Ottawa Eats: Dinner at Dumpling Bowl

Last fall, my family and I visited a few cities in Eastern Canada including Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. One of the restaurants we visited in Ottawa was Dumpling Bowl on Sommerset West. We came across Dumpling Bowl as we were driving around looking for a dumpling-centric restaurant late in the evening. My son was jet lagged, took a nap and woke up at 8 pm EST which was 5 PM PST. As a result, we end up with a later than usual dinner time.

Handmade Dumplings

At Dumpling Bowl, it’s all about handmade dumplings. Several varieties are offered including pork and Chinese cabbage; beef and coriander; and chicken and mushrooms. Each dumpling entree has 15 boiled dumplings and prices range between $10 – $15 depending on which type of filling. Fried dumplings cost an extra $1.50 and comes with a dipping sauce like spicy mayo, teriyaki and more. Also on the menu are a few appetizers (spring rolls, fried wonton and more), wonton in chicken soup and noodles. The full menu is online at their website.

Bubble Tea with Your Dumplings

Dumpling Bowl shares a space with Bubblicity Tea Shop, but in fact it was the latter who owned the space at first. According to Ottawa Magazine, Bubblicity Tea Shop had rebranded themselves as Dumpling Bowl to set themselves apart from other BBT shops. The owner of Bubblicity Tea Shop hired Chef Betty to lead the dumpling production. They still offer BBT drinks (bubble iced tea, latte, slush, and more). You can find the drink menu online.

What We Tried

We ordered the following items:

15 Fried beef and coriander dumplings ($10 + $1.50 for fried)
15 Boiled pork and Chinese cabbage dumplings ($9)
Lychee bubble sherbet ($4.50 $0.50 for pearl)
30 Take-home frozen pork and Chinese cabbage dumplings ($12.50)
30 Take-home frozen pork and chives dumplings ($12.50)

The dumplings were decently sized and the fillings were moist and flavourful. My husband who is originally from Northern China and grew up eating dumplings very much enjoyed the flavours of the dumplings we tried. According to him, they are the most closely authentic tasting dumplings he has had in Canada to date. The dumpling wraps were not too thick and had just the right amount of chewiness.

The fried beef and coriander dumplings had an acceptable level amount of greasiness. The corriander gave the filling a nutty and spicy taste.

The lychee bubble sherbet with ice cream and pearl was a tasty drink. The pearls were well cooked, soft and chewy. The lychee flavour was not too artificial.

We enjoyed the dumplings so much that we bought two bags of dumplings to make at our apartment-hotel (pork and cabbage, pork and chive).

Overall Impression of Dumpling Bowl

We had a lovely dumpling dining experience at dumpling bowl. For some closely authentic tasting dumplings, I would recommend going there. Rating: 5/5

Website: www.dumplingbowl.com