I read somewhere recently that there are more Chinese restaurants in the U.S. than there are McDonalds, a factoid which I found peculiarly comforting. More egg rolls than Big Macs? Hmmm... there may be hope for us yet.
We’d come to Chinatown on a mission: to find a ‘dragon incense burner’ for our son. He’d seen one on the Internet and had decided it was THE thing for his birthday, so off we went to Chinatown, in search of his elusive object of desire.
We didn’t find it (though we did find a quite nice dragon-ish one), but we did find a restaurant that Jose Kevo, had recommended, the Excellent Dumpling House. We weren’t sure of the restaurant’s exact location, but the first shopkeeper we asked about a "dumpling restaurant" simply pointed down the street, and sure enough, there it was.
The front window of the Excellent Dumpling is plastered with restaurant reviews, which is often (though not always) a good sign. Inside, we found a no-nonsense dining room: simple linoleum-topped tables and diner-style metal chairs. Harried waitresses bearing trays of steaming food scurried between tables.
What the Excellent Dumpling may lack in ambience, it makes up from in bang for your buck. Big time. I had not one but two appetizers – a shrimp Shanghai eggroll and a bowl of eggdrop and corn soup. Both came in a flash and cost a grand total of $3. Jack started with a bowl of vegetable seafood soup, a savory combination of shrimp, straw mushrooms, scallops, snow peas, and carrots. The birthday boy chowed down on one of the Excellent Dumpling’s signature dishes, fried pork dumplings. All the food came surprisingly fast, along with a large pot of green tea and an array of sauces that taxed the space limitations of our small table.
No sooner had we polished off the appetizers than our entrees appeared. Servings were quite large, and one serving would have probably done for two people. Unfazed, we greedily cleaned our plates. My cashew chicken and shrimp featured thin slices of tender chicken, large succulent shrimp, broccoli, green peppers, and plenty of cashews in a savory sauce. Jack had a spicy seafood dish featuring a surprising amount of celery, as well as seafood – odd, but it didn’t deter him from polishing off all but the red chili pods in record time. Greg had "Excellent Squid," but this was the one dish that proved a bit of a disappointment. The squid were "dry-sautéed" (whatever that means), and I think he had been expecting them to be deep-fried. Never mind... Jack happily ate the leftovers.
Based on this single experience, I’d say that the best bets here are the eponymous dumplings and the soups. They’re the cheapest items, too. In any case, the total bill for the three of us was under $40, which we paid in cash, as credit cards aren’t accepted.