The last time that my sister and I went out for Yum Cha, or Dim Sum, we headed for Dumplings’ Legend in Chinatown. Partly because my sister had been there before and we were both craving some of the Mooli Croissant that she knew they had. When you walk in, you are welcomed by a waiter and promptly seated. We arrived early (noon) so there was no waiting and we were immediately seated at a table by the window.
On your way into the dining room, you get to see people making the dumplings fresh. It seems to be the current trend in Chinatown of putting workers making dumplings as visible parts to the outside world. This is probably a good thing as it helps people appreciate the skill and labour people put into the dumplings they are about to eat.
Ordering is pretty standard for London. You get a checklist of items (both in Chinese and English) and you get to tick things off. Dumplings’ Legend has some pretty reasonable prices, and the quality seemed to be consistently good. They have the usual dumplings as well as ones that you probably wouldn’t find anywhere else. Above is the stir fried cheung fun – it had a really good wok char (smoky flavour) and reminded me of a really good ho fan dish.
The well known soup dumplings called xiao long bao were pretty good although my sister wanted to try the spiced szechuan version. We definitely got the numbing and spicy sensation, but I think I preferred the classic soup version. I just found the flavours a bit average after getting past the numbing spice. As per dumplings, they were pretty good xiao long bao as well. The skin not too tough and enough soup inside.
We went for some steamed dumplings and fried dumplings. They served the fried prawns strangely with a sweet sour sauce instead of a mayonnaise and although the mooli croissant looked beautiful was okay – not the best I’ve ever eaten. The steamed dumplings were pretty good. I was impressed by the BBQ por bun and the steamed prawn dumplings.
Like most Chinese restaurants, they wanted to turn tables as fast as possible, even without the restaurant being completely full. The dumplings were good value, although a few not as flavoursome as you can get elsewhere. On the other hand, you can also do much worse around the area.
Name: Dumplings’ Legend
Found at: 15-16 Gerrard Street Chinatown, London
Website: http://www.dumplingslegend.com/