The 15 Best Dumpling Spots In NYC

Have you ever been to a restaurant with dumplings on the menu and NOT ordered a plate or two for the table? Kind of impossible, right? But some are better than others, and for this epic undertaking I set out to find a few of the tastiest Chinese dumplings in town—soupy, steamed, boiled, or fried, at places both semi-fancy and decidedly not. There are a ton of dumplings out there that will fill you with nothing but regret, but these are not them. If I missed your favorite spot, please give a shout in the comments.

Super Taste

This stretch of lower Eldridge Street is packed with old-school Chinatown noodle shops and greasy dives, but the best one is Super Taste, which introduced this city to Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles back in 2005 and feels like it's been here a lot longer than its 14 years. Unlike most dumpling joints where pork-and-chive stuffing rule, it's the memory of Super Taste's boiled beef beauties that will summon you every time you're walking within a few blocks of the cramped, irreplaceable space.

Located at 26 Eldridge Street, just south of Canal (supertasteny.com)

Fish Dumpling

The New World Mall may lack the ramshackle charm of Flushing's food court warrens of not-so-long-ago, but the large, open dining area here definitely doesn't lack for energy, nor for great things to eat. Solid choices abound, including these superb Fish Dumplings at the stall in the back left-hand corner called, handily enough, Fish Dumpling. The filling is all paste, no chunks, and the flavor is fresh and clean with little discernible filler. I put chili oil on top, and black vinegar, though these are not required to fully enjoy.

Located on the lower level of the New World Mall at 136-20 Roosevelt Avenue (718-353-4957)

Spicy Moon

Last winter the East Village got this terrific little Szechuan spot that 1) is 100% vegan, 2) has crazy psychedelic decor, and 3) serves a lot of first-rate food. No matter what you order at Spicy Moon, you should start your meal with these zingy Steamed Vegetable numbers, which pack a lot of flavor and textural intrigue into their plump packages.

Located at 328 East 6th Street, between First and Second Avenues (646-429-8471; spicymoonnyc.com)

Destination Dumplings

For about three years now, Tristan Chin-Fatt, Deon Whiskey, and the whole wild Destination Dumplings crew have been popping up all over town slinging some truly incredible flavor-bombs. Smorgasburg, Afropunk, MadSq Eats, Citi Field, Gov Ball, EZoo, NY Times Food Festival... Destination Dumpling is on it. Everything is great at this booth/truck/kiosk, but I usually splurge and get the Around the World platter, featuring Vegan Edamame, Korean Beef, Jerk Chicken, Peking Duck, Classic Pork and Chive, and whatever else they have cooking up that day. Good people, great food.

Located at Smorgasburg and whatever big event you go to next, probably (destinationdumplings.com)

White Bear

The most famous of Flushing's many holes-in-the-wall, White Bear has made every Best Dumpling list we've ever seen, and with good reason: the Wontons with Hot Sauce, a.k.a "Number 6," is pretty much a perfect plate of food, a wild ride of textures (crisp, slippery, chewy) and flavors (spicy, tangy, funky) that you start craving more of the minute you're done. In fact, if you try to order anything else on the 34-item menu, whoever's working the counter will not-so-gently try to steer you a Number 6 instead. A true NYC treasure.

Located at 135-02 Roosevelt Avenue, though the entrance is actually around the corner on Prince Street (718-961-2322)

Golden Rich

Located near the northern terminus of Sunset Park's bustling Eighth Avenue, Golden Rich is a tiny table-service restaurant with charming homespun details—a faux-wood-burned sign demands: "Always Kiss Me Goodnight"—and an appealing menu of Taiwanese classics. Yes, I know that Taiwan isn't China, but these crisp, juicy, finger-length beef creations are the best dumplings I've had in this neighborhood, and the couple working here are so likeable, that I'm making a slight exception.

Located at 4001 Eighth Avenue near 53rd Street (718-508-2993; goldenrichbrooklyn.com)

Little Tong Noodle Shop

It's always my great pleasure to eat anything Simone Tong cooks up in her stellar, ever-evolving East Village restaurant, and her upcoming expansion into the West Village, with Silver Apricot, is the opening I'm most looking forward to this season. No surprise then, that when Tong recently added this six-pack of beef potstickers surrounded by a collar of crisp-fried cheese curd to the Little Tong menu, it was as knee-buckling delicious as you can imagine such a thing would be. This place continues to be one of my favorite restaurants in the city.

