If you ask hoi polloi where to get the best Chinese nutrient in San Diego , you ’ll end up with a set of blank stares and mouth string up open in an attempt to serve . Even Google searches turn up leaning that feel embarrassingly inadequate when compare with the ilk of Los Angeles or San Francisco .
When you search for San Diego ’s top Mexican food , you do n’t get recommendation like Taco Bell and El Pollo Loco . But without fail , the top list of the honorable Taiwanese nutrient in San Diego all note Panda Express and P.F. Chang ’s – both homogenized mountain chain restaurants .
" There ’s a serious deficiency of visibleness when it comes to Taiwanese restaurants , both literally and figuratively . "
Dumpling Inn
It ’s not that there are n’t any truly peachy , culturally rich Chinese restaurants in San Diego . The problem is that there ’s a serious lack of visibility when it comes to these establishment , both literally and figuratively .
However , there is one Chinese food for thought restaurant that hits on all these levels , and in those same top 10 lists , it consistently rank as figure one . My answer , and clearly most of San Diego ’s too , to the interrogation of where the good Formosan food isDumpling Inn .
Extending the footprint of Dumpling Inn on Convoy St
Dumpling Inn was always popular , but situated somewhat awkwardly in a tiny part of a strip mall on Convoy St. When owner Mark Sun ( Khan ’s Cave and Del Mar Rendezvous ) got involved in the picture , he know a move was critical to foresightful - term success and capitalise on an chance to relocate a class and a half ago . As chance would have it , a grocery shop in the same airstrip was propel out .
When he made the move , Sun also resolve to bring in a new element of intrigue to the already well - established Dumpling Inn by building and housing the fresh minted Shanghai Saloon under the same ceiling . It was a smart move for a mass of reasons , most importantly that the only real criticism Dumpling Inn have at the old location involved the atrocious wait to get a board .
“ It [ was ] insufferable to get a seat unless you [ did n’t ] mind waiting for an 60 minutes or two , which [ was n’t ] feasible for most of us on a luncheon or dinner break , " write Barbarella Fokos for theSan Diego Reader . " What had been a quintessential hole in the wall – petite , hectic , stressful , but deserving the fight for most to get to some of the well damned Chinese food in town – [ became ] a place where we could in reality sit down and dine without the guilt of acknowledge there were 20 or 30 citizenry wish you would hurry it up a little . ”
Shanghai Saloon
But a few month ago , Sun quietly decided it was clock time to cash in out and contribute the Dumpling Inn mantle onto somebody else , to the surprisal of most .
Offers came flooding in once Sun made it recognize that he was moving on . While there was no deficiency of applicants , the pool of prospect was n’t turning up many people Sun considered desirable of carrying his woolly mullein onward . Some might call it fussy , but it ’s more precise to call it determined due diligence . After all , it was this razor - sharp attention to detail that helped Sun put Dumpling Inn and the Shanghai Saloon on the function in the first topographic point .
Not one to wait around , Sun took matter into his own hand and attempt out a man he view as one of the good multitude for the office . He set about Phat ( pronounced ‘ Pat ’ ) Vuong – a Chinese immigrant who came to America by manner of Vietnam – and his girl , Sandy Tobin .
Will Schmidt/Thrillist
Banking on reputation, culinary expertise, and tradition
Vuong is fairly of a legend when it comes to Chinese food . Before he ever purchased Dumpling Inn or open his first eating house , Minh KY ( which he still operates ) , he was the head chef at Panda Inn Horton Plaza – the tree that both Panda Express and P.F. Chang ’s would at long last separate from .
His role at Panda Inn throw him the chance to prepare the formula and initial menu for Panda Express . Put another way , Vuong knows what he ’s doing in the kitchen . And that ’s on the button why Sun tapped him .
" I experience my dad was authoritative , but I did n’t realise how freehanded my dad ’s namereallywas until we went through the whole process of purchasing Dumpling Inn , " say Tobin .
Will Schmidt/Thrillist
" One of the biggest reasons that Chinese restaurant in San Diego are so scarce : there ’s a serious lack of experience and willingness to convey ethnic tradition to athirst customers . "
Beyond his artistry with food , Vuong was love as a hardworking single father of three , and an honorable man who value a full report and his word above all else . This was exactly the sort of chef and eating house owner that Sun was so desperately searching for , and 57 days ago ( at the time of publishing ) Vuong and Tobin formally purchase Dumpling Inn .
They currently take to the woods the restaurant with a majority of the same staff that worked under Sun . This was a critical move for the new proprietor : they did n’t want to drop a rascal wrench into an already well - oiled car ; they could keep levels of expectation with regard to standards ; and it made the transition into possession that much fluid . The only major additions were Tobin ’s babe : Priscila Vuong as the adjunct managing director , and Christine Dang abide all aspects of the business .
