This month I explored two local Chinese restaurants that were absolutely delicious. Both are perfect spots to bring groups of friends to share dishes with. Be sure to also check out the video reviews of these spots, coming soon on Moon Meals by UTDTV!

The first stop I visited was Steam Dumpling,  conveniently located 15 minutes from campus on Custer Road. I loved all of the dishes I tried, and appreciated the generous portion sizes. I went with my family and they all loved it! The staff was really nice, and let us watch the dumplings and noodles be made fresh-to-order right in front of us. I had originally heard about this spot for their noodles and soup dumplings, but all their dishes surprised me with lots of flavor. The Xiao Long Bao, also known as soup dumplings, were delicious and had a hefty portion of soup in each dumpling (almost a whole soup spoon’s worth)! I also tried their steamed lamb dumplings, and as someone who usually isn’t much of a lamb person these have converted me. The filling was tender and juicy, and I might even prefer them to the soup dumplings which is a shocking first for me. Next up on my list of things that blew me away were their wide hand-pulled noodles. These noodles are made in-house and have unique textures and shapes. They’re dense and chewy, and the thickness of the noodle is perfect to cut through the spice from the chili sauce. One bowl of noodles had enough for almost 3 meals (which, BTW, was perfect to nom away at while binging late night Netflix, not that that’s from experience). The beef fried rice was loaded with flavor, and the beef roll pancake was light and tasty.

The second spot was JS Chen’s Dimsum and BBQ! This hole-in-the-wall spot is located on Legacy Dr. I headed over with a few friends, which is a great way to try more dishes. The shrimp dumpling and wonton noodle soup was filling and refreshing! The broth was light, and the noodles were bouncy and had an impressive length (perfect for noodle pulls). My friend also got a small cup of soup which had a massive wonton in it! I was pleasantly surprised by the quantity of wontons that were provided — far too often I’ve been disappointed by either too few wontons or really small ones, but these wontons were large and filled to the brim. From the dim sum dishes, we loved the steamed dumplings Shanghai Style — they were tender, and so juicy that there was actual liquid in them, almost like a soup dumpling! Next, we ordered the shrimp and Chinese chive dumplings which weren’t our favorite; I would recommend their standard shrimp dumplings instead. The texture of the shrimp and Chinese chive dumpling was a little gooey on the outside, and while the shrimp was very juicy, it felt like the Chinese chive overpowered it a little. Finally, we loved the BBQ pork bun — the exterior was a little stickier than I was used to, but as soon as you break open the bun it turns into a fluffy pillow. The filling is sweet and absolutely delicious.

Ratings

Steam Dumpling:

• Food: 8/10
• Atmosphere: 5/10
• Price: 8/10

JS Chen’s Dimsum and BBQ:

• Food: 7/10
• Atmosphere: 6/10
• Price: 8/10