Eating the Best 小笼包 in Portland
by Lauren Mei Calora and Audrey Daniels
If you’ve never had 小笼包 (xiao long bao) in your life, you are missing out. Xiao long bao are soup dumplings or dumplings with meat and broth inside. The first bite and surprise of warm soup filling your mouth is like no other.
The exact origins of xiao long bao are unknown, but they first began to surface in Nanxiang, Shanghai, around 1875.
We decided to look at six places that serve soup dumplings in the Portland area. This infographic below highlights what we are looking for in each dumpling.
Tang Dynasty
The first stop on our dumpling tour was a Chinese restaurant in Beaverton called Tang Dynasty. They are open for lunch and dinner, and we went at 4:30 – the opening of dinner time. We were promptly greeted at the door and led to a table. The inside was brightly lit by large flat screen televisions, lights, and open windows. The wall facing the door was a bar filled with sparkling water, rosé, and three large televisions playing different television shows. The sounds of Judge Judy, as well as two seperate soccer games, droned in the background, which took away from the atmosphere. The walls were also filled with turquoise accents that made the restaurant feel brighter.
One order of nine soup dumplings was $12.95, and it took 15 minutes to arrive. They were medium size and can be seen in the photos below. I used the spoon and metal chopsticks to lift the dumpling to my lips and bite open the skin. The dumpling was heavy in my chopsticks, and the skin was thick and a bit doughy, sticking to my lips when I pulled away. The first sip of broth struck me with chicken flavor, which was surprising as they were pork soup dumplings. Some restaurants use chicken stock for the broth, which, in my humble opinion, detracts from the pork.
The filling had some pork and salty flavor, but not a lot, and no vegetable taste. They brought us vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger - essentials when eating soup dumplings. Overall, Tang Dynasty got a 6/10, because the atmosphere was a little strange with all the televisions, and the filling was too bland.
Taste of Sichuan
Taste of Sichuan, a five-minute drive from the Tang Dynasty, had a completely different atmosphere. The restaurant was dimly lit, blinds closed, and there were a handful of employees standing in a circle waiting for more people to help.
The restaurant was filled with employees speaking a Chinese dialect, but most of the booths were empty. Pop music played in the background, which switched from Imagine Dragons to Prince halfway through the meal.
One order of pork soup dumplings, what they called steamed dumplings, was $10.95 and had 10 in the basket. We went near dinner opening time, 5:15, and the dumplings took 10 minutes to come after we ordered them.
The first thing I noticed when the lid came off the dumplings was that the tops had a dip in them. This was an interesting design, but I couldn’t focus on it long before realizing they didn’t bring us spoons to eat our dumplings with. These dumplings were medium sized, so it would be hard to pop the whole thing into your mouth, and at the moment they were too warm to do this.
Eating a soup dumpling without a spoon to hold it on was an uncomfortable experience I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. You have to suck the soup out of the dumpling while holding it with, in this instance, wooden chopsticks. The dough of these dumplings was quite thick, making them overall larger and heavier than they actually were, and the dough dried and stuck to my lips after I drank some soup.
The broth had a more distinct pork flavor, yet was still bland. The filling had again, minimal flavor, but because of the skin, the ratio of pork flavor to chewy dough was off. I struggled to eat the first dumpling because of how large and how hot it was, and I was overwhelmed by the skin and not the juicy flavor I craved. 4/10
Duck House
Entering Duck House had a different feel than Tang Dynasty or Taste of Sichuan. The most noticeable aspect was the tidal wave of noise that met us upon entering the doorway, at 12:00. Duck House was bustling with conversations- everyone from young Asian students to elderly white businessmen were there. It was the busiest setting we’d seen so far.
We were left standing by the door for over five minutes without any contact from the staff. A few waiters walked past us without making contact until a young man, seeming unsure of himself, asked us how many were in our party. We were seated at a tall table, and immediately brought water and complimentary Oolong tea.
