Spring Dumpling House

Golly, that’s a shame even if it did rate just three stars from me. I finally got around to reviewing this place less than a month after my visit back east, and I find out it closed last Friday, June 21. I let the moment pass, and now it’s gone. So now this will be a brief memory piece with nary a tear. It was a nice albeit limited concept — just pot stickers, noodle soups and «Chinese tapas» — an excuse to serve pork belly sliders and shrimp toast, I guess (photo:
). Jamie W. and I came here because we were looking for a little nosh before our room was ready around the corner at 70 Park Avenue. I had a hipster vibe was there but not too much of it. It still felt like a midtown lunch spot to me (photo:
). We went for the $ 10.95 Pot Sticker Combo where you get ten for $ 8.95 from a selection of four types.
We tried all four — Pork & Scallion, Pork & Chive, Chicken & Mushroom and Vegetarian (photo:
). The pork ones had the most distinctive flavor, otherwise they tasted quite identical with a decent crust to their bottoms. Not the staff but the pot stickers. The $ 7.95 bowl of Roast Pork Ramen was not as memorable, just a watery broth with the bok choy too crunchy-​raw and the pork too sparse and nondescript to satisfy (photo:
). Speaking of which, the curt manager scolded me for taking the tray to the clean-​up area myself and told me I needed to take my bowl there when I finished. When did I start working for him? Well, it looks like he doesn’t appear to have anyone to boss around now. But no hard feelings from me. A lost lease in Manhattan can’t be an easy fate for anyone.
FOOD — 3 stars… decent though somewhat generic pot stickers, unmemorable ramen
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… just a brick-​laden lunch spot in midtown
SERVICE — 2.5 stars… very nice staff (one of whom asked me if I was Unilocaling since I was taking photos)…but that snippy manager got on our nerves
TOTAL — 3 stars… a rather middling place but could have used more time to improve

I went to Spring Dumpling for dinner on a Thursday night and had no problem getting a seat at 7:30pm. It wasn’t empty but not packed either. Nice atmosphere inside. It seems like a perfect place to go with friends so you can order different dumplings and share. I was by myself so could only order so much. I got a small order (6) of pork and chive boiled dumplings and the shrimp chive mushrooms ones. They were both delicious: tasty, and not too much dough. The service was a wee bit slow but nothing too bad either.
Definitely worth a stop in.

The dumplings have a thick skin and are slightly greasy but I like them. I usually get 8 dumplings and a side of vegetables. There are different options, you can get 10 dumplings and you can choose a side of soup (sides come at an additional cost).
For the dumplings, you just point at the ones you want. I personally like the vegetarian ones as well as the pork ones. I think that beef dumplings are just weird because dumplings in general do not contain beef.
For the vegetable side, you can choose 2 types of vegetables. The beansprouts and string beans are my favorites.
Seating is limited as its not a large space. You might want to consider taking out during lunch. There is also a large water container.
They serve alcohol as well if you want to get drunk.

After a long and stressful work Monday, we arrived at Spring unexpectedly due to a transit delay. Best delay ever! We were greeted by our waitress, who was great. The menu here is straight forward, comprised of dumplings, pot stickers, tapas and noodles, all favorites. She showed us the tapas menu on an iPad which was super helpful. We ordered drink from the happy hour menu 3:30 to 7, all beer and house wine under 5 bucks!
The owner, Simon, was also super friendly, he suggest the lotus root sliders and we also ordered pork belly sliders. Noticing that we were undecided about which dumplings to order, he let us order a mixed dumpling plate. The tapas and dumpling were yummy! We even another order of the pork and chive dumplings. After dinner we were too stuffed for dessert so took some bubble tea to go.
Hands down the best dumplings in the area. The food quality is superbly priced and the décor is relaxing. I will be returning soon! Five Stars.

The place is super cute with a warm comforting décor. The ramen soup is decently priced for $ 8 and the dumplings were good too. The spicy dumpling is the best, with the chicken and mushroom close behind. It’s not the best dumpling in the world, but still good. I personally like my dumplings a bit burnt and crisp on the outside, but these were not. It’s still a great place to eat for it’s value!

If you are in the mood for pot stickers but you dont want to deal with the Chinatown foot traffic, look no further. The pot stickers are perfect and they have beer too! They ran out of bubbles for the bubble tea which is a good sign that they make it fresh.
So if you are in the mood for some fried dumplings, this place is surprisingly decent.

Finally a dumpling place that doesn’t leave me running to the bathroom.
I had the pot stickers only — all 5 different types except the vegetarian. The only one that really stuck out was the pink one — spicy pork. Don’t quite understand why its pink, but it was very yummy. my favorite was the chicken & mushroom; very moist, juicy & all real meat. The pork & chive and pork & scallion were very porky… meaty.
Super cute place to sit down and have lunch. I noticed they serve bubble tea, so I’m really look forward to having some since I work so close by now.
Oh! They have saracha sauce too. Win!

