Tasty, but not quite juicy.
My one visit in midafternoon may not have found Hua Du's steamed juicy buns (five for $2) at their best; out of the freezer and into the steamer, 20 minutes later they were moist, no more.
While my order steamed (and I stood, and read, at the narrow wallside ledge), the counterwoman shared laughs with three other ladies in the back room — a surprisingly large back room where hundreds of dumplings sat at various stages of preparation. On the wall, photos of the owner with better- and lesser-known political celebrities suggested that she enjoys some renown; the phone number, I now note, is the same as for Sundou Dumpling Restaurant, which once stood on Grand St. Frozen dumplings to go, and wholesale orders, may be Hua Du's raison d'tre.
Hua Du Dumpling Shop
69 Eldridge St. (Grand-Hester Sts.)
212-965-9663
It appears to me that they're making these for Chinese restaurants that're too lazy to make their own. I've seen these culprits before, and they're neither "juicy" nor "soupy" as the menus would describe them.
Posted by: shaogo | March 10, 2009 at 11:29 AM