Northern Heat

During a blistering Saturday afternoon, I stopped by Yummy Yummy Dumplings (Huron and Dundas St. W) for lunch. The northern-style dumplings arrived to downtown Toronto via popular Mother Dumpling (now with a 2nd non-Chinatown location on the Danforth). But I was given information that YYD was better than both Mother Dumpling and Dumpling House. This basement joint, down a flight of stairs, was definitely not handicap accessible.

Inside was a small space with some modest decorations such as a pair of steppe bows. I ordered rolled beef pancakes ($5.99) and northern whole wheat dumplings ($6.99). Wrapped in aluminum foil to preserve the heat, the greasy fried dough and the hoisin-flavoured beef reminded me of my current favourite "chinese burritos" place (Qian He). A good eat but I prefer the cheaper and more substantial Qian He's. The dumplings here came as boiled, pan-fried, or steamed. Mine was steamed in a bamboo basket and arrived in a tasty mist. The whole wheat wrapper gave each dumpling a chewy toothsome-ness, and the stuffing was good, but I really couldn't distinguish turnip from shiitake. I enjoyed my lunch except that the dumpling came in orders of 10 (!) limiting my ability to pick a larger variety without being a glutton.