Dumpling Man & Whole Earth Bakery

John and I headed into the city on Friday for some Dumpling Man. John discovered this place, located on St Marks, when he lived in NYC. He was walking by on a hot day and noticed a cool down treat being advertised, "snow" with mango. Apparently they have this super old cranked metal machine that makes this icy treat. They put a cylinder of ice in the thing, crank it by hand and it shaves off ice into a container which they cover in mango juice (and fresh mangos?). Apparently it's amazing, but they didn't have the ice when we stopped in.
At Dumpling Man everything is made fresh, you can watch the employees crank out the dumplings by hand while you dine at the counter.
A very simple selection, they have pork, chicken, veggie, and shrimp, along with a couple surprises. I opted for the 10 piece veggie which ran me like $8.50 with tax. John got the 6 piece and a side of edamame.
The dumplings come in different colors, the veggie is green, it has spinach juice in the dough to create the color. The filling is soft tofu, smoked firm tofu, wheat protein, shiitake mushroom, sesame oil, and bok choy.
Order is up, pick it up from the counter, sit down and chow.
Incredible. I choose pan seared (instead of steamed) based on John's suggestion and like always, was not led astray. The dough was soft, moist, and crispy from the searing. The filling was to die for. By far the best dumplings I've had, granted, I usually get the frozen ones from the Asian Market and make them myself.
The veggie dumplings are great on their own, dipped in soy sauce, or smothered in Sriracha (which is available throughout the seating area).
10 was the perfect amount not having a side. I left satisfied but not super stuffed.
Will be going back.



We decided to walk up to Whole Earth Bakery and snag a desert. This was my second trip to this place. They have food and baked goods, most everything is vegan from what I understand. The first time I went was with Colin, Thanksgiving time, we got some treats to share at Nick and Karlynn's. I remember the Chocolate Chip Chewy the most, so good, and yes, so chewy!

This time John got a berry apple cobbler pie monstrosity for $4 and I opted for something that was on the $2 tray. I have no idea what it was, I just know that it was chocolatey and vegan. It was shaped like a cupcake but had the consistency of chocolate tofu. It was soft to bite and stayed together really well. Wish I knew what I ate.
















We ate our treats at the dog park, watched the dogs for enter- tainment.


This is probably going to be one of my new favorite things to do. I visited the dog park on rare occasion back home, always with a friend and an actual dog, but this was awesome, such a high turnover rate. The new dogs that come in every few minutes are always so pumped to hang and there are so many different kinds, full of energy and ready to play.
Not only were the dogs free entertainment, but the people were too. There was an old man there that we swore was a sketch comedy act, like Michael Showalter dressed up with a hidden camera.
The guy had one of his arms bandaged up and in a sling, he was walking with a cane, with this larger than life mop of white hair matching a mustache. He had on this vest made out of windbreaker material that had a zippered pocket across the back. The pocket was full of stuff, box shaped items, it made him look like he had a ridiculous oddly shaped hunchback. Such a fake character.