SUPREME DUMPLINGS
ADDRESS: 14603 NE 20th Street #4B, Bellevue, WA 98007
WEBSITE: https://www.supreme-dumplings.com/
My brother Kevin had talked about how he and my sister-in-law Alina had found a new xiao long bao spot up in their area called Supreme Dumplings that they wanted to take me to at some point. One of the more well-known places for xiao long bao would have to be Din Tai Fung, so I was interested to see how this place would stack up. The opportunity came up for lunch one day during my Seattle trip, so we took the drive over to Supreme Dumplings’s Bellevue location.
Located inside a shopping plaza with other Asian restaurants and markets, Supreme Dumplings occupied a space that consisted of two primary dining areas. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how ornate the décor was the moment that I stepped inside. Glass, marble, and wood styling, with a color palette that reminded me of the ocean a bit (aqua and sea foam green were two colors easily spotted). Our waiter, Patrick, came over pretty promptly to give us menus and begin taking our drink order.
For the food selection, in addition to the various types of xiao long bao that they offered, they had pan-fried buns, wontons, soups, along with a number of different rice, noodle, and vegetable dishes as well. For the most part, I deferred to Kevin and Alina for their recommendations of what were good dishes for us to check out. Funny enough, this was their first time eating within the restaurant itself. All of their other previous experiences had primarily been through DoorDash. We went for the pork xiao long bao, the pork chop fried rice, and the pan-fried pork buns. (As you can see, pork was our preferred protein of choice that day.)
From a menu standpoint, there were definitely similarities between Supreme Dumplings and Din Tai Fung. Both had well-rounded menus that consisted of a number of dumpling and wonton options, along with fried rice, noodles, soups, and vegetables. I could definitely appreciate the variety of the choices, since for meals like this, it was always nice to have a balance amongst a number of different dishes and flavors. My usual spread would consist of two dumpling or wonton dishes, a fried rice or noodle dish, and then potentially a vegetable as well.
Our pan-fried pork buns and pork chop fried rice were the two items that ended up arriving out of the kitchen first, before our pork xiao long bao joined them a little bit later. What I always appreciate is how the pan-fried pork buns are crispy on the bottom while remaining more chewy on the rest of the bun. The pork on the inside also remained really juicy as well. I thought that the pork filling also had really good flavor as well, along with the broth that was inside the buns.
The pork chop fried rice definitely delivered on the pork chop portion. Served on the side of the fried rice itself, the sliced breaded pork chop pieces (along with the bone) had been cooked to a nice golden-brown color. The breading was crispy on the outside, and the pork still remained juicy at the same time as well. It served as a great complement to the fried rice, which primarily contained eggs and scallions in it. There was plenty of umami and savory flavors to go around with this dish.
Last, but not least, it was the main event for the meal, the pork xiao long bao. I think this is where I see the benefit of how Din Tai Fung standardizes all of their soup dumplings to have precisely 18 folds. It helps to tuck in the dough of the dumpling itself and minimizes them from looking like “wizard hats” if the dough ends up flattening after they are steamed. But for me, at the end of the day, if the xiao long bao tastes good, that is what matters. Each dumpling was filled with a good amount of broth, the dough itself was a good thickness, and the pork had a really good flavor as well.
All things considered, I think that Supreme Dumplings has a slight edge over Din Tai Fung for me. I was surprised to find that the food quality was on par, if not slightly better, than that of Din Tai Fung, along with the food options also remaining solid as well. The pork chop fried rice was definitely the standout for me between all of the dishes. Another big plus is that the food was very reasonably priced as well. If you’re in the mood for xiao long bao or other Shanghainese food, but don’t want to deal with large crowds or lines, be sure to check out Supreme Dumplings.
Let’s now take a look at the Supreme Dumplings Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Pork Chop Fried Rice **
Crispy breaded pork chop, sliced and served with egg and scallion fried rice.
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** Supreme Pan-Fried Pork Buns **
Crisp-bottom pan-fried buns with pork filling.
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** Supreme Pork Xiao Long Bao **
Steamed soup dumplings with pork filling.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Supreme Dumplings:
Food: 5 / 5
Quality of the food and the variety of different options are both solid all around. I do think that the pork chop fried rice was probably my favorite dish out of all of them, with the pan-fried buns taking second spot. The flavors in each individual dish were pronounced and balanced well with each other.
Atmosphere: 4.75 / 5
The décor definitely gave off an upscale or luxurious vibe, which you wouldn’t have expected just based on the restaurant exterior in this strip mall location. The dining area was nicely lit and all of the dishware and utensils that the food was served on matched the same theme, showing the attention to detail.
Service: 4.5 / 5
Our waiter, Patrick, was good about stopping at our table regularly to check in with us and see how things were going or if we needed anything. He was also helpful to answer some questions we had on the menu as well. The kitchen did a good job to get our food out to us in a pretty timely fashion too.
Price: 5 / 5
With the high quality of the food itself, I was pleasantly surprised to see that you didn’t need to pay a premium for that. The xiao long bao primarily ranged from $11 – $15 per order, depending on the filling, with the most expensive rice or noodle dish coming in at $15.50. The price per person for us ended up being $14, which was really solid overall given how much food that we got.
Overall:
19.25 / 20
(96%)
Categories: Restaurants, Washington
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