Sometimes the best restaurant discoveries are the ones that don't need a complicated concept.
Meet Dumpling in San Diego's Point Loma area is exactly that kind of place.
The small Chinese restaurant focuses on handmade dumplings and Northern Chinese comfort food, and current local business information shows a 4.7-star rating with more than 300 reviews.
DUMPLINGS COME FIRST
The restaurant's identity is right there in its name.
Meet Dumpling specializes in handmade dumplings, including soup dumplings and other traditional varieties.
The appeal is partly in the food itself and partly in the experience of ordering several kinds and comparing them around the table.
DON'T MISS THE ROUGAMO
One of the more interesting dishes at Meet Dumpling is the rougamo, sometimes described as a Chinese-style stuffed flatbread or “Chinese burger.”
It is associated with the Xi'an region and brings together bread and savory meat in a format that is very different from the dumplings most American diners already know.
For adventurous eaters, it is one of the dishes that makes the restaurant worth exploring beyond soup dumplings.
A SMALL RESTAURANT WITH BIG FLAVOR
Meet Dumpling has a neighborhood feel rather than the atmosphere of a large banquet restaurant.
That intimacy works particularly well with the menu.
This is food designed to be ordered, shared and eaten while it's fresh.
The restaurant's focused menu also means diners can concentrate on a handful of specialties instead of trying to navigate an enormous catalog.
NORTH COUNTY? NOT QUITE — BUT WORTH THE DRIVE
Point Loma gives Meet Dumpling a different setting from the larger Convoy restaurant corridor.
That makes it especially interesting for San Diego diners who want to explore Chinese food beyond Kearny Mesa.
The restaurant is also close enough to other Point Loma destinations to make it a natural part of a broader day of exploring the area.
THE SOCALEAT TAKE
Meet Dumpling is a strong choice for anyone searching for handmade Chinese dumplings in San Diego.
With a 4.7-star rating and hundreds of reviews, it has developed the kind of local following that makes a small neighborhood restaurant worth putting on your food map.
VISIT MEET DUMPLING
Meet Dumpling
2907 Shelter Island Dr., Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 269-7668
https://www.meetdumplingfood.com/
Current rating: Approximately 4.7 stars with 300+ reviews in local business data.