Located at 177 First Avenue, at the corner of 11th Street (929-367-8664; littletong.com)

Shu Jiao Fu Zhou

The prices are so low at this no-frills corner spot that newcomers tend to chuckle a little and whisper to each other when they're deciding what to order, like they're getting away with something. And this is after they raised all the prices a little while ago! Anyway, everything is at least decent here and usually quite a bit better than that, like this tenner of wrinkly lovelies, fat with pork and easy to devour. They're served without chili oil, in Fujianese style, but there are bottles of fake Sriracha scattered around if you must.

Located at 118 Eldridge Street, at the corner of Broome (212-625-2532; shujiaofuzhou.com)

Mimi Cheng's

The Cheng sisters Hannah and Marian pay tribute to their mom, Mimi, every day at this pair of semi-trendy, rock-solid dumpling shops in the East Village and Nolita. Everything is made from scratch, using longtime family recipes and high quality, thoughtfully-sourced ingredients, and it's all delicious. I always get the pan-fried version of whatever dumpling suits my mood—they do those crispy bottoms as well as anyone in town—which usually winds up being the monthly special, a collaboration between the Chengs and another local chef. This month that means Peking Duck Melt Dumplings, pictured above, but past standouts have included the Emmy Burger, the Chicken Satay, the Buffalo Chicken, and the Thanksgiving Dinner dumplings.

Located at 179 Second Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets, and 380 Broome between Mott and Mulberry (mimichengs.com)

Shanghai Asian

For decades now, this narrow, Elizabeth Street restaurant has been a gathering space for locals, who come for the warm, familiar surroundings, the expansive menu of homemade-style Shanghai classics, and, in our case, what have been called the best soupy dumplings in town. These fancy-sounding Black Truffle Soup Dumplings are just like Shanghai Asian's regular porky delights, but with just the right amount of fungi on top to give it a funky kick.

Located at 14A Elizabeth Street between Canal and Bayard (212-964-5640; shanghaiasiancuisine.com)

Vegetarian Dim Sum House

Results can be somewhat mixed at this, uh, vegetarian dim sum house, but there are enough hits on the menu to warrant a visit if you're not eating meat and/or can't get a table at, say, Joe's down the block. If you go, definitely get these swollen, surprisingly punchy Spinach Dumplings, which your server will warn you are "filled with gluten" (it's just a big ball of starchy protein in there), but if your stomach can handle it, you're in for a treat.

Located at 24 Pell Street between Mott and Bowery (212-577-7176; vegetariandimsumnyc.com)

The Bao

There's a long list of Chinese-food greatest hits on the menu of this popular, five-year-old restaurant in prime St. Marks party zone, and most everything will be as good as you need it to be alongside a few beers. But what makes The Bao a dumpling destination is the Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao, or soup dumplings, which are both a model of fine construction—they sag precariously when you pick them from the basket, but they do not break—and exceptionally tasty. The soup is really the key here, a slightly tangy broth that's worth savoring.

Located at 13 St. Marks Place, just east of Third Avenue (212-388-9238; thebaonewyorkcity.com)

Xi'an's Famous

I still remember what a revelation it was ten years ago when I first wolfed down Jason Wang's explosive Cold Skin Noodles and Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger on the sidewalk outside of that ridiculously tiny take-out shop under the Manhattan Bridge. A lot has changed since then, of course, and Xi'an's Famous is now a legitimate chain, with 15 spots across three boroughs. But even with all the expansion and accolades, the food is still supremely satisfying, including one of my favorite dishes, the Spicy and Sour Spinach Dumplings. Yes, the zippy sauce does a lot of work here, but the bright, fluffy spinach stuffing completes the package in fine fashion.

Located in Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn (xianfoods.com)

Noodle Village

Huge menu, generic decor, slightly chaotic atmosphere, tourists and locals in about equal measure... the decade-old Noodle Village is a bit of a Chinatown cliche, which, of course, is not at all a bad thing. The regular dumplings here, boiled or fried, are just ok, but the Wonton Soup is excellent, as are these Steam Crab Soup Dumplings, which hold a ton of seafood flavor in its small, tidy package. A solid go-to spot on Mott Street, especially handy if you're in charge of a pack of out-of-towners.

Located at 13 Mott Street between Mosco and Worth; and in Flushing at 40-21 Main Street (noodlevillage.com)

Dumpling Galaxy

Helen You's Dumpling Galaxy, sitting all overly-fancy in the back of the empty, sterile Arcadia Mall in Flushing, is a gem worth discovering. To get there you'll walk along the shiny mall floors as the muzak in the air envelops you, eventually landing at the fussily-decorated temple. And like her now-closed Tianjin Dumpling House, the place delivers on its eponymous dish (mostly; there are 100 different varieties on the menu, some better than others) and deserves the respect and consideration of all dumpling completists.

Located in the Arcadia Mall at 42-35 Main Street (dumplinggalaxy.com)