Happy Dumpling: Two Thumbs Up
It’s fast food. And it’s very good food.
Join the line of families with kids, old folks, Dartmouth students, a few smart stylish people (not me), first-timers and already-seasoned pros, and just about everyone else in the Upper Valley. Whether ordering takeout or eating in, you’ll use a touchscreen near the entrance to make your choices and get a paper slip with a number and your name. The menu is small: a few different dumplings including veggie-filled, three soups, and some spicy noodle dishes. Prices are more than fair.
We grabbed a table as far away as possible from the chill of the ever-opening door. Dishes are announced as they are ready. Our three arrived from the kitchen at different times: popcorn chicken, then pork-filled pot stickers, and finally beef noodle soup with bok choy. As is often the case, we over-ordered and brought the remainders home for another lunch.
The food itself tasted like my memories of China. The potstickers (10 per order) were outstanding, bursting with a pork filling and served with small cups of tasty dipping sauce. Popcorn chicken was accompanied by a condiment that resembled ground salt and pepper (still trying to identify it—Szechuan pepper, perhaps?), and elevated the flavor of the dish. Beef noodle soup was tri-layered with thinly sliced beef floating over a bed of noodles. Dig to the bottom and find baby bok choy, all bathed in a well-flavored broth.
Happy Dumpling is a happy place, as the room filled with diners anticipating and then enjoying their food together. Even children, sometimes picky eaters, were wielding dumplings into their smiling mouths and reaching for more. Me too.
Happy Dumpling is located in the Shaw’s Market plaza on Route 12-A in West Lebanon, NH, not—as rumor seems to have it—in the Powerhouse Mall. Here is the menu. Open every day but Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.