Yummy Yummy Dumplings – 79 Huron St, Toronto, ON M5T 2A8
Country: China
Seating: Good sized indoor basement dining room. 
Must-try dish: E01 Fish & Chive Dumplings
Dinner guests: Dan’s Date, Island Dan & Suited Sebastien
The high: They have varieties of dumplings that you don’t see anywhere else in the city. These include mutton and whitefish. 
The low: The mutton dumplings we chose didn’t have the bold lamb flavours because the dill mixed in was overpowering. 

After enjoying ourselves so much at Yummy Yummy Dumplings during our crawl back in August, we decided to return for the full experience. Our first impressions were high, and we were excited to be back. Don’t expect many frills, but do set a high bar as this basement Chinese dumpling hole-in-the-wall exceeds all other expectations. The food is delicious and tastes fresh, the dumpling wrapping action is done within eyesight and the service is overly friendly. Full disclosure: there won’t be much in the likes of conversation unless you speak Chinese.

The first thing to catch our attention was B12 Cucumber & Jellyfish. Yes jellyfish. Those little, shiny guys that sting you when you surf or swim in warm ocean waters. The Cucumber and Jellyfish are cut into thin strips and marinated with a spicy sauce containing strong notes of sesame oil. This dish was a nice contrast from the more hearty wheat wrapped pockets that were on course to fill our bellies.

Despite the language barriers, we got just enough pointers from the staff to enhance our experience. For example, the must-try dish of the evening: E01 Fish & Chive Dumplings, are best cooked in the boiled method, and instead of choosing the standard Pork & Chive dumplings, why not go for something a little more out of the box like E39 Pork & Wild Vegetables (Ji Cai), which were steamed and were another favourite of the evening. The fish in the dumplings is basa, a mild white fish, whose flavour was complimented from the chives mixed alongside it. 

The mutton dumpling section was much anticipated, but was ultimately let down by our decision. For dill lovers, the E18 Steamed Mutton & Dill is definitely a good choice. However, as a group, we found that the dill was too dominant and the flavours of the mutton were overshadowed. We wish we had gone back to our old favourite E17 Mutton, Shrimp & Chive that we fell in love with during our dumpling crawl and that we highly recommend for anyone seeking delicious mutton dumplings.

Another notable dish that we suggest is D02 Xiaolong Juicy Pork Buns. These buns resemble a dumpling but instead of a simple filling, they are filled with pork and hot soup. Beware: they’re often served very hot and have burned tongues on several occasions. The second you pierce the skin, the soup comes flowing out. Also called soup dumplings, this is one of our top Chinese dishes – if you’ve never had them, do so ASAP.

Some last-minute additions included E35 Pan Fried Corn Dumplings (Pork, Shrimp, Mushroom & Corn) and F20 Rolled Beef, Green Onion Pancakes. Both of these dishes were loved and we are glad that they made it into our order. The Corn dumplings had a unique filling and we enjoyed that these dumplings were pan fried. 

The rolled pancakes were particularly enjoyed by Suited Sebastien who was advocating for these to be the must-try dish of the night. The pancakes had a hoisin sauce to accompany the beef and green onions.

This basement restaurant is the perfect, unsuspecting restaurant to curb any dumpling craving. As soon as you walk down the stairs into this Chinese dumpling house, the positive vibes commence and you remember how fortunate we are to live in such a diverse city with amazing hidden gems to continue to discover. Yummy Yummy Dumplings sure lives up to its name. This place is truly YUMMY!

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)