It’s Thursday evening, around 6 or 7 o-clock, and my family arrives at Northern Dumpling Kitchen. Located on Highway 7, it is situated in a tightly packed strip of restaurants, both fine-dining and fast food, with NDK being a mix of both. Walking in, the setting is simple in fashion, but it retains the feeling of a fine-dining, Chinese restaurant.

We are seated around a circle table, and self-serve hot tea to everyone. Groups of people are having conversations in the background, and faint music can be heard in the periphery. The sun is setting as we look over the menu for the main specials.

The menu contains over 900 options, and it is customary to order as a group, writing what we want onto small slips of paper for the waiter. Obviously, we order a large selection of dumplings, a mix of cabbage, pork, chicken, and beef. Not only do they offer a wide selection of fillings, dumplings can be cooked steamed (inside a steamer basket), boiled in a pot, and pan-fried.

One specialty dumpling, is the Soup-filled dumpling with pork. While cooking, they fill the dumpling with hot broth, and it is served with Vinegar, to be dipped in. They are steamed and served right from the basket, creating an aesthetically pleasing presentation to the dumplings. And the hot broth inside the Soup dumpling is refreshing on cold days! Overall, the presentation was very well done. The steamer baskets were a nice touch, and the plating of each dish was appropriately done, albeit a little traditional.

There were many other dumplings that we tried. All of them were exceptional, and the steamed, boiled, and pan fried dumplings all provided varying flavours and textures. Boiled dumplings obviously soaked up more water, making it more smoother and softer, but also more filling. Steamed was soft, and had a chewy texture. Pan-fried Dumplings were more crispy, and tasted more savoury. We also tried wontons with a spicier sauce poured on top of it. It had hints of peanut in it, which was refreshing as the majority of the dumplings were water based.

If dumplings is not your thing (somehow..), Northern Dumpling Kitchen has got a good selection of other dishes. We also ordered a typical fried rice dish, and some Udon noodles. However, The Rolled Onion Pancake with Sliced Beef is a favourite of mine. They take an onion pancake, and fill it with thinly sliced beef, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and vegetables. It is rolled and wrapped with aluminum foil to cook. The pancake and beef provides a salty, savoury flavour, but the sauces also add some sweetness to the dish.

The lunch menu also provides even more choice, for very good prices. Overall, it was a great experience, and for a reasonable price, the value is there in the high quality of the food. My highlights would be the Soup-filled dumplings, the Rolled onion pancake, and the steamed Cabbage/Pork dumplings..