One of my goals for this challenge is to include as wide a variety of restaurants as possible.  San Diego is as diverse as it is weatherless so it offers many different options.  Dumpling Inn was a departure from the last 2 spots as this place is a little more tiny  small claustrophobic smurf-sized intimate.  Located in what appears to be an industrial Asian sector, Dumpling Inn is surrounded by strip mall-esque karaoke places, eateries and electronic stores with signs written in both English and another language that I am too lazy and covered in white privilege to properly research.

Which of these symbols was your regrettable Spring Break tattoo?

A little something about me: I *LOVE* hole in the wall style places.  They tend to have a no-frills approach and bomb ass food.  Dumpling Inn came with a huge amount of hype from my friends who had been there before and there were several folks wanting to be in on this adventure with me.  I showed up with an entourage of 9 and a baby.  For the size of this place, I may as well have shown up with the entire 3-day Coachella audience.  My squished dining companions were:

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

David-Technical writer, singer, robot super villian

Durwood-Best friend, comedian, San Diego’s go-to young black non-singing actor

Joe-Theatre and beer enthusiast, podcast co-host, Co-Creator of World’s Cutest Baby

Joey-Future music professor, Saceraz drinker, makes a mean cup of coffee

Kelsey-Project manager, Advanced level foodie, Has been known to drop it like it’s hot after a few cocktails

Lily-World’s Cutest Baby (a Joe & Nicole production)

Nicole-Stage Manager, Cupcake diva, Co-Creator of World’s Cutest Baby

Suzanne-My Italian soul sista, Can throw down in the kitchen, the cultured one who pronounces everything correctly

We came, we saw, we ate, we judged.

The wait at this place is no joke.  You show up, you get put on a list.  You come when called or they skip you.  The staff is Chinese, older, female and they are NOT HAVING YOUR BULLSHIT.  A near fight broke out over people trying to get in.  Luckily I called ahead so they knew we were coming.  They were nice enough and worked hard to accommodate us, even if it was a tight squeeze.  Did I mention there are only 8 tables?  Like, 8 total.  9 grown adults plus one high chair seemed like an impossible task but we made it work.  We were almost arrogant about how well we’d figured out the seating arrangement.  That is, until our 757 plates of food arrived.

“It’s like Twister but with food!”-Aimee

But onto the good stuff!  Dumpling Inn is obviously noted for their dumplings but I was surprised to see a wide array of Northern Chinese style dishes on the menu.  Joey ordered the Beef Curry Dumplings with Bao Pork & Pickled Cabbage soup.  He was the 1st of many at our table to heap praise upon the curry dumplings.  I tried them and they were crispy with a sweet filing.  Not really my thing but David, Kelsey & Suzanne all felt strongly that they were the real stand out of the meal.  Joey noted that he would be interested to try the Beef Curry filling in a pan fried dumpling.  He described his soup as “awesome, awesome, awesome”.

Kelsey had the shrimp and chive dumplings, which she described as a bit bland, pan fried potstickers & Wor Wonton Soup.  She said the other items in her meal were okay but nothing fantastic.  David and Suzanne split plates of Pork Potstickers, Beef Curry Dumplings & Xia Long Pork Buns.  They were both in agreement that the Curry dumplings were the real stand out, while they regarded the others as “nothing stellar”.  I tried the potstickers and I’m inclined to agree.  The fillings were fresh and tasty but the single greatest potstickers I’ve ever had in San Diego cannot be touched by any other (that’s a future entry).  They were decent.

Beef Curry Dumplings. For my dining companions, the stand out of the meal.

Joe had Pork Dumpling Soup with house made noodles, which he enjoyed.  Nicole had one of the more traditional “Chinese Food restaurant dishes”, Sweet and Sour pork.  She felt the breading was a bit heavy (which I also found to be true when I tried it) and the dish was heavy on carrots and onions but boasted a tasty, tangy sauce.  Lily had pureed squash and cheerios because she is a baby and cannot use chopsticks.

Aimee had steamed pork buns and pork dumpling soup.  She described her meal as delicious but hugely portioned.  Lotsa bang for your buck at this place.  She also mentioned that the hot chili oil is fantastic when mixed with the soup.  Durwood had the dish by which he judges any Chinese food restaurant; Kung Pao Chicken.  He described it as “The best Kung Pao Chicken in San Diego, top 2 West Coast and top 3 ever”.  High praise indeed and a review that I cannot argue with.  This dish alone is why I will be coming back.  Seriously delicious.

Kung Pao Chicken AKA “The reason I’m coming back here”

As for my own dinner, I have to say it wound up being the least exciting food I ate during this meal.  I had Pork & Chive Dumplings and Sauteed Shrimp in Garlic Sauce.  The dumplings I found to be fresh and tasty but largely unremarkable.  The steaming process left them limp and watery.  As for the Shrimp, it was well prepared with steamed vegetables and a near non-existent sauce.  Boring.

You may recognize this dish from every Chinese restaurant ever.

Some observations from the table made were that more than a few of us believed the “dumplings” in question would be done more in the style of Cha Siu Bao.  I was surprised more of that style wasn’t offered.  In our commitment to sitting in “true judgement” we consumed more than 100 dumplings at our table.  Durwood felt they should’ve at least taken our picture for such a feat.   Joey made a keen observation that there was no sign noting “No MSG”, which was A-Okay with him as this meant the food “Tastes of awesome”.   In place of dinner mints, our check was scattered with Starburst chews.  Points for originality.

Overall we felt that Dumpling Inn had some pretty solid choices (Beef Curry Dumplings and the Kung Pao Chicken) but as a whole failed to live up to the hype.  I say walk, don’t run.  and pick me up some Kung Pao Chicken to go.