Will Schmidt/Thrillist
Reinforcing handmade quality as the secret to success
To Phat , carrying on the proficiency and recipes that Dumpling Inn and the Shanghai Saloon curated was overriding to the success of the restaurant . To that end , every dish on the card is hand-crafted , which is something you wo n’t find in the special repertory of other San Diego Formosan intellectual nourishment restaurants bowing to collective , market cooking technique .
We ’re all obsessed with solid food in San Diego . Not only do we crave the diplomacy of a masterful chef to impart bountiful flavor ; we also like deeply about the acculturation we ’re get through a peach . This is one of the biggest reasons that Chinese restaurants in San Diego are so scarce : there ’s a serious lack of experience and willingness to transmit cultural custom to hungry customer .
At the same time , that ’s also one of the reasons Dumpling Inn has had so much success . It was able to beg into this niche by specializing in a variety of traditional Formosan food dishes ripe with both gustation and culture , like the Xiao Long Bao ( XLB ) . Not only is this the saucer from which the restaurant carves its namesake , it ’s a fiercely traditional , rare dish you wo n’t obtain in other top Formosan restaurants in Ithiel Town like Din Tai Fung , Chin ’s , China Max , Kip ’s Cafe … or even good ol' Panda Express and P.F. Chang ’s .
Will Schmidt/Thrillist
What saint the XLB is the lettuce , made overbold every day . Vuong and Tobin assert on doing it this elbow room even though it takes a little more clip . If the consistence is n’t perfect , the dumplings will explode during the cooking summons . Nobody want that .
Vuong fills each dumpling by deal – what ’s beautiful about them is the infrangible uniformity of proportion and aesthetic . It ’s a true showcasing of his skill in the kitchen .
It ’s crucial to recognise that Tobin and Vuong do n’t see other Taiwanese restaurants in San Diego as competitors . Rather , they choose to look at them as neighbor and friends , though they ’re definitely proud to offer food that unambiguously ranks higher on everybody ’s list of favorites .
Will Schmidt/Thrillist
" We ’re not trying to be Din Tai Fung or anybody else , " says Tobin . " We ’re Dumpling Inn , and our dumplings are an embodiment of whoweare . "
This role player - branding is unmistakable everywhere else you look . You ’ll notice that the pork potstickers , spicy pork barrel wonton soup , and cream cheese wontons all have flair that identify them as unique .
The potstickers are massive in stature and filled with a healthy serving of pork , not to mention they ’re pan - fry to a staring lucky insolence .
Will Schmidt/Thrillist
Each order of spicy pork wonton arrive at the board swim in a zesty chile - oil sauce that sits squarely in the Goldilocks zone of heat – just right – and are topped with sprigs of cilantro .
And the cream high mallow won ton have a hint of pineapple inside , finished with a light dusting of powdered sugar .
The entrees are n’t give in the detritus , either . The handmade attic are expertly urge on to an even , preferred thickness and length to see to it an even cooking between overdone and al dente . When invoke - fry with prawn and vegetable , they take on a toppingly chewy grain .
The garlic baked sea bass is expertly cooked . The Pisces remains flaky , despite it being served in an copiousness of robust garlic sauce . The same goes for the beautifully green , crisp , and fresh bok choy that comes with it . It ’s easy the best thing on the menu .
have ’s not bury about the Shanghai Saloon , which has 30 beer taps and mixologist that are n’t afraid to experiment with cocktails . The two most democratic are the Fish Bowl , an Asiatic rendition of the Graeco-Roman Mai Tai , and the Dragon ’s Eye , a Cosmopolitan - inspired cocktail finished with blue curacoa and a lychee garnish .
To go with the craft cocktails , Tobin has take her personal rage for high - final stage whiskey and curated a robust list of rye , Scotch , and bourbon that you ’d gestate to see at an established whiskey bar likeSeven Grandin North Park . It ’s impressive and compute , and there is n’t a wasted spot on the ledge . The Hibiki 12 Year is especially smooth and pairs well with the solid food .
" Food is a language that play us all together . "
Despite the large size of the new location , Dumpling Inn is able to preserve a ma - and - pop feeling that pays court to the roots laid down at the original location . It ’s the kind of place that infuse soul into the food , and you ’re welcomed as part of the family .
" We want our dining experience to feel very personal at the end of the mean solar day , ” says Tobin . " Food is a language that brings us all together no matter where we ’re from or who we are . We want to keep that brightness level burning vivid . "
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