Midtown Lunch

As you guys may know by now I like dumplings. Any kind of dumplings. And when you give me 5 of them for $1, and throw in a sesame pancake on the side I couldn’t ask for a better carb-explosion of a lunch. I hadn’t been to Prosperity Dumpling on Eldridge St. (btw. Hester & Canal) in a while because it’s not exactly close to where I work. It’s well-known among those who love cheap, delicious Chinatown treats, but shunned by those who would rather walk up the street a couple of blocks to the larger (and more expensive) Vanessa’s Dumpling House. I actually discovered Prosperity after going to Vanessa’s one day and seeing how packed it was.

I happened to get to Prosperity at an unfortunate time as there was some sort of tour group clogging up the place. This was not only super annoying because I was starving, but also because they cleaned them out of both fried pork buns and sesame pancakes. That left about two non-soup items to order so that’s what I got because there was no way I was waiting 20 minutes for a pancake.

The standard pork and chive dumpling was as good as ever although a little less browned on the bottom than usual, I’m guessing due to the insane number of people wanting these dumplings.

I also got an order of steamed vegetable dumplings both for variety and because I’ve never tried theirs before. Those vegetable-filled ones were amazing! I don’t know if it was because of my level of hunger, but they were really juicy and filled with cabbage and mushrooms along with a few other things. The only bad thing is they only steam them, and you have to get an order of eight for $2. Still, I can’t complain about a $3 lunch.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• They still give you five dumplings for your $1.
• It usually doesn’t have the lines of nearby Vanessa’s.

THE — (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• There’s not really any seating.
• There’s not much variety on the menu.

Prosperity Dumpling, 46 Eldridge St. (btw. Hester & Canal), (212) 343-0683