NYC Restaurants

Having lived in Brooklyn's Chinatown for a number of years, I got spoiled feasting on pan-fried or steamed pork dumplings for as little as a buck for six.  Because they sold out quickly they were always fresh and juicy.  So, paying eight dollars for six at Mimi Cheng's, a mother-and-daughters dumpling shop in the East Village, was a bit tough to swallow.  Would it be worth it?  The answer came with the very first bite.  YES.

They don't let you mix and match, so I orded two sets of six.  First up, The Mimi Cheng, a dumpling filled with pasture-raised chicken with organic zucchini.  The are very tasty. A splash of soy sauce spiked with chili oil taking these dumplings to a whole new level.  They were gone in a flash.  Soon after, another plate arrived; this one carrying The Reinvented Classic, a pan-fried dumpling stuffed with pork, bok choy and organic cabbage.  The dumplings arrived golden brown on one side, translucent on the other with lots of deliciousness in between.

The entire experience only lasted about twenty minutes.  When it was over all that remained was a puddle of soy sauce with a few red droplets of chili oil, and a wish that I had ordered eight of each instead of six.  Here's hoping that Mimi's stays around for a long, long time.