The Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire doesn’t get a lot of turnover in restaurants, and when it does, there’s often a lot of local buzz, even if it’s something as relatively pedestrian as a Jersey Mike’s. That’s definitely the case for Happy Dumpling, which opening in West Lebanon’s Powerhouse Plaza, in one of the storefronts freed up when the NH Liquor store moved to their new building on Route 12A. They announced the restaurant in May, with an opening later in the year, and we got several months of eager anticipation on various local discussions groups to follow. So yeah, there’s some pent up demand for something new.
The restaurant is owned by Michael Liu and Jaycee Yu, who moved up to Lebanon from Massachusetts with the goal of opening an informal Chinese restaurant primarily serving dumplings and noodle dishes. As such, the menu is pretty simple and the place is counter service: you walk up to the counter or the kiosk, and order from a selection of dumplings (fried or steamed, plus a real bonus: soup dumplings), noodle dishes and soups, or a small selection of sides. The interior is a bit spartan, with an ambiance more like a postal substation than a restaurant, but it’s neat, clean, and bright at least. Hopefully at some point they’ll put up some artwork, which would help a lot.
Carol and I have both had several visits to Happy Dumpling, so this review covers a handful of visits sampling the menu. But I’ll start out with some favorites. In particular, the soup dumplings. Those that have read my review of Qing Hua in Montreal know I adore soup dumplings, and they are a bit of a rare beast in the Upper Valley (although Han Fusion in Hanover pretty regularly has some good ones on the menu). “Soup Dumplings” is actually a family of styles, and the ones here are basic Shanghai style: tender little pockets of thin dumpling dough steamed up with an interior of meat, veggies, and soup broth. Happy Dumpling offers up both chicken and pork variations, and I always get the pork. Delivered as an order of five dumplings in a steam tray (with some small bowls, little containers of pepper oil, and Chinese-style soup spoons on the side), these are pretty much exactly what I’m looking for: a good filling of well-seasoned pork and chive in a rich brother, just ready to burst as it hits your mouth. Definitely a solid winner here, and I think we’ve gotten these every time we go.
They also have a nice variety of steamed and fried dumplings, so we’ve also given the fried dumplings a try as well. Ordering the pork variety, these were basically the same pork and chive filling as the soup dumpling, but without the broth, served up in some crisply-fried dumpling wrappers. Quite good, but depending on the time of day you go, the oil does seem to get a bit on the dirty side. Still, an enjoyable treat.
Another appetizer on the menu that I really enjoyed was a chicken one: Taiwan-style popcorn chicken. This is your basic popcorn chicken, but it’s served up dusted with a special house spice blend (in mild and spicy variants) with a selection of dipping sauces. The chicken itself is perfectly done: crispy, moist inside, and not overly greasy. The spice blend (we got the spicy variant) adds a nice combination of pepper and umami. Dipped in the dumpling sauce, these are a nice little treat, and quite affordable (the $7.95 portion is quite a heap of popcorn chicken). This is probably my second favorite dish on the menu.
While my favorite dish at Happy Dumpling is definitely the soup dumplings, I’ve also done some of the soups. One of the favorites from the soup menu is the spicy Dan-Dan noodle soup, served up with either beef or pork (I opted for the latter). This had most of what I’m looking for in a good Dan-dan noodle soup: a rich and very flavorful broth, a good selections of vegetables, and some nice seared diced pork on top. Enjoyable, but compared to some of the other Dan-dan noodle soups I’ve had recently (like the excellent ones at Ru Yi Hand-Pulled Noodle in Madison, WI, they could up the noodle game a bit here; the noodles here eat like spaghetti.
I’ve also gone for one of the vegetarian dishes a few times, the shallot oil dry noodles. With cucumber, scallion, and tofu, nicely stir-fried, this one of the better, and healthier, options, but again, the noodles here are a bit more like spaghetti than most Chinese noodles. A slight improvement in the noodles would make for a seriously good dish.
Finally, they offer a menu item pretty rare in New England that I’ve encountered a few times, the “Chinese Burger” (肉夹馍, or Rou Jia Mo). This is a patty of crumbled, seasoned beef, served with cilantro, green pepper, and scallion in a flaky flatbread. I know these are a real thing, and the version I had was similar to those I’ve had in San Francisco and New York City, but this just didn’t satisfy me. Interesting, but one of those “try once” sort of item.
Overall, I do really enjoy that Happy Dumpling has come to the valley. If I’m craving a light lunch or dinner when about, an order of soup dumplings is just the ticket, especially in cooler weather. A handful of the other items like the popcorn chicken and shallot oil noodles are also a nice treat, and the prices affordable. One oddity that I’ll mention: when you order at the kiosk, it asks you to enroll in their rewards program. Don’t bother: the rewards are set to 0, so you’re entering your phone number and verifying it for literally nothing, your balance will stick at zero. Honestly, this doesn’t bother me that much, but they should shut if off if not using it; it detracts from an otherwise good experience.
