There are a handful of restaurants that I've been kind of down on for the last couple of years and Dumpling Inn is one of them. My last couple of visits a couple of years ago just weren't satisfying and the the restaurant's namesake….namely Jiaozi went severely downhill after the owner opened, then sold the Dragon's Den. Even before then, the only dumpling worth my while at Dumpling Inn was the shrimp and chive version…..of course, the Missus, with Her QingDao heritage won't touch any of the jiaozi here with a ten foot pole(though She tells me I'm more picky than She is)….my coworker "YZ" once even told me, "you know, that's really NOT Chinese food….." And yet, the place is beloved by many….though I will say, I did not see a single Chinese customer during any of my three visits. I'm sure they come here, but I never saw a single one. Still, I thought I really needed to circle back here and give the place an honest try……
And I thought the Shrimp and Chive Jiaozi was the way to go, which is over eight bucks now ($8.25).
So where to start…..I usually begin with the wrapper, but why not go to the miniscule amount of filling in these….very bland, even with chives, it's literally the size of a dime. I'm going to start calling this place "Dime-pling Inn". The wrappers were too gummy for my tastes are really not very good.
Then there's the Xiao Long Bao ($7.75), which folks rave about…..which is actually better than any of the jiaozi.
Dough has that uneven, sometime's hard texture of something that's been frozen for a bit. The top of the folds are hard, not enough soup, quite bland, if this is the best that San Diego has to offer……..
I'd rather hold out for one of my trips to the SGV……
Black vinegar is not the standard here, you need to ask for it. They treat it like elixir of the gods. As soon as you pour some into the dish, they immediately whisk it away….kind of funny actually.
Still, I know someone who loves this place and during a discussion he convinced me to really give it a try here, putting aside all manner of dumplings and actually try some of cooked dishes. Fair enough, so I went with the dish he considers the best here on my next visit, the Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce, now this is "lunch size", but not really what I consider "lunch priced" at $9.75.
First the fish, the batter was kind of greasy, like it was fried in oil at too low a temp. The fish was moist and tender though. My big question is "where's the black bean sauce"? There was so little of it, you can easily see that whomever made this didn't coat the fish very well. Vegetables almost raw. However, as a consolation prize, the rice was perfect. In total, on the bland side……
Still, I decided to give it one more go….this time ordering one dish I'd really enjoyed on previous visits and another I'd never had here.
First something on the menu I'd never had Satay Lamb with Chinese Greens ($12.75).
The Sa Cha sauce was really mild, lacking in a deep savory flavor that I like. Nice good portion of Gailan, done well. The lamb was "wok'd" quite well, very tender, but this was really too mild for my taste. Still, this was the best dish I had overall……
Mostly because the Jellyfish Salad ($8.25), an old favorite of mine surprisingly came out near the end of my meal; I thought they'd forgotten, but here it was…..
I kind of wish they had forgotten about this as the sauce tasted watered down and there was still an astringent flavor, mildly reminiscent of acetone, telling me that this was hastily prepared. A ig disappointment.
It would be easy enough for me to close the book on Dumpling Inn, but I saw something that would at least bring me back eventually. As I was eating, a gentleman in a wheelchair came in, apparently he was a regular as all the ladies here knew him. They sat him at a table, went to the back and returned with a ziploc with what looked like custom eating utensils that he could use…..I guess he really is a regular! This brought a smile to my face…maybe I'm not the biggest fan of the food here, but I'll surely support a place that takes care of their regulars. So I guess I'll be back……someday.
Dumpling Inn
4619 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111