An order of nine pork soup dumplings came in a bamboo basket, for $12.95. They arrived in seven and a half minutes, which was the fastest time so far.
As I lifted the dumpling to my lips, the scent of sesame pleasantly filled my nose. I am guessing the broth was mixed with sesame oil, or there was sesame mixed into the dough. The dumplings were on the smaller side, which made eating them easier. Duck House provided us with vinegar, ginger, and soy sauce to aid the enjoyment of our dumplings.
The bite into the soup dumpling skin was more manageable than at our other destinations, but the skin still remained a little too thick for my desires. Like previous destinations, the broth had a chicken taste, but it wasn’t too strong.
The filling was simplistic, but it wasn’t bland, and each bite was enjoyable. Because of the lack of good service, we lowered the rating, but the soup dumplings were very good nonetheless. 8/10
Bao Bao
Bao Bao is different from the rest of our options because it’s a food cart and not a sit-down restaurant. It is located in the food cart pod in downtown Portland, next to a busy street and sidewalk filled with people waiting for food. We visited in hopes of finding soup dumplings, but they only served dumplings and they were sold out. They are more known for the bao buns, so we left the cart empty-handed.
XLB
XLB is tucked away from downtown in North Portland, on a street with cute shops and boutiques. As soon as we stepped into the air-conditioned shop, I knew this would be a fun experience. The walls were painted black with golden Chinese zodiac animals, and light flowed in from the windows. The menu was on the wall and accompanied with photos. The placement was very pleasing and easy to look at from standing in line.
The ceiling was filled with hung paper lanterns. We sat down and ordered soup dumplings – eight for $11– enjoying their self-serve tea while we waited. They also had a self serve vinegar, chili oil, and soy sauce station – this was a thoughtful touch that stuck out to me, because people have varying tastes with the ratio of vinegar to soy sauce they prefer, so it’s nice to be able to mix your own.
The dumplings came in seven minutes, and they were the largest ones I’d seen so far. Picking them up, I noted they were flat because the dumpling were not completely filled. I had high expectations going in because XLB has had raving reviews, but the first bite did not meet my expectations.
The dumplings were filled with too many vegetables, and the pork was a background flavor in compairson. The broth had a wonderful pork flavor and was the best component of the dumplings.
The dumplings themselves are a solid six but matched with the interior of the restaurant and the overall dining experience, XLB was a 7/10.
Din Tai Fung
Din Tai Fung, a famous franchise that aided in spreading soup dumplings across the globe, began in Taiwan, and recently opened a location in the Washington Square Mall this past December. The restaurant is extremely popular, attracting two-hour waits on weekends and Friday nights.
We visited Din Tai Fung on a Wednesday afternoon at around 5:00, and were surprised to be met with no line. The restaurant is a large space with black walls, black caged lighting fixtures above almost every table, and large tables spacious enough to fit all your orders of dumplings.
We were quickly seated by the hostess at one of their booths. To order our food we filled out their paper sheet, indicating what we wanted and how much food we desired. One order of 10 soup dumplings costed $12.75. We received our soup dumplings in 8 minutes, and the steam filled the air as our waitress removed the lid and served our dumplings.
The small dumplings looked enticing to eat, and I was ready to dig in. After the first bite, Din Tai Fung exceeded my expectations — the skin to filling and soup ratio was spot on and everything I desired. The skin wasn’t too thin and it held the dumpling together, and it didn’t detract from the flavor of the broth and filling.
The broth had hints of chicken flavor, but it was more heavily flavored by the pork. The internal pork filling was savory and the perfect level of salty. My only issue was the heat inconsistencies between dumplings. Some orders were warmer than others, depending on how fast the waiters were able to deliver the baskets of dumplings they carried.
Overall, Din Tai Fung has its soup dumplings and service down to the tee. They’ve created a successful franchise, and their Portland location meets those standards. Out of all the places we visited on this tour, Din Tai Fung was by far the best. 9/10.
