Where to Find the Best Dumplings in Flushing, NYC

The options at Tianjin Dumpling House are near endless: sea bass, beef, shrimp, chives, and egg. What you want, though, is the famous lamb and green squash dumpling, a juicy, boiled vessel for generous portions of tender lamb and light gourd. At $5 for 12 pieces, this meal is appetizing in more ways than one.

Visit White Bear, order the ‘No. 6’, and thank us later. Wontons drowned in a mild chili oil even the spice-averse will enjoy and topped with pickled mustard greens are a can’t-fail order here. We can’t take all the credit for this recommendation, however: a majority of the hole-in-the-wall’s 700+ Yelp reviews point in the same delicious direction.

More than 2,740 raving Yelp reviews don’t lie: Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao is worth the schlep up the 7 line. Boiled and pan-fried dumplings are solid here, but what you’re looking for are the xiao long bao, or soup dumplings. Bubbling seasoned gravy with pieces of crab, pork, or a mixture of the two is encased by a delicate dumpling shell in this hotspot’s signature dish.

Recommended by New York food authority Grub Street, Dumpling Galaxy is as gourmet as Flushing gets. Even upscale options like pumpkin with black sesame tang yuan and tofu with crab roe are no match for the fan-favorite lamb soup dumplings, a dish Grub Street hails as the ‘absolute best’ in New York City.

Get the most bang for your buck (and a standout meal) at Shanghai You Garden. Here, every order earns you a free pork dumpling, while any $10 purchase comes with a complimentary order of soup dumplings. With deals like this, it should come as no surprise Shanghai You is often packed with satisfied soup dumpling-sippers.

Xi’an Famous Foods is something of a hometown hero for Flushing foodies (the local chain got its start as a food stall in the neighborhood years ago). The Anthony Bourdain-endorsed eatery is still a must-stop on any Flushing food tour, which isn’t complete without Xi’an’s spicy and sour lamb dumplings. If the thought of ground lamb served in Chinese hot and sour sauce isn’t enough to set you searching for your MetroCard, perhaps New York Magazine’s ‘best dumplings’ honor is.

Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao comes recommended by authority of Asian eats, Strictly Dumpling’s Mike Chen. With options including banana-chocolate soup dumplings, wontons in spicy peanut butter sauce, and the spot’s namesake xiao long bao (filled with not-so-standard pork and crab soup), it’s easy to understand (and echo!) Chen’s endorsement.

The OG of Flushing’s food scene, Golden Shopping Mall is more about bites than shopping bags. This lower-level food court, which has been featured by VICE and Anthony Bourdain, is where local favorites X’ian Famous Foods and Tianjin Dumpling House got their starts. Many years later, Golden Shopping Mall is where people come from New York and beyond to chow on dumplings, wontons, and more from authentic Chinese stalls.

A more polished mall food court can be found just a stone’s throw away at the New World Mall Food Court. More than 32 food vendors from North and South East Asia prepare Spanish mackerel dumplings, pork xiao long bao, and Korean-style dumplings that would fit right in at New York’s finest Asian restaurants.