NYC Dumpling Fest

2015 Festival. 3.5 stars. It was my first time going to this festival and also hearing about it. One of the main reasons I wanted to go was because I wanted a picture with Dumpling Mama, so cute! Anyway, a bunch of my friends and I got here about 15 minutes before they even began selling the tasting tickets. It was a good thing we got there early too, no lines! We were probably one of the first groups at the photo booth as well.
I felt that the dumplings that were offered at each stand weren’t the best, but at least the money was going to a good cause. Although, the mushroom ravioli was the best out of everything we tried and certainly the most filling. My friends and I stayed through the dumpling eating contest… you might wanna think twice watching those intense contestants scarf down those dumplings. Perhaps it would have been better if the venue was a little bigger because at some point, it just got too crowded. It was an overall nice experience, but I’m not sure if I would go again.

It’s a good idea. And it would’ve been fun, but there was just SO MANY PEOPLE. The lines were so long that it took 20 minutes to get from one sample to the next.
20 $ for a 4 trays of dumplings. about 5 items per small paper tray. It’ll definitely get you full. Its a bit expensive, but it’s for a good cause and you get to try a lot of different types of dumplings!
We were at go! bib and they had tiny little fried dumplings that were awesome. Oh and they were giving out tubes of gochujang which paired SO well with the dumplings! I wish I had taken more…
The japanese station had fried buns which were great. and then we tried another station with pork and basil or chicken and basil dumplings.
At the front there were dumpling eating contests and we saw one woman eat 93 dumplings! a world record. All in all, fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon. Good way to try different dumplings!
Will definitely be back next year for the dumpling eating contest

Probably one of the worst festival I have been to. At first the line is almost 30 minutes long for every dumpling stand therefore I won’t even consider trying any of them. Some of the best dumpling places are less than 5 minute walk away.
Eating is NOT a sport!!! ESPN should never consider that. If you consider giving food to hungry people a sport, I might support that. Packing your mouth with 50 dumpling doesn’t make the cut. Disgusting
I think they need a bigger place like central park for the event. There are a lot of people in a small nyc basketball park. It’s a shame consider dumpling is one of my favorite food. They need more authentic dumpling vendors as most of them as far as I can see are like microwaved dumpling. Wholefood is right across the street. I think they just grab it from their freezer and sell it in the street.
There are a lot of improvement.

This festival definitely had a lot to offer. $ 20 got you a tasting ticket. You took the ticket and waited on line at a vendor of your choosing. There were about a dozen vendors. Korean, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Japanese, Polish, etc. The vendors offered a short menu and you would get a sample from a menu category of your choosing. The samples WERE NOT 1 dumpling each. Each vendor varied but some samples were 4, 6 and 8 PIECES! So by the time you ate through your ticket you’d be full.
Some other reviews were commenting on how there were only frozen dumplings but I can’t say that is true because the ravioli was awesome and fresh! It was covered in a creamy sauce with herbs, etc. Maybe that was previous years.
The dumpling eating competition was a blast. The female winner, Molly, ate 93 dumplings in 2 minutes!!! (She totally out-​ate the male winner).
There were some other cute things going on like a photo booth and stuff but I didn’t partake. And it was nice that it was in a park and the weather was perfect so afterwards you could take a stroll and burn off those dumpling calories.
It was very crowded so I hope next year is in a bigger venue. Either way, I’ll be there!

It’s a pretty neat event and for a great cause. Plus there’s a dumpling eating contest along with a bit of entertainment. They could use a more interesting variety of dumplings as almost all of them seemed to come from frozen store-​bought packs rather than made fresh, except the ravioli which was the yummiest one.

So festive. Tons of people. Super long lines. A super fun way to spend the afternoon. $ 20 for a 4 tasting sample but the first booth didn’t check the box, and I was probably full after the first one anyway. No booze so we picked up a few six packs on the way (the way to go) so far I’ve seen a beat boxer, belly dancers, raffle offs (the chick reading the numbers was pretty funny. If there was slightly less people it might be a bit more enjoyable but over all an awesome way to spend the afternoon
Update: apparently there’s a fire so they shut down the electricity… I.e. No more entertainment

This is a pretty cool event. Dumplings deserve their own festival for sure! I didn’t get the dumpling ticket because there are so many awesome places to eat in the neighborhood and I had plans to go elsewhere. I know it’s $ 20 for some frozen dumplings but it’s for a good cause after all.
I came to watch the contest because my bf/​friends were in it. The dancing dragon show was pretty cool too. My only complaint was that it dragged out a lot. They had a bunch of speakers, then 6 separate contests — 3 waves for each gender. The contest is fun to watch though. I personally think they should cut down the number of people though.
My recommendation? Enter the contest — they usually don’t have enough people to fill all the slots. Free lunch! Then you don’t have to feel so bad about spending $ 20 on a dumpling ticket.
Oh and the event staff was very nice. I was taking photographs and the PR rep gave me a media kit and asked me if I wanted to get closer. I thought that was extremely nice of her.

I didn’t opt to eat food. I came to support a friend who performed in the show. I think they should definitely host it in a larger park as it was difficult to navigate through some of the food lines. The dumplings looked great though.

while i’m happy to have contributed towards a charitable cause, it would have been a more fulfilling experience if the dumplings here were actually good. unfortunately they were mostly mediocre or bad. having to wait on long lines in the intense heat, having to hear the horribly annoying MC’s voice, and ending up with crappy freezer dumplings… total fail.

I didn’t mind the lines, but look, I can heat up dumplings that come out of a bag, too. If I am paying $ 20 for four samplings and having to wait in line for each of those samplings, it would be nice if the dumplings were made by actual chefs for the festival. $ 20 is too expensive for precooked bagged dumplings that were heated up.

100% of the proceeds went to the Food Bank NYC so I am okay with having spent $ 20 on a ticket. But the dumplings were SO disappointing. Yes, the line sucked but if the food was delicious and were not poorly heated-​up frozen food products, then I would not have complained. The Macao Trading pan-​fried dumplings and the buttery perogies were the most edible. Also, I think everyone waiting on the lines was extremely annoyed with the MC’s loud, shrieking voice.
The second star is for the dumpling mascot. He was getting his groove on on stage and was definitely the best part of the dumpling festival.

I’m asian, so naturally I was there… duh.
$ 20 bucks for 4 samples of dumplings is… expensive! These are dumplings from frozen bags that were boiled and then seasoned/​fried. They were not amazing or worth the long lines in the heat! (Don’t get me started on the heat!!!)
If I decide to go back next year, then I would just get my moneys worth and try the eating contest. I could down 20 – 30 easy… Some people up there ate under 10? Embarrasing…

I’m surprised by the negative reviews on the event board for the Dumpling Fest. I went for an hour and had a nice time.
9 times out of 10 you have to know the lines at festivals long. At least at the dumpling festival the lines moved quickly. You haven’t experienced atrocious lines unless you experienced the Parked Food Truck Festival. Those lines didn’t move AT ALL.
What I liked about the fest, each vendor had two dishes to choose from. 4 dumplings each, ordering was quick and painless. Forging another line wasn’t so painful. They had all types of dumplings, from asian to Polish perogies and ravioli (Italy’s dumpling?). My fave, Bruce Cost Natural Chicken with Vegetable.
The most awesome parts, the giant dumpling AND Mr. Dumpling Man. Plus, the winner of the dumpling eating contest won $ 1000 bucks. That’s pretty sweet. I should have entered, I totally would have kicked some butt.