Dumpling London!

It’s no secret that we, at Everything London, love some dumplings!

Din Tai Fung, Covent Garden

 

When Art Sagiryan 'Ping Pong' arrived in London, founded in 2005, it was the most accessible all-day dumpling place my friends and I would love to visit. Now with branches all over London, you no longer have to suffer those awful queues to eat. 

Make room for Din Tai Fung!

We visited the one in Covent Garden, where that infamous long line has returned, but fear not, unlike a lot of other places they take reservations in advance, if you're just walking up by chance, they'll take your phone number to call you when your table's ready, or for us, they let us order boba tea and sit by the bar.

The site is where the very huge 'Henry's' bar used to stand, and before that a Mexican restaurant, its refurb though wipes out all memory of those old haunts.
You are greeted by their very open kitchen with staff huddled making the dim sum, and shaping it by hand in rubber gloves, watching makes it feel somewhat like a experience, not just a place to get food. But by the time you're seated, they're out of sight.

Din Tai Fung originally started as a trader in oil, until it became a canned good in 1972.
Bing-Yi Yang the founder, along with his wife repurposed their shop, making half of it to sell steamed pork dumplings, and so the inceptions of Din Tai Fung had begun.
The steamed pork dumplings and chicken soup has even propelled the humble beginnings to a Michelin star, and now has branches all over the world including many in South East Asia, Dubai, USA and of course in London.

Soup Dumplings

Soup dumplings seem to be all the rage now, and Din Tai Fung have a whole page!
They have a whole section for vegetarians, so you have plenty of options, my friend and I ordered the truffle flavour, and oh wow, were they delicate and yet hearty. We were in dumpling heaven, definitely worth a try.

Dumpling Shack

Old Spitalfields Market

Other places for soup dumplings, are ubiquitous.

We found another in Spitalfields market at Dumpling Shack, the pastry is very thick, and the filling past the soup is hearty, but a little oily, it was hard eating this without needing lots of tissues to clean up, and avoid your clothing. 4 dumplings were a tasty snack, not a meal, even if you order their cucumber salad accompaniment.

So be ready to order something else, or try other things from the nearby choices of food if you want to fill up.

4 Dumplings, one eaten already

Ugly Dumpling, Carnaby Street.

Ugly Dumpling

Lastly, we visited Ugly Dumpling, besides all the mainstream food critics reviewing this when it opened and saying there were much more refined dumpling options at the Chinese restaurants not far away in China town, we thought we’d give it a try.

Its lovely fun décor, play on words with the name, and the staff were really welcoming. 

However, the cramped tables made for very awkward silences, and no room for private conversations, and tiny spaces meant cleaning in overlooked spaces wasn’t always the best. The prices too, made the mainstream critics even more valid. A nice win was they did many a bao, which is nice to find this side of Carnaby.

Din Tai Fung has branches in Covent Garden, CenterPoint and Selfridges 4^th floor.

Ugly Dumpling is off Carnaby Street.
Dumpling Shack is in Old Spitalfields Market, one of the central kiosks.