Get your dumpling fix at these top Adelaide city hotspots
LUNCHTIME means ... dumplings time! Our undercover dumplings investigator reveals five of the best city spots to indulge in some wonton gluttony.
WANT some dumpling place suggestions? Let’s get straight to it... but first, can anyone match this woman’s love for dumplings? Watch her polish off 100 in minutes!
Mandoo, 3/26 Bank St
Take one step into this beloved Korean restaurant and married owners Kidong Ra and Miran Lee will look up from the counter, greet you with a smile and wave you to a table. Seconds later they’re back to rolling the extra-large dumplings they make so well, and always from scratch. Dumplings come steamed or fried and are filled with either pork, chicken, vegetables or kimchi. Every serving of eight comes with mashed potato (a pairing that almost makes me teary), and baby lettuce leaves dressed in housemade mayo. Often you’ll see delivery guys coming through the front door with boxes of vegetables; always a good sign. I adore this place.
Dumpling King, 108 King William St and 85 Grote St
I used to think this joint was overrated but I’m slowly making up for all the times I snobbily bypassed the crowds of people who obviously knew better than me. Easy to devour in one sitting, the serves of 10-15 dumplings come in fried pork, Peking pork or chicken and prawn but my go-to is the steamed vegetable. I was always a fried chicken devotee until I tried these one day in pursuit of a healthier option and I’ve been hooked ever since. Also, your credit card won’t work here, this is a dumpling place, not David Jones.
The Gurkha’s Nepalese Restaurant, 73 Angas St
Swing by this relaxing Nepalese hideaway if you’re after something different to most of the dumpling offerings in Chinatown. The bite-sized steamed parcels (known in Nepal as momo) are mildly spiced but not hot, and come filled with chicken or vegetables. True to the patient and dignified person I am, mine were gone by the time I hit Victoria Square.
Honki Tonki, 38 Hindley St
Sibling of Sit Lo, this narrow spot is changing the dumpling game by fusing elements of Vietnamese and Malaysian cuisine. The chicken and mushroom ones with sweet coconut curry sauce are consistently good. Other fillings are pork and chive, mushroom and veg and prawn and pork wontons. The skins come from Thuan Phat grocery, ingredients are all-local and there’s no MSG/additives. No wonder the chefs are churning through 3000 a week and finding it hard to keep up. Hold on, BRB.
Michiru, Shop 8, Regent Arcade
I’m back — needed to pause and buy dumplings, these past 30 minutes of writing have been hell. I’ve saved my latest discovery for last: the crispy, pan fried vegetable gyoza from sushi place Michiru. They’re particularly special because they’re overshadowed by the sushi and I love an underdog. Either order them to take away or sit down and wait for them to show up on the conveyor belt. Unless I’ve already nabbed them all.
