One of the best things about hanging out with FoodieAdam, my local instagram celebrity is the fact that I am privileged enough to partake in his occasional food crawls. A recent one that I got on was a dumpling crawl. Having gone to most of the places on his hit list, I was keen to try Golden Dumpling, the only one on the list I hadn't tried. Heading there after work on Friday, it was a wonderful way to start off the weekend.
Menus were provided for ease of browsing outside, a convenience I always appreciate, but as usual, I had already perused online earlier.
Being seated promptly inside, we were again provided with a menu. Of course it contained dumplings, but it also contained a fair amount of Chinese dishes, sides and snacks. Needless to say though, we were here mainly for the dumplings.
Being seated near the open kitchen also meant we got to watch as the chefs prepared our meals. It was quite reassuring as well to see that as they were making our dinner, they were also enjoying dumplings as they cooked, a sure sign that the food was going to be great.
Ordering quickly, our food also came out very promptly.
First off we had the beef dumplings in a hot and sour soup. Having previously tried Shanghai style hot and sour soup, I was expecting a thick gelatinous soup with bamboo shoots, fungus, pork strips, but it turned out to be a far lighter broth that had considerable vinegar and chili. The beef dumplings though were very delicious with a smooth silky skin, which could have been a little thinner, but the beef was meaty and crumbly which I enjoyed greatly.
Our other dish was the Chef's special pork prawn and leek dumplings, which we had as pot stickers. As expected, they came with a crisp base which was very enjoyable. Like the hot and sour soup, the pastry was a little bit thicker than I would have liked. The filling though was definitely a highlight, the pork was meaty, prawn had good bite and the leek kept it fresh and fragrant. The one evident downside though was the fact that the dumplings were wrapped open ended, which meant that not only were the fillings at risk of falling out, it also meant that it was unable to retain any soup, which was quite a shame.
Being a massive fan of shallot pancakes, of course we got a serve. These were fried to a nice crisp, but were somewhat lacking in shallots and needed a bit more layering.
Price Range: $15 - $25pp
Taste: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 6/10
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