dumplings! dumplings! dumplings!

March 6, 2019 8:10 AM

Best cheap dumplings in Manhattan?

I'm planning a dumpling crawl with a couple friends! It's a very short trip to the city, so we won't have time to head out to Queens or Flushing, but are entirely open to any kind of cheap, delicious dumplings in Manhattan.

Since I'm Chinese-American, my list is basically the Chinese dumplings in Manhattan, and so far, it's:

456 Shanghai (for soup dumplings)
Tasty Dumpling (for fried pork-and-chive dumplings)
LamZhou Hand-Torn Noodles (for boiled and fried dumplings)
Mimi Cheng's (for fancier Taiwanese dumplings)
Tim Ho Wan (for Cantonese-style dimsum dumplings)

I've had bad experiences at Joe's, and mediocre ones at Vanessa's. Is there someplace else we should stop on at our crawl? I'd love to branch out to non-Chinese dumplings, too.

posted by joyceanmachine to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

In midtown Kung Fu Little Steam Buns makes some really solid soup dumplings.

Its been a while but at 456 i was always about the "fried tiny buns w pork" which are kind of like soup dumplings wild cousin - theyre doughier and fried on the bottom but you'd be remiss to go there and not order them.

At Tim Ho Wan the baked pork buns w crackle topping are the must-get.

Xiian Famous foods makes an okay dumpling but they are never the reason i go - pork burger, torn noodles with either cumin lamb or hot oil, and tiger vegetable salad. on a crawl you could be forgiven for splitting a pork burger and maybe a cumin lamb one too.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:24 AM on March 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

For non-Chinese dumplings in Manhattan, it would be hard to beat the khinkali at Oda House.
posted by neroli at 8:30 AM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

You already have most of my favorites! I'll put in a plug for Bodhi Kosher Vegetarian, also in Chinatown; I really like the watercress and pea leaf dumplings. The spinach dumplings at Xi'an are also pretty good.
posted by ferret branca at 8:54 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

If you count pierogies among dumplings, I vote for Veselka and/or Little Poland, both in the East Village. There's a Tim Ho Wan nearby also.
posted by bilabial at 8:55 AM on March 6, 2019

It's been a while since I've been to NYC, but I thought the shengjian bao at Shanghai Asian Manor were the best in Manhattan.
posted by bradf at 9:46 AM on March 6, 2019

The fact that I don't work within walking distance of Mandoo Bar's kimchee dumplings is an ongoing source of sadness for me. They are so dreamy.
posted by minervous at 10:56 AM on March 6, 2019

Suggest a look at Eater's recent Chinese food series:
13 Exemplary Chinese Soup Dumplings in NYC
16 Plump Chinese Dumplings to Try in NYC
posted by artificialard at 11:32 AM on March 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

If you want the novelty factor, I do believe the cheapest dumplings anywhere in NYC are 5 for $1.25 at that place on Mosco St. next to Bangkok Center Grocery. I have no idea if the place even has a name.
posted by praemunire at 11:37 AM on March 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Shu Jiao Fu Zhou (at Eldridge and Broome just up the block from Vanessa's) has delicious pork & chive dumplings and it's super cheap.

If pierogi are on the the table, I second Veselka. But since it's often packed, I also suggest stopping at the old kosher diner B&H Dairy on the other side of 2nd Ave just below St. Marks Place.
posted by theory at 12:30 PM on March 6, 2019

Skip Tim Ho Wan, as the dumplings are neither cheap nor very good.
456 and Tasty Dumpling are good choices, as is Dumpling Man (where the dumplings are made by women, oy) on St Mark’s near 1st.
For soup dumplings stick to Chinatown and avoid Drunken Dumpling, which is welcoming yet not as good as Joe’s Shanghai.
posted by lasagnaboy at 5:25 PM on March 6, 2019

My go-to for soup dumplings in Manhattan Chinatown is the recently! reopened! hallelujah! Shanghai Dumpling.

Seconding B&H Dairy for old school pirogies.

Side note: All the Joe's Shanghai locations in Manhattan that I've been to have been a hot mess but the one in Flushing is my Shanghainese family's bao of choice.
posted by yeahlikethat at 7:15 AM on March 7, 2019 [1 favorite]