I would give it 3.5 stars. They specialize in boiled dumplings, potstickers (pan fried and then steamed), and soup noodles. Boiled dumplings and noodles are made to order so there is a 10 minute wait but potstickers are ready to be served immediately.
I had several types of potstickers, which come with Chinese black vinegar for dipping, and you can get some chili sauce too. Flavor-​wise they were pretty good but the skins were a little too thick. I don’t really understand pre-​cooked potstickers as part of the reason for pan frying them is to give them a nice crispiness on the bottom but once they have been sitting around in a pile, they lose the crispness. That being said, I wasn’t too disappointed with the mouthfeel.
On my second visit I ordered the boiled dumplings. These ones were much better — the skin was not too thick and the filling was flavorful (same choices as with the potstickers). I quite enjoyed them and will order them again on my next visit.
The hot and sour soup was a little bland for my taste. I would suggest sticking to the boiled dumplings if you come here.

What a wonderful gem in midtown Manhattan! Affordable and delicious food.
I had an order of small vegetable pot stickers and mixed vegetable udon noodles. The pot stickers were delicious! They are pan cooked and then steamed, so they have an interesting texture and are filled with LOTS of veggies. The mixed vegetables were a little plain (I’m used to more spice) but were still very tasty.
The décor here was wonderful. Casual but at the same time classy. I loved hanging lights, candles, plants, and wooden tables!
They were a bit strict about IDs and the happy hours times here (they wouldn’t let me buy a glass of wine for my friend who was running a bit late). But my friend made it before the 7pm cut off and we both had our wine so we were happy! :)

I know it is unfair for me to give you two stars without tasting your food, but it might as well.
Walked in at 9:15pm knowing their hours says closed at 9:30pm, I asked for take out, the girl tells me: «The kitchen is closed.»
Eh? Kitchen closed at 9pm? Then you should say your hour is 9pm. I walked here because my bf is sick and only wanted wonton soup. Now I have to walk back down to K-​town and find something else.
I wish you would just not say you open till 9:300pm. Walking in the rain in winter NY is not fun.

How wonderful it is to discover a great dumpling house midtown Manhattan. It’s as joyful as finding and making a new friend. From the moment I stepped in, I was greeted and welcomed.
The place is small, but warm and inviting woods. Sparkling clean. There’s even a book shelf. It’s a place where you can bring friends, or eat alone. They have a happy hour which I must return for, with friends, to try more things like their pork belly sliders.
Today I tried the sweet corn soup, a tonic on this brutally cold day. Roasted pork ramen with pork chive dumplings. I probably could’ve eaten more, certainly wanted to, but there is this thing called work. Work and New York State of Food Coma don’t go so well together.

I’ve been meaning to try out Spring since it opened up down the block from me and has such nice décor! The place is nicely furnished, with dark wood tables and lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
I came here yesterday to grab a quick dinner with my roommate. The menu was pretty limited. We shared the pork and chive dumplings, pork belly sliders and beef noodle soup. I really wanted to try the Chinese salads, but strangely, they were completely out of everything. Kind of disappointing, especially given their limited offering.
The dumplings were, true to what I read on Unilocal,quite tasty. The skin was not too thick and the meat was juicy and flavorful. I want to try the spicy dumplings next time!
The sliders were also good. The pork belly was a little tough but I liked how the bun of the slider was different and more like a sesame pancake. However, $ 10 for sliders was a little steep and I would have expected these to be a few bucks cheaper.
The noodles were standard. The beef was a little fatty for my tasting and the broth needed more flavor (I think I’m just used to the star anise flavor from very Asian Chinese broths).
Overall, it’s not a bad place to stop to try out, especially because it’s one of the only nicer Chinese spots in the area, but I would stick to the dumplings!

Came here for lunch on account of all the great reviews. Ordered 10 chicken and mushroom dumplings boiled. Waited 20 minutes, inquired about dumplings. Was told it would be another 5 – 10 minutes. This was a pretty good estimate.
30 minutes later, I had my 10 dumplings, which were definitely very good (near Taiwan quality). However, a half hour wait for 10 dumplings from a place that specializes in DUMPLINGS is not acceptable.
They need to streamline this operation. Great product, poor scaling. This is New York, people. The people WILL come!

This place is cute and the owners are super nice. Yet I’m here to rate the food!
I really wanted to like this place but some things were just average.
Dumplings — creative selection but average tasting.
Salad — steamed veggies?
Soup — average, seemed not overlaid with MSG like other places but still average.
I’m not sure if I would go back for DUMPLINGS but I hope they continue to grow and would love to see what develops.

This place gets great reviews for effort. I love the atmosphere and the food is of good value. The Hot and Sour soup has improved greatly. I had the pork udon noodle soup. I think many of the Asian restaurants overdo the garlic in their chicken broth. If the dishes catch up to the innovative look of the restaurant it will become a great place. I will definitely keep trying this place.

