Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings
“Top it off with the Mimi's secret sauce which is a bit tangy, a bit sweet, and little spicy, and enter awesomeness!”
“All of the Classics are great, but the Mighty Veggie is my favorate- unlike any veg dumpling i've had before.”
“You can never go wrong with one of their originals but if you're feeling fancy, try their monthly special.”
Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Honestly I was hesitant on trying a place like Mimi's, just because it felt like it could swing to either side of the spectrum. But in fact I liked it more than I thought it would. It definitely is not traditional Taiwanese style, but I think coming into the space you have that sense – from the interior styling and the way the menu is framed, it's a contemporary take that definitely appeals to the conscious eaters of today. And it fits well in the East Village neighborhood alongside other not-as-traditional asian places.
If you're looking for cheap dumplings don't come here – they're definitely more New York City priced, but won't kill your wallet necessarily. The wait can also be a little long if you come during the peak hours, but you can see the kitchen of 3 people working furiously in the back to fill out orders as quickly as they can. The space is small and quite loud when crowded, so we preferred to take ours to go.
The staple dumplings, the reinvented classic, dan-dan noodles, and street cart veggies were our taking and all of them were quite good. The veggies don't look like a whole lot in the take-out boxes unfortunately, but the provided sauce is pretty flavorful and the dumplings were good comfort food.
Really good dumplings! I think it's a perfect place to grab a snack rather than trying to get full. I was in the neighborhood with my sister, and we decided to swing by for a midday snack.
We ordered the Reinvented Classic dumplings (8 for $10). They tasted authentic and super fresh. Good ingredients taste obviously better, and Mimi's dumplings were no exception. Yay!
I think the amount of filling is generous, and service was super friendly. There was a blip with our order, but everyone was so accommodating and nice. They even gave us complimentary lemonade. Literally, OBSESSED. Mimi's is our new snack spot!
I first heard about Mimi Cheng's Dumplings by way of an Insider article featuring a story of 2 sisters from the West Coast struggling to find authentic Taiwanese food in New York City. So, what do they do? Quit their day jobs and open their own dumpling shop. But as some Yelpers have noted, the price for 8-10 dumplings is the same price for a pack of 50 frozen dumplings from Vanessa's Dumplings.
Listen, I understand this is NYC. Everything is generally more expensive, even for dumplings. My family is Taiwanese (as are the owners of Mimi Cheng's) and I grew up making dumplings from scratch with my grandmother. Dumplings cost less than 10 cents each to make. If I'm going to spend $8 for 6 pieces then there better be something special inside of these dumplings than just love and a great story behind it. I am expecting premium ingredients that aren't found in your typical Chinatown dumpling shop or Taiwanese street cart. I am expecting a dumpling filled with lobster, foie gras, NY strip steak, truffle, etc. First off, there isn't anything authentically Taiwanese about the dumplings served here as you would never find these kinds of dumplings anywhere in Taiwan. I understand that there is a creative element in the different types of dumplings that they are trying to sell. But, Taiwanese people don't want to eat a S'more fried dumpling. Secondly, traditional Chinese/Taiwanese people don't really care too much about locally-grown organic ingredients inside of their dumplings. Moreover, the reason why dumplings are so widely eaten in China/Taiwan is because they are very cheap and easy to make. Who in China or Taiwan would want to pay premium prices to eat a dumpling that has "free-range egg," "farm-fresh zucchini," or "pasture-raised chicken?" So, I am still in awe of the prices here.
I think there was an idea, but it infuriates me to see that 2 Taiwanese sisters had an opportunity to offer Taiwanese cuisine (a struggle that they had from the beginning) and decided the best thing to do was to open a dumpling shop in Manhattan and charge exorbitant prices for dumplings that most will never be willing to pay to try.
Oh man, I really wanted to like this place. We were expecting to have some authentic asian mom cooking. Unfortunately, it fell short to our expectation of what "mom's dumpling" would be.
We had the Mimi's Cheng's dumplings, Reinvented Classic, Mighty Veggie, and Dan-Dan Noodles. Really nothing special or memorable about the dumplings nor the Dan-dan noodles. I grew up eating those things, so I've gone through a plethora of these suckers. The saving grace of the meal was the Mighty Veggie with the Mimi's sauce. Oh, and I like you get to choose if you want your dumplings boiled or fried. Beyond that it was a 3 star experience: 2 star for the food and 1 additional star for the friendly & helpful stuff.
Summary: All and all it was an overpriced dumpling experience.
Pretty darn good. I got the half & half off the menu- you can either get 6 or 8 pieces, and I do think it's a bit pricey but what more do you expect from a trendy dumpling place in EV? With my half and half, I went for the chicken and pork dumplings. They take about 10-15 minutes to come out and are hot and steaming- definitely make sure to make Mimi's secret sauce and sriracha on them because it makes them so much better. I personally liked the pork ones better since they have a ton of flavor and almost look like a little samosa! Next time, I think I'd get 8 pieces cuz I can definitely eat more. They also have a rotating dumpling for the month- this month, it's souvlaki green chicken dumplings, and it looked bomb. Need to go back for those.
TASTY DUMPLINGS!!!
But..
I grew up in Queens eating delicious DOLLAR dumplings in Flushing and Elmhurst. So it was kind of hard paying $16 for 12 of these bad boys.
My girlfriend and I got the Mimi Cheng Dumplings which is their take on chicken dumplings and the Reinvented Classic which is a reinvention of the class – DUH – pork dumplings but instead of chives they added cabbage and bok choy! Very much appreciated!
The dumplings are good, but like I said before, it's hard for me to transition into the higher-end version of my favorite street-cart eats! UNTIL, I found out that they do a SPECIAL dumpling each month. So we went back!
This months (May 2016), special was dumplings, Chicken Souvlaki Style even served with a side of yogurt-based tzatziki sauce. Absolutely deliciousness! It was like eating 6 mini chicken gyros.
I'll definitely be checking in on what Special Dumpling they have in store for me 😀
Update:
Had one of the monthly specials. This time, it was a Greek chicken kebab dumpling. The filling was juicy, and served with a great sauce. I still think it's expensive, but these are one of a kind dumplings.
That being said, I still stand by everything in my previous review.
I came here because they had a special By Chloe Guac Burger dumpling and I'm obsessed with By Chloe. It was the best dumpling of the three we tried. Only through the rest of March though. The chicken dumpling we got steamed. And the pork we got fried. They were both fine, but what made them was their sauce that sits on the table. Maybe vinegar based? But I liked it. The dan dan noodles were quite good and interestingly had tahini in them.