Good Dumplings

My baby boy almost made it through the first two years of his life without having a good dumpling. And he LOVES dumplings, so that is a very sad statement. I decided almost as soon as I moved to New York that the best judge of a Chinese restaurant is its dumplings. And most of them are just awful, too thick, doughy and sticky or soggy or cheater dumplings, made with those transparent papers (is it rice papers or some kind of wonton wrapper?).

But Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, on 23rd in Chelsea, has good dumplings. We tried the pork and chive and the duck with hoisin sauce. Both were juicy little meatballs in pasta-like steamed wrappers that were the perfect thickness, the perfect texture. We took them on-the-go, in the car, and they were perfect portable food, too.

We also had the chocolate soup dumplings, which is a molten chocolate filling wrapped in a doughy, chewy pastry that's coated with sesame seeds. Todd thought the flavor was off-putting (maybe from the sesame seeds?) and it's definitely too chewy to eat in one mouthful, but I loved the burst of melty chocolate in my mouth. The baby clamored for more, too.