”It doesn’t matter which one – San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, New York, wherever. Every Chinatown in the world distills the worst of the obligatory tourist trap. Most of these brochure institutions are either no longer vital or were fakes in the first place. They’re loaded with worthless trinkets that look even more worthless once you remove them from the context of reeking fish markets and Chinese calligraphy… Chinatowns have stolen more time from weekend vacations than the weather at O’Hare.”
– Chuck Thompson, Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer *
Despite what I’ve heard or read* about Chinatown in any big city, I now beg to wholeheartedly disagree. I will forever flock to those lanterns, arches, and Chinese symbols in search of delicious and cheap food… even if they do contain a clusterfuck of copycat dim sum restaurants, pedestrians, bad traffic, strange smells, and McDonald’s. I just don’t care about the chaos. Do you want to know why?
Because in Boston, I found THE best Chinese food I’ve ever had in my life. THIS IS NOT HYPERBOLE!
Without having done my usual crazed research about the best meals in town, I’ll be honest: I was floundering with my restaurant decision-making. After drunkenly spotting all the signs for food in Chinatown on our first night out in Boston, I knew I’d have to plan a daytime dim sum or something there… but I wasn’t sure where to begin with all of the different storefronts lettered in Chinese characters.
Thank goodness, I met a new friend at WITS named Becca who recommended the Gourmet Dumpling House after her first day of eating in the city. I trusted her not only because she was from South Carolina, friendly, and liked to drink copious amounts of wine, but also because she’d lived in China for a year… and loved it! (China is notoriously known as a country that is not for everyone, so this says something).
And maybe I was a little more trusting because she showed me pictures of all the food she ordered. There were soup dumplings in these pictures. Xiao Long Bao. One of the greatest foods in the world.
Should I walk you through what happened during my Chinatown food adventure? Well I’m going to. Because it almost didn’t happen.
The China Pearl Incident
So I was rather dead set on having dim sum while we were in Boston because we don’t have it here in Raleigh and because I like the idea of little carts loaded with Chinese snacks being pushed to your table. But after hearing about these soup dumplings, I was intrigued, and having only eaten them once in my life, I decided to follow up on Becca’s suggestion. I asked Charlie if he wanted dumplings and he was all, “Hell yeah, those things we had in Dallas? Yes, I want those.”
Charlie with Brad, our lovely host for the weekend
So we headed off through the streets of Chinatown, following the map on my phone. Upon our arrival at the Gourmet Dumpling House, we saw lots of people loitering around the doors and knew there had to be a wait. We heard a girl mumble that it would be at least 20 to 25 minutes as she made her way out, so we shook it off and headed to China Pearl, a dim sum place that we’d passed earlier and that I’d heard of during my limited, sporadic Internet browsing [okay, it’s not like I didn’t preview the Boston restaurant scene at all! I can’t go in blindfolded, guys!].
Well, there turned out to be an even bigger line of people inside of this establishment. I could see the little carts full of food being wheeled around as we got into the line amongst Chinese families. And then the line barely moved… at all… during the course of the next several minutes. I couldn’t help but pull out my phone and open the Yelp app. I know, I’m fucking crazy. Why can’t I just commit? I was already in the restaurant for God’s sake. It is compulsive. I have such FOMO.
I went straight to the photos from China Pearl to check this place out more thoroughly.
Hmmm, it doesn’t look like they have soup dumplings here. Hmmmmmm. I see steamed shrimp dumplings, I see crab balls, there are chicken feat and porn buns. No soup dumplings anywhere. WTF. Are soup dumplings not a staple of dim sum? Nope, I don’t think they are. Maybe you have to go to a dumpling house for them? Uh oh. I am missing out on soup dumplings and they are literally a block away. PANIC!
[Side Note: I frequently have incredible indecisiveness when it comes to food. Charlie knows I have this problem. Once, at a nice Mexican restaurant, I couldn’t decide what I wanted and let the whole (9 person) table order before me, but when the server came back around to me, I still hadn’t decided. Charlie thankfully ended the madness, told me to shut up, and ordered the mole for me. It was a safe bet.]
