NYC Chinatown – Soup dumplings

Even on a early spring afternoon there’s hustle and bustle when walking down Canal street in NYC’s Chinatown. From the little old Chinese women trying to sell you knock off designer handbags to the African immigrants trying to sell you a knock off watch…there’s much to see and buy if you’re interested.

We decided to stroll around with a bubble tea in hand and sample the well known shanghainese style soup dumplings (or Xaio long bao) from Joe’s Shanghai. While you must give Joe’s Shanghai credit for effort and being one of the few restaurants in Chinatown with an “A” health department rating, it just doesn’t live up to the hype in quality and flavor. The dumpling skins were too thick, the soup filling on the fatty side and the soy sauce/vinegar mixture did not appear to be at the ideal 3:1 ratio, making it super salty. I don’t necessarily hold it against Joe’s Shanghai, it’s just that I’ve had soup dumplings from the world famous Din Tai Fung (in Taiwan), so it’s a hard act to follow.