Tiger Soup Dumplings （FENTON） — Restaurant in Fenton

My wife and I had lunch here on a Wednesday afternoon. It's in Fenton, about about 20 minutes from my house. The first thing that struck me upon entering was the exotic design on the floor... reddish-brown swirls, spots, drips and splashes on an off-white background. It's unique and pretty neat looking. The restaurant itself is open, spartan, and well-lit. Food orders are placed at the front and you are given a number for your table.

The menu is simple and limited with a few dumpling options, which are available steamed or fried. The staff will bring your food to you. We picked up disposable plates, napkins, spoons and utensils (chopsticks) and found a place to sit. There were plenty of open tables. An illustrated instruction banner on how to eat the dumplings, which I found helpful, adorns one wall. The key thing to remember is that the dumplings are very hot on the inside...it's easy to burn your lip on the first dumpling or two. Each tables has hot chili paste, vinegar, and soy sauce for condiments.

After not too long a wait, our food was brought out. We both had steamed pork dumplings, a bottle of water (very limited beverage options), and I also had the cucumber salad. The cuke salad was made from mini cucumbers cut up into bite-sized pieces in an umami sauce, served in a styrofoam cup. I liked it. Would I order it again? 50-50...if I was really hungry, yes (it comes out several minutes prior to the dumplings). Otherwise... meh.

Six good-sized dumplings were served in a circular bamboo steamer box. As warned, they were quite hot on the inside. I poked holes in mine, to get them to cool down a little faster. We both really enjoyed the meal. I tried dumplings plain and then with various combinations of vinegar, chili paste and soy sauce. Not sure what my favorite was... I enjoyed every bite. We spent $30 (total, for two people, including a tip), which I felt was reasonable given the quality and enjoyment.

We'll definitely go back and try one of the other dumpling options (beef, chicken or shrimp and cheese). Wish this place was closer to...

I’ve been coming here for a while now and unfortunately this will be the last time. I stopped by for lunch, no other customers were inside and there were about 4-5 employees in the kitchen. After placing my order and paying. I waited for about 45 minutes, which was unusual. As I am waiting still, two people of color came in and placed their order and sat down, 3 minutes later an employee rushed over with all of their food and drinks. Mind you I only had a tea, and dumplings. After the two people of color were served immediately, I noticed a kitchen employee look and point at me and give the manager a thumbs up and laugh? I continued to sit and wait for my food. 10-12 minutes later I finally got my food. No matter somebody’s skin color, everybody should be treated equal, as a white person this is disappointing to see a place with great food treat people differently based on color. The food is always good and fresh as well. Even with their expensive price increases I always tip 20-30% even though it’s carry out. You lost a great long term customer, I hope you change the way you treat...

Finally got to try this restaurant out after the article in Feast or Sauce can't remember which one. First off, I don't understand the price of steamed vs pan-fried. Pan Fried is $1.00 more than steamed and from what I saw they're the same filling-wise, but the steamed ones look bigger and they're cheaper. I ordered the Shrimp, Pork, and Beef pan-fried, they smelled good and tasted good. My critique is filling is not very hardy, more like a one-bite dumpling. For the price, I would expect a hardy filling in the dumplings. I get 6 pot stickers cheaper and with more filling and flavor in them from Sesame Seed. Maybe, that's why I'm a little biased. Again tasty, but short on the filling for the $11.99 price for six. Steamed for the same is $10.99. So you can see my confusion in the same dumpling only pan-fried vs steamed. For my taste, they were good, but not my cup of tea for the price or the amount of filling. The place was clean, with comfortable seating and the staff was warm and welcoming. I would state to go in the back way as the first entry can be cumbersome with another...