220 East 14th Street, East Village
As there happen to be many more restaurants in this city than synagogues, from time to time, you will see only an eatery here. Here is one of them. Al Gore had just come out with his 4th book, called The Future, and was doing a book signing and speaking at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square. Since my friend Ian wanted to go, we went. Al Gore is now worth 50 times more than when he was Vice President in the 1990s, and funny since he sold Current TV to Al-Jazeera which is owned by Qatar. They better keep on one of my favorite progressive news shows, The Young Turks. Anyway, enough of that. We had heard about Vanessa's Dumpling House and their very affordable prices, Ian knew of one location on 14th Street, I was only familiar with the one further downtown in Chinatown/Lower East Side on Eldridge Street. Apparently as of last year there is now also one in Williamsburg. Very small loud and busy place. You order at the counter get the receipt and wait for your number to be called. The cheapest menu items are each $1.50 which is 4 individual dumplings. Unfortunately for me, both of these involved pork so I would have to fork out a bit more from my pocket. After obsessing over the menu for a bit too long and not ordering at the same time as Ian, I finally got in the line and had still not ordered when his number was called, so per my usual events, I'm waiting to order while others are eating, excellent use of time on my part. Looking for something hopefully a bit healthier than fried, I settled on the boiled chicken dumplings and steamed vegetable bun. I did not see the bun on the menu initially so I asked the cashier about it, and she confirmed they had them, so I guess it's somewhat of a secret menu item perhaps. In any case, the chicken dumplings could only be ordered as a group of 8. With a soda, it still came out to less than $10. For a fast and quick bite fix, Vanessa's Dumplings is definitely one of the better ways to go in this city. Cooked well and added with some soy sauce, the dumplings were very tasty and just the right amount. It probably would have been a bit more interesting if the non-fried dumplings could be ordered in smaller portions to allow for some variety. The stuffed veggie bun was basically like a large and puffy dumpling with shredded vegetables inside that had a bit of tang. Not as common around the city as halal food carts and pan-Asian restaurants, I wouldn't mind seeing more of these dumpling houses pop up in the future.
Union Square B&N
Al Gore at B&N
Vanessa's Dumpling House
Steamed Veggie Bun
Boiled Chicken Basil Dumplings
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