joe's shanghai, new york

I waited two and a half hours for a taste of the famous dumplings from Joe's Shanghai. Was it worth the wait?

Yes. It totally was. During a week of windy and gloomy sub-zero temperatures, there's nothing better than steamed dumplings with piping hot soup.

Joe's Shanghai is easily the most famous and could potentially offer the one of the best soup dumplings in Chinatown. As you can see from the picture above, it's constantly packed. It doesn't matter whether it's during lunchtime or dinnertime, weekday or weekend, there will always be a long and brutal wait.

And so once we were seated, we wasted no time in ordering our dumplings.

Pork Steamed Buns ($5.95):

Eight large soup dumplings arrive almost immediately after we place our order. Each little morsel is packed with a ball of succulent pork meat and an explosion of luscious porky soup. The pork based filling was juicy and moist with a delightful spring in each bite. You could even taste the smooth fattiness of the pork which really brought out the flavour of the entire dumpling.

Each crab and pork steamed bun was crammed with tender pork, sweet crab meat and plenty of steaming broth.

Crab and Pork Meat Steamed Bun ($7.95):

The soup was savoury and left a sticky and gelatinous layer over our lips. It was aromatic and meaty with just a hint of sweetness.

The skin of these dumplings were delicate. Not as thin as the ones I've had in Shanghai but still just as good. It was stretchy and when dipped into a bit of black vinegar. Oh man. It was so good.

Oh, and for all you soup dumpling virgins out there, do not take a huge bite into these freshly steamed dumplings. It will send hot soup cascading down your shirt or... naked chest or worse, you'll scald the roof of your mouth and oesophagus, which will just ruin your entire soup dumpling experience.

Joe's Shanghai
9 Pell Street
Chinatown, New York 10013
f: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joes-Shanghai-Restaurant/128257800579178
t: (212) 233-8888
w: http://www.joeshanghairestaurants.com/