My Fave Dumplings in NYC + 2015 Chef One NYC Dumpling Festival

We are big dumpling fans in my house. Steamed or lightly fried, you name it. Filled with vegies, meat, fish, potatoes, sweets or plain. Sweet, savory. In soups, in stew, with gravy. We just love them.

I was inspired to write this post because the NYC Dumpling Festival 2015 is headed our way. The Dumping Festival will be held on the First Ever National Dumpling Day, which is very exciting.

If you’re looking for a good batch of dumplings in New York City, we’ve done the research. Here are three dumpling spots we love:

Mandoo Bar (2 West 32nd Street) in Korean Town serves up our favorite dumplings, which they call Mandoo. Women stand at the front of the restaurant, making them from scratch in the window. We’re partial to the pan-fried dumplings, but they also offer steamed kimchee, veggie and pork stuffing and pickled cabbage.

Xi’an Famous Foods is a chain restaurant that’s cheap and cheerful and offers up delicious dumplings, such as spicy & sour lamb dumplings, stuffed with ground lamb and served in a sour & spicy sauce, topped with cilantro. They also have spicy & sour spinach dumplings, stuffed with ground spinach and vermicelli noodles.

Vanessa’s Dumpling House (220 East 14th Street) is in Union Square serves up crazily inexpensive, yummy dumplings, from vegie to non-vegie. We usually indulge in their soups and sesame pancake sandwiches, too. 

Have I made you hungry yet? You’re in luck. Guess what’s coming to town? The 2015 Chef One NYC Dumpling Festival and Dumpling Eating Contest! On September 26th from 12-5pm at Sara D. Roosevelt Park at E. Houston St (next to Whole Food Bowery Store), you will be able to witness a record-breaking “Dumpling Eating Contest”, a Giant Dumpling Cutting ceremony, a walking Dumpling Mama mascot, delicious food/drinks, live cultural performances (Belly dancing, Korean Drum, Hip Hop), A Dumpling Making class, raffle draws (including a grand prize of two round-trip tickets courtesy of Delta Airlines) and much more.

The day of activities is sponsored by Chef One, Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, TBaar, Dumpling Go, Bibigo, Mika and Yaso TangBao. The current record for the most dumplings eaten is set by competitive eater Molly Schuyler who has been taking the competitive eating world by storm. She will return this year in an attempt to set another tough-to-beat record of over 90 pieces in 2 minutes.

In addition, one man and one woman will receive a grand prize of $2,000. Second and third place winners of each division will win $1000 and $500 respectively. If that isn’t enough to make this year’s Dumpling Eating Contest a must-see segment of the event, world famous competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi will be serving as one of the judges for the first time ever. But not before performing his own 30-second demo of Dumpling Eating to show audience and the contestants how it is done!

100% of all proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Food Bank For New York City. Food Bank has served for over 30 years as the city’s major hunger-relief organization working to end food poverty throughout the five boroughs.

The day of activities is hosted by Chef One along with various local sponsors that made the event possible. Since 2004, Chef One Corp., a leading food manufacturer based in Brooklyn, has been hosting the NYC Dumpling Festival with its famous Dumpling Eating contest as a way to give back to the community. Chef One Dumpling can be found at many local super markets; such as Fairway, Shoprite and etc.

General admission to the event is free. A $20 ticket can be bought on-site at the event, which entitles the ticketholder to choose up to four tastings from participating booths throughout the Festival.

For more information, visit www.dumplingfestival.com or facebook.com/chefonecorp or call 718-744-6999. Also ollow them on Twitter at #dumplingfest2015.