Living close to Manhattan has always had its perks, but even more so now that the city serves as a meeting place for all of my fellow metro New York crusaders during breaks. During this break myself and a few of my friends met up in the city and spent the day together. When we were brainstorming things to do, I had just the idea. This summer I had seen on social media that some girls I knew from high school had gone to Chinatown and done a “Dumpling Crawl”. They went to various restaurants and tasted and rated their dumplings. As a dumpling fan myself, I thought this would be so much fun.
I love deciding what to wear for a day in the city. This time I slicked my hair back into a braid and wore dark straight-leg jeans, a white top, and a corduroy jacket. I completed the look with my favorite thrifted canvas bag and then I was on my way. I boarded the train to Penn Station and met my friends at the corner of 33rd and Park, and then we took the subway downtown.
It was an absolutely beautiful day, and Chinatown was bustling. We began our adventure at Mrs. Fish and ordered the steamed vegetable and pork dumplings and the soup dumplings, and then we walked across the street to Joe’s Ginger for their pan-fried tiny pork buns. The pan-fried tiny pork buns were good with a crispy bottom, but after our taste tests, we decided that they were a little doughy and could have used more meat. Our rating was a 6/10. Then we tried the dumplings from Mrs. Fish. The steamed vegetable and pork dumplings were not very flavorful and a little oily, so we rated them a 2/10, but the soup dumplings were delicious and, despite the slight mess, they were a 10/10 for us. Next, we went to Shanghai 21 for their steamed shrimp dumplings and their tiny fried pork buns. The Shrimp dumplings were good, but nothing special so we gave them a 6/10. The tiny fried pork buns were delicious, with more meat than its predecessor, and so we rated them a 9/10. Our final dumpling stop of the day was Tasty Dumpling where we got 4 cabbage and pork dumplings and 4 pork and chive dumplings, for only $5 total! These dumplings were all delicious, and ready quickly, and the price was unbeatable, as a result, we rated them a 10/10. If you’re looking for an affordable and yummy snack next time you’re in Chinatown, Tasty Dumpling is the spot for you!
With full stomachs, we headed up a few blocks to Soho for some shopping, and after that, we boarded the Subway to go even further uptown to one of my favorite spots in the city, Strand Book Store. Strand is an independent bookseller just down the street from Union Square, and the expansive store sells both new and used books, and you can even sell them your old books! We spent almost an hour getting lost in their many shelves, and each of us left with a book to read before bed that night. After that, we headed home, but it was a great day of dumplings, books, and laughs!