Our conversation inside of China Pearl went as follows:
Me: “I don’t think they have soup dumplings here.” [loud restaurant noise]
Charlie: *plays with phone* [no response]
Me: “Hey! I don’t think they have soup dumplings here!” [elbows Charlie]
Charlie: “So tell me what you want to do.”
Me: “I kind of want to go back to that other place. But… I did really want dim sum.”
Charlie: “Babe, WHAT do you want to do? I’m hungry as hell. Make a decision.” [exasperation]
Me: “Yeah… mmm… let’s go back to that other place. Can we go back to that other place? I know this is really stupid and we should’ve just stayed and put our name down there before.” [rationalizing… uncertainty… fear]
Charlie: “Okay. Let’s just go. If we’re going to wait in line for food anyway, it might as well be at a place we know is good.” [wow, such pristine logic]
*They exit restaurant hand in hand and totally in love. No one is rolling their eyes at all.*
Gourmet Dumpling House
We expertly weaved our way through the traffic and headed back to our original destination, the Gourmet Dumpling House. We put our names on the list and stood on the sidewalk to wait. One of the women I’d recently met at WITS, Gabi, was there. She is a legitimate food writer, so I knew we had to be in the right spot. I began to feel more confident about my choice, finally.
Waiting patiently
I set off down the street taking pictures of the unique features of Boston’s Chinatown, the lanterns hanging from the street lights, and the arch that marks your entrance into Chinatown from other parts of the city. Shortly thereafter Charlie sent me a text and then waved me down, concerned that I might not be there when our table was ready. Reluctantly, I’ll admit that he was right about this. Our table was ready about two minutes after I re-joined him.
When we finally got inside the restaurant I was so excited! We were packed into seats next to two men who already had their table loaded down with plates of food, including soup dumplings (a good sign). The server placed a pot of hot tea on our table along with two glass cups and chopsticks. The menu was endless and overwhelming. Charlie’s only words: “You decide and you do all the ordering.”
I won’t lie. I’d compared Gourmet Dumpling House’s Yelp photos to China Pearl’s, and this just looked more like my kind of place. Brightly colored soups and stews and a variety of dumplings. And it seemed like everybody here ordered this thing called “Szechuan Sliced Fish Soup.” Even Top Chef Master Ming Tsai recommended it. I had to have it, and there was no turning back. It made Charlie very nervous though, because Chef Tsai’s review said, “It will blow your head off, but it’s delicious.”
In addition, we ordered the soup dumplings (obvi), here referred to as “juicy pork dumplings” which is actually rather apt. We also got the scallion pancakes (so Chinese), pork and leek buns, and a side of rice. It was all way too much. But it was heavenly.
The scallion pancakes came out first, served with a dipping sauce of black vinegar, more green onions, and maybe soy sauce. They were hot, crispy, and greasy in the best way. I’ve ordered these at other places, but these were the king of all scallion pancakes.
Our plain white rice arrived alongside another dark dipping sauce with ginger. The rice was used as a sopping mechanism for all of the great broths that accompanied this meal, otherwise it kind of fell by the wayside. I noticed that the Asian folks eating all around us each held their own personal bowl of rice in their hands or close by at all times during their meal. We were clearly doing it wrong.
The Szechuan sliced fish soup arrived in a bowl bigger than my head. It was a portion size for approximately four people, like laughably large. But the one distinct thing about it was how beautiful it was: fiery red and orange, with golden fried fish on top, scary dried Szechuan peppers, and bright green scallions. Admittedly, those mouth-numbing peppers on the surface made me, lover of all things spicy, a little nervous too. The broth, however, was rich and savory and not too spicy… assuming you avoided crunching down on one of those peppers. I did suck one into the back of my throat a couple times and tear up a bit, but it was all worth it.
