little things, like a lucky cat swinging from its large window, which fills the cafe with light. We love this place for casual dates, friend chats, or just as a place to see if you like to socialize with your friends before going for a social drink. Lin & Daughters makes amazing, delicious baked goods (try the curry chicken or the beef with cumin and chili sauce), cheese-filled pancakes, boba drinks, and other vegetarian dishes named after the Lin family, like Grandma’s Peanut Butter . Noodles.