— TheToothfish

Even after visiting three pizzerias, a rice pudding shop, and a macaroni and cheese restaurant, we had the stomach and energy for dinner. The 30-minute nap on a Crate & Barrel couch was instrumental in our plan to eat more.

So what exactly is a soup dumpling? It’s exactly what it sounds like: soup inside of a dumpling. The proper way to eat these dumplings involves gently grabbing the top of the dumplings with chopsticks and holding a spoon under it to catch any soup which might leak out. The dumplings were hot so I nibbled a hole into the side to let the heat escape. Once it was cool enough, I popped the thing into my mouth. BAM. Warm soup gushed out of the dumpling and filled my mouth. There was probably a less sexually suggestive way to describe this moment, but I’m not about to spend the time figuring that out. Overall I enjoyed the dumplings, but I wasn’t a fan of the skin, which I thought was too tough and thick.

Yes, I ordered fried rice and yes, you can call me white-washed for doing so. I don’t care at this point because the chicken fried rice was very good. For starters, the rice wasn’t the usual greasy, brown catastrophe too heavy on the soy sauce and too wimpy on the frying in the wok. The wok did its job this time and the scallions were a sharp way to lighten up the dish.