Smile big for the camera!
"I think I've soiled myself. Don't look at me. DON'T LOOK AT ME!!!!"
Skulking in a pack of the dumpling-curious, I finally visited the famed Joe's Shanghai, NYC's soup dumpling temple on Pell Street. I was psyched, but a little worried about all the hype; in NYC, hype seems to be the worst thing that can happen to true-blue Chinese food.
I hate to be a whistleblower, but I don't see what the big Effing deal is. (Not to soup dumplings as a whole, but definitely the ones at Joe's Shanghai.) Conceptually, a closed, semi-portable pocket of soup is appealingly innovative and craft-oriented, which I guess is why Xiǎolóngbāo are rockstars in foodsnob circles.
Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed my half-dozen or so pork-and-crab soup dumplings well enough. I did the dumpling-skin-biting, the blowing to cool the scorching hot soup, the pouring a bit of black vinegar with ginger into the little opening, etc. But to be honest...the dumplings themselves were not that big a deal. After my second one, I wanted to go through them all, suck out the "soup", and leave the little parched dumpling carcasses for dead.
WHY, you ask? I'm not really sure, except to say that I've had better-made dumplings before, without the added distraction/partnership of skin-enclosed soup. And YES, I've had soup dumplings before, in Shanghai, so it's not the overall concept that I have a problem with. My beef is with the half-assed execution of a basic food, misdirected/shielded by novelty.
The skins on these little guys were nice and thin, a little elastic. But the filling was leaden and monotone. I was pouring vinegar and chili oil into each one, in an attempt to liven up the sad, dead meatball souls of the 'lil fellas. Mebbe if there were more crab in the the pork-and-crab equation (upon dissection, I could SEE tiny shreds of crab, but I couldn't taste them), or perhaps more chives or ginger worked into the filling...
Joe's has a pretty extensive menu, but of the seven or eight dishes our troopers sampled, there was nothing you couldn't get better versions of elsewhere in Chinatown for half the hassle.
The verdict? If you've never EVER had a soup dumpling before, this isn't a bad place to have your first one, a place to work out the basic mechanics and rituals involved, to bask in the indifferent-to-passively-hostile service that we've come to expect in Chinatown, to make friends with the other long-suffering Dumpling Pilgrims (who you WILL be sharing a banquet-sized round table with).
For serious dumpling eaters, I'd say check this place off, and move on to the next outpost.
Hrm...
That dumpling picture just reminded me of the end of a pretty good date for some reason...maybe I shouldn't have told you all that though.
Anyway!
Having gone there, and having heard the hype, and having seen the waiter bark at the table over credit cards...and having tasted the food.
Congi Village > Joes Shanghai.
That said, the place isn't bad, just overly pricey, and crowded
Posted by: Reavinator | January 11, 2008 at 04:25 PM
OMG I was ust looking for these in chinatown in SF. Damn it. I wish I knew what they were called.
Posted by: Billy Shin | January 11, 2008 at 05:21 PM
next time you're in la, we have to go to din tai fung.
they have dumplings that are seriously beyond comparisons.
Posted by: Ashley Lee | January 28, 2008 at 02:04 AM
wurd
Posted by: Jason | February 05, 2008 at 04:46 AM