The soup dumplings arrived in their metal steaming basket just as I had imagined them, perfect and plump with thick skins full of broth. I read a review the other day that referred to them as “wonton soup inside out” which is a pretty spot-on description. I tried to use my Chinese soup spoon to eat them as I’d been taught, piercing the dumpling, retaining the precious broth to slurp up, and then eating the dumpling, but all that really takes some skill, and I’m sure I looked like my usual inept white girl self as I tried not to drop the dumplings in my lap.
Charlie, on the other hand, picked up his dumpling with the spoon (on the right track…), bit into it (slowly…), and the broth just shot straight out at high speed through the air and, luckily, onto the table. It was both shocking and hilarious. Thank God it didn’t bust open in the direction of our new dining companions. It definitely had the range.
The pork and leek buns were spongy and soft, full of hot meaty goodness on the inside. I used their outsides to help sop up the fish soup. We probably could have done without them since we already had a ridiculous amount of food, but we forced ’em down nonetheless. And just in case you were wondering, all of the aforementioned foods made great leftovers for breakfast the next morning, except maybe the scallion pancakes which became a bit soggy… but I still ate them.
Gourmet Dumpling House was packed with people eating in close quarters. The whole place isn’t very big, and apparently there is usually a wait. The restaurant even has a sign outside warning people that this is the only Gourmet Dumpling House in Boston, that they are not a chain, and to beware the impostors. For good reason. This is the best, most authentic Chinese food I’ve ever had in my life. Nothing else even comes close! How can I ever go back to ordering an ordinary General Tso’s Chicken around here? (cue the eye rolls).*
Gourmet Dumpling House is located at 52 Beach Street in Boston’s Chinatown. If you are ever in Boston, you MUST go. They are open from 11 AM to 11:30 PM, and I hear if you get there before 11:30 you can beat the crowd.
*Update: I ordered chicken lo mein take-out this past Sunday. Couldn’t help myself. I have, however, heard rumors of some authentic soup dumplings in the Raleigh area. Let me know if you’ve been.
I’m so glad you discovered authentic Chinese food!!! I loooove xiao long bao. You’re right, they’re typically not at dim sum restaurants so you made the right choice. I’m not a huge fan of dim sum foods but give me dumplings any day! Btw you guys sound just like us. I’m soooo indecisive too because I’m forever worried that I’m not ordering the best food, whereas D gets so hungry that he’ll eat whatever. I love that spicy fish soup too! There was a restaurant back home that specialized in spicy food from that region of China and I always got that fish soup!
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Wow, you’re making me feel so confident about my decisions now! I really wanted to try dim sum, but it just didn’t look nearly as delicious. I’m so glad somebody else acts as crazy as me when picking out places to eat – Charlie would eat anything too! That soup, man, it’s good to know you can find it other places, because I could eat it every week. The table beside us ordered it too and told us it was very popular in China. I bet it’d be a great hangover cure.
You have the BEST copy in your posts-so freaking hilarious. Just like with your write up of Little Italy, you also have me beyond excited for my trip to Bawston! Although I’m already afraid that 3 nights won’t be nearly enough for everything food related I want to hit up…
While Pittsburgh does have some (okay, a few) authentic Chinese eateries (think authentic Szechuan and Cantonese-style menus), that’s it. No Chinatowns for us 🙁 So yeah, I feel your pain on that front.
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I would have eaten in Chinatown SO many times if I’d had the chance! Especially since we never actually did dim sum. I definitely recommend this place – it makes me want to go back to Boston just for the Chinese food. We also ate at this trendy spot called Shojo in Chinatown which I’d recommend for drinks and maybe a couple of snacks (but not really for a whole meal, the stuff was kinda hit or miss). It was like an Asian fusion-comfort food place with a small and crazy menu that changes all the time. (Mid-afternoon duck fat fries with sriracha aioli and a Sapporo were solid.)