CN Dumpling — Restaurant in Dublin

Very flavorful Chinese “tapas” & nice atmosphere (3/5 green stars) Open only around 6 months, CN Dumpling is a popular spot thanks to positive reviews in both the Irish Times and Independent. Even on a Monday evening we were asked if we had a reservation (we didn’t but a table was available anyway). As a vegetarian, I appreciated that veggie items were labeled by icons on the menu and that the server pointed out that the scallion oil noodles that I wanted as a side were not vegetarian (beef fat is used). I ended up ordering jasmine rice instead, to go with my Maggi Oyster Mushrooms. The deep fried mushrooms were very good indeed – very meaty in texture and seasoned beautifully. The salt and chili chips were also very nicely seasoned and my brother said his steamed sea bass was delicious.

With two pints of Moretti, the tab seemed reasonable at €45 for a light meal plus drinks. If I was hungry I’d add veggie dumplings and wok tossed greens to that, so maybe €65 would be a more expected tab for dinner with drinks for two. The fried oyster mushrooms were very memorable and I recommend them to anyone who wants to find out how good vegetarian food can be.

I’m also giving CN Dumpling 3/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact, based on the following: Roughly one fifth of the dishes on the menu are vegetarian. I’d love to see a few more veggie dishes – vegetarian Ma Po Tofu, for example, and a vegetarian version of the noodles. Adopting a plant-based diet is the top thing you can do to mitigate climate change, deforestation, biodiversity losses, animal cruelty, and food scarcity. For the other dishes, several are made with chicken and pork (the more sustainable meats) while a few contain beef and prawns (the least sustainable meat and one of the least sustainable kinds of seafood). I appreciate that there’s beer on tap – as draught beer has a much lower carbon and material footprint than bottled beers. No information is provided (either online or on the menu) on ingredient sourcing or other sustainability topics.

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We visited for an early lunch a couple of weekends ago and walked in no problem. I think the restaurant was quiet because it was earlier.

The lady who served us was fantastic, helping with recommendations for the food and pointing us in the direction of the sort of drink we wanted (it was cold and we wanted something hot!)

The food was absolutely delicious. Everything came very quickly and it was all lovely. We particularly enjoyed the dumplings that were in the Szechuan sauce. It wasn't very spicy but it was delicious and we ended up dipping the mushrooms into it which was incredible! All of the food we had was lovely. The dim sum is elevated traditional, so still reminds you of what you would have in a traditional dim sum shop but a couple of steps up in presentation and complexity.

Really enjoyed it.

I do not know if you would need to book in advance, probably of a weekend evening it would be better to book rather than turn up to it being full.

The only addition for me would be some green tea on the menu - but again,...

I was really looking forward to our lunch here and had very high expectations after reading all the positive reviews. Sadly our experience was underwhelming. We ordered a mix of small plates/ bites/dumplings. First to arrive were beef rendang and Szechuan chicken which were both excellent. But it all went downhill from here, next we tried the pork and cabbage dumplings in Szechuan chilli broth, the dumpling wrappers were too thick which made it very doughy and unpleasant, the broth was a let down. I expected it to have some heat but it had none and lacked flavour too. Then we tried the scallops which were overcooked and we finished with a chicken bao bun which was just okay. Service was friendly and attentive. Perhaps it was a bad day in the kitchen but I won't be in a...