New York City's Best Dumplings

 

What makes food so exciting is the enormous diversity of flavors, textures and dishes from all over the world.  But there is one dish that almost every culture shares and that’s dumpllings.  Dumplings are a universal language we all speak and nearly every society has its own version of this stuffed invention.  China has its pot stickers, Japan has its gyoza, the Ukraine its pierogi, and Italy its ravioli.

And in New York, you can sample every dumpling imaginable.  You can grab a take-out lunch of pork & chive dumplings at Prosperity Dumplings in Chinatown, Korean kimchi dumplings in Queens, or, after a night of bar-hopping in the East Village, Veselka’s potato pierogi.  We’ve highlighted our favorites as well as some under-the-radar dumplings and eateries you’ll want to sample for yourself.

Prosperity Dumplings – Pork & Chive Dumplings
Address:
46 Eldridge St., btwn. Canal & Hester streets
Phone: (212)
343-8683
Forget the McDonald’s dollar menu, this Chinatown
dumpling house offers the best one-dollar-deal in the city.  For one
dollar, you get  five fist-size pork and chive dumplings boiled or
fried.  (Our vote is pan-fried.)  In fact, Prosperity Dumplings
is one of the best take-out options in the neighborhood with plenty of
other tasty, cheap and quick food. There’s a stellar dumpling noodle
soup, pork-stuffed pancake and boiled vegetable and pork dumplings.  You
can even buy frozen dumplings and store up for winter.

Zum Stammtisch – Potato Dumplings
Address: 69-46 Myrtle
Ave.
Phone: (718) 386-3014
Hearty doesn’t even begin to
describe the food served at this legendary German eatery in Queens. The
menu features goulash soup, smoked trout or herring, and a terrific
bratwurst burger topped with ham and swiss cheese, served on an English
muffin.  But our favorite way to-go is one of the house specials called
sauerbraten, marinated and roasted beef, alongside cabbage and
outstanding potato dumplings. They actually look more like matzoh balls,
but considerably denser and infused with the chicken stock they’re
cooked in.  Finish with their German coffee, spiked with Peppermint
Schnapps.

Osteria Morini –
Capelleti
Address: 218 Lafayette St., nr.
Spring Street
Phone: (212) 965-8777
Michael White is on a roll
these days.  Though he’s just debuted his newest venture, Ai Fiori,
in the Setai Hotel, we’re still stuck on the spectacular ravioli at Osteria
Morini, his Kenmare trattoria, There’s so much to love about this
downtown Italian, heavy on the meat and regional ragus, but the
dumpling-like capelleti  steal the show.  These delicate purses of dough
are stuffed with truffle-infused mascarpone and glossed in butter.  The
final touch is a scattering of prosciutto to lend it some crunch, salt
and meaty flavor.  The result will leave you speechless.

Veselka – Pierogi 
Address: 144 Second Ave., at Ninth Street
Phone: (212) 228-9682
We’ve been satisfying our midnight cravings at this 24-hour, Ukranian diner since high school.  This East Village spot has been a neighborhood institution for over 55 years, as famous for its burger as its borscht.  But their biggest seller and one of our all-time favorite dumplings is Veselka’s pierogi.  They’re all hand-made and come stuffed with everything from smoked ham to sweet potatoes or even a blend of arugula and goat cheese. Let me tell you: While it’s not traditional, it’s pretty damn good, too.

Spicy and Tasty – Dumplings with Red Chile Sauce
Address:
39-07 Prince St. (Queens)
Phone: (718) 359-1601
Heat freaks
live for this Chinese spot in Queens.  In fact, Spicy and Tasty
is one of the best Sichuan restaurants in all of the five boroughs.
Traditional Sichuan dishes like dan dan noodles and twice-cooked pork
are masterfully executed here and there’s even a selection of wok-cooked
offal to please more adventurous palates. But one of the best cards
their holding are pork dumplings doused in a super-hot chili sauce.
Their skins are as thin as fettucine and the minced pork interior tender
and juicy, but the fiery sauce really rounds out the dish making it
wonderfully flavorful. And at six dumplings for $3.95, it’s one of the
cheapest appetizers that you’ll find at any sit-down restaurant.

Himalayan Yak – Momos
Address: 7220 Roosevelt Ave.
(Queens)
Phone: (212) 779-1119
We love dumplings from all over
the world, but Tibetan dumplings (momos) are pretty hard to come by,
even in a city as ethnically diverse as New York. So we were excited to
discover Himalayan Yak, a Tibetan restaurant in Jackson Heights,
Queens. Himalayan Yak offers four kinds of momos: chicken, pork, beef
and vegetable. An order of eight arrives freshly steamed in a bamboo
basket. They’re exceedingly plump and juicy and all you have to do is
hop on the Seven train for a few orders

You-chun restaurant – Kimchi Dumplings
Address: 156-03 Northern Blvd. (Queens)
Phone: (718) 461-6511
Kimchi is to Korea what pasta is to Italy.  This national dish made of fermented cabbage, is known for its distinctly, sour, pungent flavor.  While it’s tasty enough on its own, the Koreans add it to everything from soups to noodles and even dumplings, called mandu.   We’ve tried kimchi mandu in Manhattan’s Koreatown, but the best ones we’ve sampled are rolled and stuffed at You-chun in Queens..

Good Fork – Pot Stickers
Address: 391 Van Brunt St.
Phone: (718) 643-6636
This Red Hook spot is considered one of the pioneers of the media-dubbed “New Brooklyn” cuisine, but The Good Fork’s menu deviates from New American and comfort food offerings with some Asian-inspired cuisine  including their widely popular pot stickers.  Just like traditional Chinese pot stickers, these pan-fried dumplings are stuffed with pork and chives, but the skin on these dumplings is much lighter and unusually flaky.  Not to mention the addictive dipping sauce, made with hoisin, vinegar, chili paste and herbs.

Trestle on Tenth – Goat Cheese Gnocchi
Address: 242 10th Ave., btwn. 24th & 25th streets
Phone: (212) 645-5659
This Chelsea brasserie produces elegant Swiss comfort foods, like pork-garlic sausage with braised leeks as well as a golden beet salad with crab and pistachio.  Like every other restaurant in New York these days, the menu changes with the seasons, but expect to find some incarnation of gnocchi.  We’ve sampled their tart, yet incredibly light goat cheese gnocchi and pumpkin gnocchi with braised beans and parmesan.

Mizu – Crabmeat Dumplings
Address: 29 E. 20th St.,
btwn. Broadway & Park Ave. South
Phone: (212) 505-6688
With
a few exceptions (Nobu comes to mind), sushi restaurants aren’t known
for their scene.  Most good ones have somber or serene settings. That’s
not the case at Mizu: Visit almost any night of the week and
you’ll find a bustling, crowded, and unusually social dining room. But
that doesn’t mean the food’s not good.  This Gramercy  spot always has
fresh fish and many of the appetizers showcase skilled Japanese cooking.
Our favorite starter is the gyoza, homemade crab dumplings.  These
delicate packages are filled with fresh, succulent crab, while the
dumpling skin is pan-fried for a terrifically crispy crust. Sadly,
they’re a recurring special that aren’t served every day, so you might
want to call and ask.