So having heard some good things about this place and always loving places where you can sample small amounts of different things, I was ready to fall in love with this place... alas it was not to... More

So having heard some good things about this place and always loving places where you can sample small amounts of different things, I was ready to fall in love with this place... alas it was not to be. I guess it can be cool to watch ladies make dumplings, but I did get a bit of a feeling of watching sweatshop workers labor... at which point I thought to myself, "How much do these ladies get paid an hour to churn out dumpling after dumpling?" We decided on 3 kinds of dumplings - Shrimp (steamed), Pork (seared), and the limited edition Beef (steamed). We also got a side each of the Red Monster and Cool Monster sauces. While there are slight differences in the meats, it really wasn't that significant to make much of a difference. The dough for each dumpling is also the same, a somewhat chewy texture, but not excessive dough so that you feel there's no meat. Also, the seared dumplings weren't that different from the steamed ones as the searing didn't seem to be done long enough to bring out the carmelization and a crispy bottom to the dumplings. The sauces were also too over the top and took away from the dumpling. I'll go back, but next time I'm sticking with the basic Pork dumpling seared (because I'm a hopeless romantic) with the free dumping sauce in the ice tea like drink dispenser on the counter opposite of the workers. And maybe I'll get a flan and one of those cool looking shirts..
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For the love of Dumpling, this small spot in the East Village had been on my hit list for quite a while. By the time I got there, I had heard rave reviews and imagined dumplings of such delectable... More

For the love of Dumpling, this small spot in the East Village had been on my hit list for quite a while. By the time I got there, I had heard rave reviews and imagined dumplings of such delectable deliciousness. So much to my dismay, I was sorely disappointed. After sitting at the counter in the back and watching two staffers make the dumplings by hand, we fell upon them once they arrived. Considering we ordered four different kinds - pork, chicken, shrimp and beef (which was a special) - we started to realize that they all...pretty much tasted the same. Given the different sauces you can order on the side (Monster being the spicy one, Marco Polo being the tomato one), they didn't do much to help matters. The traditional dumpling sauce of vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame also fell flat, seemingly watered down and lacking flavor. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience, but considering the number of dumpling places in the near vicinity to this place - we'll continue on in search of a better dumpling.
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