Dumpling King (City Square)

For one reason or another, I've had my fair share of food from the City Square food court over the years.  There isn't a huge selection of eats, but most of the usual assortment of stalls are represented including a Bubble Waffle Cafe and A&W.  I've tried most of the spots and they are more or less acceptable.  This time around, I decided to deviate from the regular and test out Dumpling King.  This is one of the least busy stalls in the food court despite being one of the best values.  Everything is under $8.00, with the Xiao Long Bao coming in at $6.00.  I went for all 3 of their menu items to see whether they were good or not.

I started with the Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Soup Dumplings) and they were gigantic.  Easily 1/2 size bigger or more than the typical version. Unfortunately, these were not made-to-order, rather, already in a takeout container ready to go.  This might've had some effect on the top twirl of the dumpling skin as it was rather chewy and dense.  The rest was fairly thin and pliable.  Inside, the fatty pork was tender and juicy.  There was a considerable amount of soup, but it was greasy.  I could taste some sweetness and a touch of shaoxing wine.  It needed a bit more ginger in my opinion.  I really wished these were made-fresh and that the filling wasn't so fatty.

The Steamed Pork Dumplings had the same fatty pork filling and a considerable amount of soup too.  Predictably, it was equally greasy.  I guess using the same filling would be easier than making a different one for each dumpling.  As for the dumpling skin, it was decently thin and elastic for the centre portion of the dumpling.  Yet the pleats were hard and chewy.  This was possibly due to the fact that these were not made-to-order as well.

Lastly, I gave their Wonton Soup a shot as well.  The soup itself was quite pleasant being lightly salty and sweet.  There was some background seaweed flavour going on.  I wasn't a fan of the wontons as the pork filling was gritty and chewy.  This made each wonton dense and not pleasant in my opinion.  In general, the stuff at Dumpling King was so-so and not something I would go back for.  Maybe it has something to do with them not being made-to-order.  Considering the lack of staff, I can understand why they don't do this.  But I feel it compromises the quality of the product so negatively, it makes Dumpling King not relevant compared to some of the better food court XLB spots like R&H and Shanghai Dim Sum House.  Until they figure out a way to do that, it just can't compete.

The Good:
- Large dumplings with lots of soup
- Cheap
- It is ready right away (which is also a negative)

The Bad:
- Not made-to-order
- Parts of the XLBs and Steamed Dumplings are dense and chewy