Strong Opinions @marksbirch

Last week, an intrepid group of eaters assembled in NYC Chinatown to embark on a three hour tour to devour the best Chinese dumplings in town.  Or should I say it was more like a mob?  With over 30 people in tow and many logistical challenges, we worked our way through mountains of fried and boiled dumplings, some scallion pancakes and a few more pancakes of the sesame variation.  Suffice it to say, your heroic guide was tasting dumplings for the better part of the week and oddly still full two days after.

But you do not care about that, all you want to know is WHERE IN NYC DO YOU FIND AWESOME DUMPLINGS?  Well, after tabulating the votes, convening our jury of internationally renowned B-list actors, and having the tallies audited by PWC (about the only thing PWC does not screw up anymore), we have the results*!

There are a number of categories though, so let’s begin:

• Best Hidden Gem – I took a flyer putting this on the tour given how out of the way it was, but Lan Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling was so worth the walk.  Great succulent dumplings with just the right ratio of pliable dough to meat filling.
• Best In House Entertainment – So while we were waiting for dumplings, the noodle chef at Lan Zhou put on an impressive show of hand pulled noodle making skill for the group to see.
• Longest Wait Ever Award – To be fair, Tasty Hand-pulled Noodles is not really a dumpling specialist, they are all about the noodles.  The dumplings were highly praised once the group was able to partake, but it took a painfully long time and that was even with some sly pre-ordering before our group arrived.
• Super Fast Service Award – Not only are they renowned, but Prosperity Dumpling is super quick.  It helps that the menu is super focused on dumplings and…dumplings.  One notable surprise however is that Prosperity did not take a lead position in the voting from the tour participants for best three dumpling joints.
• The OMG That’s the Line? Award – I love Vanessa’s Dumpling House.  I really do and I have loved the place since I found it so many, many years ago.  But that line is insane.  If you can wait and are patient, they are some of the best fried dumplings though.  As a plus, there sesame pancake sandwiches (beef is the best) are pretty stellar.
• Audience Favorite – In a hands down, full-throttle beat down, Tasty Dumpling House smacked down the competition.  It was first on the tour, so there may have been a slight bias, but our panel of culinary dumpling experts was quite surprised.  The fried dumplings are very good however with a nice crunchy bite to the exterior and a pleasant juiciness inside.
• Best in Show – It was really, really close, but the award goes to C&L Dumpling.  They came in second in the audience voting, had a surprising strong showing earlier in the year, and continued to please yet again.  Service was quick, the place has a decent amount of seating, and the menu is rather expansive for a dumpling joint.  Both fried and boiled dumplings were lauded for their texture and flavor, the vegetable dumplings were not only edible, but were sublimely excellent, and the scallion pancakes were a major hit with the group.

So there you have it, this tour is officially in the Dumpling Hall of Records and the awards have been duly noted.  We humbly thank everyone that came out to the tour and appreciate their input, and large capacity for eating dumplings.  Any of the places that we visited would be excellent choices really, so take some time to head to Chinatown and try some of these dumpling houses for yourself!

* One important note is that out of the ten places on the tour, we only made it to eight (Dumpling Restaurant was skipped and Excellent Dumpling House was closed before we arrived).