If it's dumplings you crave, head to Beijing in Westerly

April 06, 2016 12:00 am • Last Updated: April 06, 2016 1:56 pm

The fried Beijing Chicken Dumplings from Beijing Dumpling in Westerly are a masterpiece of flavor and texture. And best of all, you get 12 of them for $6.99. (Jill Blanchette/The Day)
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My husband and I have been fortunate to have enjoyed more than one Christmas dinner in New York at our favorite spot, Excellent Dumpling House on Lafayette Street in Chinatown.

Not only are the dumplings delicious, but the operation is a thing to behold. Just as the stage manager of Broadway's "The Lion King" orchestrates every entrance and exit, a most formidable woman runs the Excellent Dumpling dining room with equal precision. With a bark and point, tables are cleared and reset, patrons are seated and tea is delivered, all day, every day, without a wasted moment.

It is my appreciation for this amazing establishment that made me curious about Beijing Dumpling House in Westerly. Open since 2010, it had largely escaped my radar until recently, when I began to hear more and more people raving about the food. A quick check of Yelp revealed 47 reviews and a 4½ star rating. Not too shabby.

The place sits near the front of the Merchants Square shopping center. Its sign features "Beijing" in very small letters, and "dumpling" spelled out in red, nearly 2-foot tall, capital letters. I guess if you're proud of your dumplings, you might as well shout about it.

Inside is a modest, worn but clean dining room, featuring five tables for four, and one larger, round table with seating for five or six. The hostess podium sits in the middle of the long wall opposite the door and standing there affords a great view into the tidy, professional kitchen and the hubbub therein.

There is no music playing, so the sounds from the kitchen are clear — mad sizzling, great clouds of steam being released, the clanking of utensil on wok, constant professional chatter in another language that stops when the phone rings and is immediately replaced by English.

Although the décor is sparse, the place feels cozy. The staff — it seems like a family operation — are welcoming and friendly. And although some might say there's a language barrier, I think it's more an accent barrier. I had no trouble understanding or being understood.

Overall, the dumplings were delicious, living up to their reputation, and while we enjoyed several other dishes, there were a few duds.

Dumplings: Three varieties are available fried or steamed: pork and vegetable, $5.99, and chicken, $6.99, all served in portions of 12. That's right, a dozen per serving. These really lived up to the praise. All the fillings taste fresh and flavorful, and have good texture, not an easy feat. The vegetable, which features plenty of chopped straw mushrooms, and the chicken, filled with marinated and finely minced thigh meat, were my favorites. The skins were tender in the middle and chewy-crispy around the fried edges. The dipping liquid — soy sauce augmented with scallions and ginger — was just right. A spectacular bargain.

Salted Crispy Spare Ribs: 10 or 12 ribs — the small, bone-in kind you'd normally find infused with that sweet, red, barbecue sauce — dipped in a light batter and fried crisp, $10.99. Think of these as chicken fried pork. My husband loved gnawing on them. They were piping hot and not too salty or greasy. Perfect for meat lovers.

Hot & sour soup: $3.99 for a quart. Unfortunately, the sour was missing, leaving the soup tasting like slightly thickened, watered down soy sauce punctuated only by the occasional bamboo shoot, tofu strip or tiny straw mushroom. If you want this soup in Westerly, stick to New China Pavilion, whose version is both fiery hot and wonderfully tangy, and along with the tofu and bamboo shoots, is packed with several varieties of mushrooms and tender, flavorful pork strips, all for $4.75 a quart.

Tom Yum Soup: $6.99 for a quart. This traditional Thai soup typically includes galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and lime juice, creating a rich broth that is spicy, sour and floral. Beijing's version, which was loaded with fresh baby bok choy, truly tender slices of chicken breast, baby corn, bamboo shoots, green bell pepper and a few shrimp, was good, but I missed that lime juice tang. If you're in Westerly, and don't want to drive to Friendly Thai in Groton — home to my favorite Tom Yum — Beijing's may be the next best thing.

Seafood Chow Ho Fun: From the "Beijing Special" portion of the menu, this dish is a vibrant rainbow of jumbo shrimp, lobster tail chunks, bay scallops, and the reds, greens and oranges of a variety of vegetables, all bathed in black bean sauce over wide ho fun noodles, $14.99. The scallops were sweet and tender, a great match for that funky sauce and the slippery noodles. But alas, the shrimp and lobster were dry and very chewy, and many of the vegetables — the baby bok choy and pea pods in particular — were overcooked.

General Tso's Tofu: 1-inch cubes of firm tofu covered in sweet and spicy hot General Tso's sauce, served with a broccoli garnish, $7.50. Good heat. Not too sweet. No greasy backdrop that's so common in the chicken version of this ubiquitous Chinese-American favorite. I'll order this one again.

So start with the dumplings, but try something else from Beijing's large menu. Let me know what gems you discover.

j.blanchette@theday.com

In the Seafood Chow Ho Fun from Beijing Dumpling in Westerly, the scallops were tender and sweet, delicious drenched in the funky, fermented black bean sauce, but the shrimp and lobster were dry, chewy and overcooked. (Jill Blanchette/The Day)
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