My weird noodle craving brought me to this place. It was the closest thing to my workplace when I did a Unilocal search for Noodles.
The dumplings were delicious. I particularly enjoyed the the spicy pork. I also had the pork and chive, pork and scallion (I do love pork), and chicken and mushroom (just to say I tried a non-​pork dumpling).
They are pre made but they go fast so chances are you don’t get dumplings that were sitting around for an hour or more.
The noodles were edible but nothing to rave about. They were cooked to perfection, not too soft and not too hard, but the broth was very, very bland. Maybe that was just the shrimp ball noodle. Next time (and there will be a next time), I will try another flavor.
My lunch was under $ 9 which is common for the area and I definitely got a decent amount of food.
Make sure you come before the lunch crowd so you can get a seat.

dumpling house that looks like it transforms from a primarily to-​GO lunch spot into a cute café/​restaurant at night
the waiters here were really accommodating & even gave us an iPad presentation of their new Chinese tapas menu
—complimentary roasted peanuts while you’re ordering
—pork belly sliders in sesame pancake (tapas menu): this was such a unique take on the NYC bun scene & i enjoyed it… although it really needed hot sauce (ask for some)
—roast pork ramen (you can choose your noodle type): the roast pork was good but the broth was pretty bland & the noodles were overcooked
—medium order of potstickers (8 pieces that you can mix!!): we got 4 pork & chive + 4 pork & scallion… the pork & chive was more flavorful & i liked the sear but the skin was a bit thick
it just opened & you can tell they’re really trying

Spring Dumpling house is in quite an awkward location. I sincerely hope that this doesn’t hurt their business too much but if you’re looking for REAL Chinese food, then this is your place. I came here with the girlfriend after we took a class at Manhattan Ballroom Dance and we were immediately greeted and seated near the front. The owner (I’m assuming) was incredibly friendly and clearly wanted to make sure they left a good impression. Besides having dumpling, they have an experimental menu to test the waters that he showed us on an iPad.
Feeling adventurous in trying out a variety of items, we ordered the pork belly bao sliders, shrimp toast, boiled pork and chive dumplings (my go to), and a sampler of all their dumplings.
The pork belly sliders came out incredibly quickly. Basically a nice piece of pork, chives, and sesame bread. As good as that pork was, unfortunately it was very clearly microwaved. The bread was far too chewy in order to have been made fresh to order. The shrimp toast was a tasty appetizer but nothing compelling that would make me want to order it again.
The dumplings however were the star of the show. The boiled pork and chive dumplings were damn near perfect. The last time I had dumpling skins that were at that perfect consistency of thickness and silky mouth feel was when I had home made dumplings in Shanghai with family. The potstickers were standard, however I feel like they made a fatal error by placing the fried sides down on the plate, that made the dumplings soft rather than the crunchy consistency I would want. All told, the food itself given as a whole I would rate as a 3, but with the service it bumps my rating up to a 4. Clearly the restaurant is still in a developmental stage and I hope than can make some changes and I think this would be a pretty damn good Midtown lunch spot.

Quick tips: Tried this new place with Priyanka M. and they were very excited to have us. Lots of enthusiasm, but the level of service started high and decreased as the night went on. Main three categories of food: Dumplings, Potstickers and Noodle Soup. If you are wondering which to order, the name of the restaurant has dumpling in it — the spicy pork one was delicious. They don’t use the word spicy lightly, so beware. They have happy hour from 3−7pm. Very reasonable prices otherwise. Most dishes are 7 – 9 dollars and a good amount of food. Cute and cozy atmosphere. Be careful, it was a bit chilly where we were sitting.
Food: They gave us complimentary egg drop and hot and sour soup. After Priyanka M. and I both had a sip, she let me pick which one I wanted, and it was a hard decision to make. Priyanka ordered pork and chive potstickers and I had the spicy pork dumplings. Despite the description, the potstickers weren’t crispy on the bottom and they just seemed to be a subpar dumpling. Stick with the dumplings. They also have Chinese tapas… yes I said Chinese: Pork Belly sliders, Sausage plate and Sesame Shrimp Toast — the Shrimp Toast was DELICIOUS. I highly recommend it. The sausage plate was also good, but it’s a step up in price compared to everything else.
Drinks: They have a beer list and the wine list is so short they can list it off. Basic wines, but also cheap.
Service: I love when you can see the care that was put into a restaurant. The owner came by throughout the night and shared tidbits about the place with us. Obviously, it’s a must for a new restaurant, but it makes me feel warm inside.

Came here after walking by numerous times after dinner. But no more. I came with an appetite and tried as much on their short menu as possible.
Highlights:
–cozy seating arrangement with plenty of space
–their spicy boiled dumplings are FANTASTIC, especially if you dip it in the spicy sauce
–they also serve bubble tea and beer, a major plus as well.
–super friendly staff
–if you’re into eclectic Chinese/​French historic/​poppy music, you’ll love their soundtracks
Overall: 3.5. I’ve been here a couple of times now, and every time I leave a happy diner. I love the atmosphere and the boiled dumplings hit the spot. In fact, I’m chomping on take-​out spicy dumplings at the moment. i would skip their noodles and fried pot stickers though.