Dumpling House Restaurant Spadina w. Dumplings, Hot & Sour Soup and Spicy Seaweed Salad

Fried Dumplings at Dumpling House

One of my favourite things to eat is a plate of hot Chinese style dumplings. We frequently make them at home fried or steamed (admittedly we use store bought)  served with noodles, greens, and spoonfuls of Lao Gan Ma based home blended dipping sauces!

A great place to go for dumplings in downtown Toronto is the appropriately named Dumpling House on Spadina Ave. a couple blocks north of Dundas in the heart of Chinatown and just beside the Kensington Market district.

Steamed Dumplings at Dumpling House

Dumpling House has dumplings available both steamed and fried. While I prefer fried overall, which come with a terrific crunchy "webbing" connecting them, we generally also get a plate of steamed just for the contrast of texture.

There are the general assortment of fillings from pork to chicken, to lamb, beef and shrimp paired with mushroom, chive, egg, etc. All are delicious and made in-house. In fact, you can watch the kitchen staff at work in the front window preparing them.

I recommend (especially if it is your first time going) getting the assorted plate where you can try three different dumpling fillings. An assorted plate with 15 dumplings is a very reasonable $8.59. In fact, the prices overall at Dumpling House are a great deal.

While dumplings are certainly the main attraction there are also noddle dishes, rice and mains and a variety of soups and sides available.

The Spicy Seaweed Salad is a standout. It has a touch of heat and is very refreshing with seaweed, carrot and cilantro in a vinegar sauce. It is a steal at $4.99.

Spicy Seaweed Salad

The Hot & Sour Soup is also excellent, made slightly differently than many others, with a rich flavour based around tofu, egg and cilantro. A bowl is $3.99.

Hot & Sour Soup

Dumpling House is quite small relatively speaking and generally busy so you can expect a line and a wait at peak hours especially.

Service is very fast, however, so normally you do not have to wait too long! You should also note that the restaurant is cash only. It has no liquor licence.

While closed Tuesday, it is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every other day.

Dumpling House is located at 328 Spadina Ave. (416) 596-8898.

Making the dumplings!

Delicious! 

See also: Swatow's Hot Sauce, Nguyen Huong Banh Mi & Emma Goldman

See also: Swatow Restaurant -- Shrimp Dumpling Noodle Soup & more in the heart of Toronto