What do Shawn Mendes and the San Diego Dumpling Fest have in common? Being Canadian. This March, Dumpling Fest came to San Diego all the way from the Land of the Maple Leaf. As an avid maple syrup consumer and lover of baby moose pictures, I was excited to discover a new facet of Canada within miles of UC San Diego. Tasting Plates, which was founded by Canadian blog Vancouver Foodster, organized an eclectic group of San Diego dumpling spots for folks across the city to enjoy.
For the $63 Dumpling Fest ticket, guests receive an itinerary of restaurants with a fixed tasting plate at each stop along the recommended tour route. The UCSD Guardian’s Photo Editor Keita Kobayashi and I traveled to all four restaurants through the city: Sabores Colombianos, Bhatti Himalayan Grill, Luna’s LUNpias, and Sesame Donuts.
Stop 1: Sabores Colombianos
Our first stop was the bustling yet cozy Sabores Colombianos, a bright establishment in City Heights serving Colombian food. The venue greets its patrons with Colombian music, eclectic artwork, and grand windows offering views of the neighborhood. Their open kitchen fills the restaurant with a cozy, warm glow from the stoves.
The first dish of our tour was an empanada and a buñuelo. The pair is called a “casado” in Colombia — Spanish for “married” — because of how perfectly they complement each other. The dish was partnered with a picante sauce that our waitress said was made less spicy in the U.S., eliciting a giggle from us. We still found it quite spicy! The sauce was crunchy and citrusy with green onion and cilantro and was one of our favorite parts of the whole tour.
Our waitress gave us tips from Colombia on how to best enjoy the casados: dipping them into the picante sauce and eating them side by side.
The crisp empanada shell encased gooey shredded cheese, soft potatoes, vegetables, and shredded beef. The tender meat melted in our mouths and mixed with the empanada’s savory and soft filling. When dipped in the picante sauce, the fresh zing of the lime and spice elevated its flavor to an entirely new level.
The buñuelo, a golden brown ball of pillowy bread, was fluffy and warm with a hint of a rich cheese taste. Spooning the herbs from the picante sauce over the bread let the tiny pockets of air inside soak up the lime juice, making each bite rich and spicy. The mellowness of the dairy was perfectly complemented by the fresh sauce.
As a special treat, our waitress brought us a sample of lulo juice, made from a popular Colombian fruit. The lightly tart and sage-colored juice was topped with a floral and fruity cloud-like foam making for a sweet and sour refreshing drink. This was a highlight of our tasting tour, and we promised to go back for more.
Stop 2: Bhatti Himalayan Grill
Our next stop was Bhatti Himalayan Grill, a family restaurant tucked away in a Kearny Mesa strip mall that serves traditional Nepali food. Crimson hanging lights and leather booths give the establishment a polished and minimalist atmosphere.
We each had two specialty chicken momos and two Nepali-style dumplings, alongside sliced fresh cucumber and sweet, crunchy carrots. The dish was garnished with a sprinkling of cilantro and their authentic Nepali dipping sauce, which had a distinct cumin flavor.
The delicate and chewy momo wrapper encased a generous amount of minced chicken, green onions, and sesame seeds, creating bite-sized dumplings. The complex notes from the spices in the meat created harmonious and juicy bites full of rich and savory flavors that linger in your mouth, especially when dipped in the creamy sauce. As with Sabores Colombianos, the dipping sauce was one of our favorite parts of the dish.
Stop 3: Luna’s LUNpias
The third part of our dinner was found at Luna’s LUNpias. This Poway restaurant was created during the COVID-19 pandemic when the owner, who grew up cooking in her family’s Filipino kitchen, began distributing her food to friends, family, and eventually the public. This love and tradition is evident not only in the food but also in the family photos adorning the walls.
We enjoyed the sampler dish while seated next to a neon sign blazing “It’s how we roll” with a yellow lumpia outline and a TV playing 2000s music videos. The Pork LUNpia, Vegetable LUNpia, a deep-fried Pork with Shrimp Siomai, and the Fusion Mac Salad arrived on a bamboo plate.
The Pork LUNpia was long and thin with a wonderful crunch. It was covered in a sweet and sour sauce that perfectly complemented the salty and soft pork filling. The Vegetable LUNpia was stuffed with soft minced cabbage, carrots, and green onion. It had an alluring peppery aroma and a mild flavor. Both LUNpias were served alongside a housemade spicy garlic vinegar.
The deep-fried siomai was a small golden brown dumpling laid in a bath of Asian Salsa Verde and Korean Chili Oil. The salsa verde was stick-in-the-back-of-your-throat-spicy, and the chili oil was rich and intense. The shrimp gave the dumpling a sharp, piscine flavor and snapped when bitten, while the pork was soft and savory. The exterior was crispy and soaked the sauces up well. We were excited to try an item that wasn’t on their regular menu.
The heap of Fusion Mac Salad consisted of soft macaroni, shredded carrots, and tangy green onions, mixed in a creamy dressing, dusted with furikake seasoning. It was buttery and rich with an umami kick. The soft crunch of the vegetables and the smooth dressing made for wonderfully textured bites.
Stop 4: Sesame Donuts
We concluded the night at Sesame Donuts, where we each picked one of the two Dumpling Fest options: red velvet and blueberry. The shop has a cozy interior with a coffee bar and awards for excellent food and service on the walls. The blueberry was soft and sweet with mellow fruity notes, while the red velvet was rich and sugary.
Dumpling Fest was a fun way to explore different cuisines and find smaller restaurants in the San Diego area that definitely deserve more attention. The mom and pop shops that Tasting Plates chose were high quality and all had delicious dumplings. However, for the steep ticket price of $63, the tiny portion sizes and BYOT — bring your own transportation — situation were not ideal.
Though a Canadian company’s list of the best San Diego restaurants may sound counterintuitive when Yelp, Reddit, and The Guardian’s food reviews exist, they might be onto something. The Fest pointed us in the direction of several hidden San Diego gems. I may even have to give Shawn Mendes’ discography another try.
