I recently embarked on a tour around a few restaurants in Richmond that specialize in a variety of house-made dumplings. If you didn’t already know, there are over 20 different types of Asian dumplings that come in all shapes and forms, from water-boiled, to deep-fried, steamed and even dessert dumplings.

Tourism Richmond created a walkable, self-guided tour that showcases Richmond as a culinary destination. Each location on the Trail offers unique varieties of dumplings and Tourism Richmond has identified some of the city’s best.

Starting off at Parklane Chinese Restaurant, a first time visit for me, it’s a beautiful yet busy restaurant serving up daily dim sum in the heart of Richmond. If you glance at the Richmond Dumpling Trail map you will see which dumplings they specialize in here and they have many more on their menu. I enjoyed the Har Gow (shrimp dumplings), Chiu Chow Fun Gor (almost clear wrap filled with chopped peanuts, mushrooms, chives +), as well as the Wu Gok (taro dumpling filled with duck)

Next stop was a few blocks away inside the Richmond Public Market to the food court area upstairs for a visit to Xian Noodle Stall, it’s basically a whole in the wall food stall that has some of the best food around, loved the Spicy Wonton Dumplings as well as the Pan Fried dumplings.

Last stop was to Su Hang Restaurant, I had enjoyed their food in the past, yet hadn’t been to their restaurant so this visit provided a terrific opportunity to do so. Here I tasted the unique and popular Shenjianbao and Xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and Chive dumplings.

The Dumpling Trail offers visitors the opportunity to explore Richmond’s food scene, while demystifying Asian cuisine in the city, check out the types of dumplings on offer here. This was a fun way to explore Richmond’s diverse dumpling scene and a tasty one at that.

By: Richard Wolak