I’m an outright sucker for celebrity chefs. I see them cook on TV and instantly begin Googling their restaurants or plotting to remember the name next time I show up in their city.
This happened quite quickly and easily while watching Anita Lo on Top Chef Masters. She seemed so quiet and yet came in to steal the show each time and cooked what sounded like amazing food. Unfortunately her main restaurant, Anissa, caught fire and is currently closed, however, Rickshaw Dumpling Bar (on 23rd between 6th Ave and Broadway) is very close to my apartment. A beautiful day in NYC led us straight there… well… after a movie (500 Days of Summer! Go see it! Great movie-making) and the gym.
Mike and I each ordered dumplings of our own and decided to share the pork buns. I went with the Pork Dumplings (since I am a closet lover of greasy, hole in the wall Chinese Pork Dumplings). They were… ehh… though the soy sauce was especially tasty.
Mike got the Peking Duck Dumplings and they were really great. Perfect flavor and tenderness.
The pork buns were great (but my main comparison is Momofuku’s so it certainly paled in comparison).
We also both ordered green tea shakes. I LOVED this. SOOO tasty.
During the whole meal I stared at a poster behind Mike that noted that the soup dumplings were rated as one of the top ten chocolate desserts in all of NYC by NY Mag. I couldn’t resist and went back up to order, though just one for each of us.
Um… WOW! These things were heaven. My perfect dessert. Mochi outside (rolled in black sesame seeds) and a molten warm chocolate center (can be messy but totally worth it). HEAVEN! I will be back for these.
I have to rate this separately since the deviation between the dumplings and the dessert dumplings is HUGE.
Overall, dumplings were fine, but I’ve had better, and the pork was dissapointing. Same with the buns, good but I’ve had better. Dessert may be one of my favorite things I’ve ever eaten.
Total Nom Points for Meal: 6 out of 10
Total Nom Points for Dessert: 9.5 out of 10
