Dumpling Heaven: Mai Xiang Yuan

I've never really liked Chinese dumplings as a kid, but very recently, I've developed a huge crush for dumplings, dumplings, dumplings! So I came here for my second anniversary with my boyfriend M for lunch, and wow-oh-wow.

 Located on St-Laurent street in Chinatown, near the upstairs anime shop, Mai Xiang Yuan is really an amazing little niche. Although the restaurant is small, a hole in the wall, essentially, they've done very well with what they had. The decor is very homey, and the personal touches are so cute.

A strand of chilli peppers and garlic! Plastic though :(

 The restaurant was empty except for one other person when we arrived, due to the fact that lunchtime was nearly over. We were seated and quickly served tea, in adorable teaware no less, not the plain white teacups you usually get at Chinese places.

We ordered, as the lunch menu is small but had good variety. There were some side dishes / appetizers, mostly Asian salads. Dumpling choices included pork, beef, lamb and shrimp dumplings, all with different vegetable fillings, and a single choice of vegetarian dumplings.Each order is 6.49$ - 9.99$, and contains 15 dumplings, boiled or fried.

There is a counter at the back of the restaurant with glass windows, and you could see the Chinese ladies working together, making everything the moment you order. They are quite a lively bunch, and they seem to have a lot of fun working there.

M had the curry beef & onion, fried, for 7.99$. Don't let the dry appearance fool you, the fillings were quite juicy! They didn't really have that much curry flavour, but tasty regardless. 

I got lamb & onion, boiled, for 9.49$. To be honest, I have never had round dumplings so they were quite a surprise! When I picked one up, I could see a little bit of soup making the bottom sag -- the sign of a good dumpling! These were soooo fresh and tasty... I must try their other lamb options!

Oh, their dumpling condiments included chilli oil, soy sauce, and vinegar. I thought the soy sauce was too light, as when I eat dumplings at home, I use the darkest kind, so I wasn't too used to the very mild flavor here. I guess the silver lining is that it didn't overwhelm the flavor of the tasty fillings!

Seriously, if you love (or even just mildly like) dumplings, please come here. Thank me later.

1084 rue St-Laurent, 
(515) 875-1888