Dumpling Shack
The shengjianbao go into the pan raw and are never steamed first, so the leavened dough proves in its own steam while the base fries hard.
Why go
That one-stage cooking is the whole trick. A xiao long bao is unleavened and steamed, which is why it stays soft all over; a shengjianbao is yeasted, hits a hot oiled pan bottom-down, then gets water and a lid, so the base fries while the top proves (Restaurant, James McAllister). Get the timing wrong and you have either a raw crown or a burnt floor. John Li and his wife Yee started this on Broadway Market in 2014 after Li left banking, moved into the Kitchens at Old Spitalfields Market in 2017, and now turn out around 15,000 dumplings a week across four sites with about 50 staff. Li is blunt about the pedigree: We hold our hands up and say we're not natural chefs, but we love food and we're passionate about it.
1 The same team runs Fen Noodles, a hand-pulled noodle counter, in the same market (Old Spitalfields Market).
Order this / avoid
- Order: the shengjianbao, pork and leek, which Hot Dinners calls
just fabulous
and a sturdier cousin of the xiao long bao.2 Add the Tianjin prawn wonton noodle soup, or the spicy sesame paste noodles if you want the chili. - Avoid: planning it for dinner. The Spitalfields counter shuts by 6pm and closes at 5pm on Sunday.
What locals & experts say
- Restaurant (James McAllister, 20 September 2022): John Li on building the business,
It was a real slog,
and on his family,My parents never wanted me to go into the food industry.
1 - Hot Dinners: the fried shengjianbao are
just fabulous,
filled with pork and leek.2 - The Infatuation:
It's no secret that Dumpling Shack's sheng jian bao are London's most reliably tasty soup dumplings. Pan-fried for a crisp bite, packed with pork, and with a slurp of delicious broth, they tick all the boxes.
3 - Local rec: Jeff's list credits Fuchsia Dunlop. No published Dunlop recommendation of this stall could be found, so it is his provenance. REAL.
Good to know
- Which site: this is the Old Spitalfields Market original, in the Kitchens at 16 Horner Square E1 6EW, trading there since 2017. The group also runs a Canary Wharf counter and Sichuan Fry x Dumpling Shack at 2 Westgate Street in Hackney.
- Timing: the operator publishes Monday and Tuesday 11.30am to 6pm, Wednesday to Friday from 11am, Saturday from 10.30am, and Sunday 10.30am to 5pm. The market's own listing prints an 8pm weekday close, so the earlier set is the safer plan.
- Booking: none. Walk up, order, take a number, eat at the communal market tables.
- Price: street-food money. Chilli oil is sold by the jar.
- Dietary: neither the operator nor the market publishes an allergen, gluten-free, celiac or vegan statement. Dumpling wrappers are wheat, so celiac diners have nothing safe here without asking.
- Location: Old Spitalfields Market, three minutes from Liverpool Street.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Dunlop rec" REAL.
- Rec via: Fuchsia Dunlop, per his list. REAL.
Verdict
should-visit — Make the detour at lunch for one dish done better than anywhere else in London. The shengjianbao go into the pan raw rather than steamed first, so the leavened dough proves in its own steam while the base fries, which is a harder thing to time than it looks and is why the bottom shatters and the top stays bready. Hot Dinners calls them 'just fabulous' and The Infatuation calls them 'London's most reliably tasty soup dumplings'. John and Yee Li built it from a Broadway Market stall in 2014 to about 15,000 dumplings a week without either of them being a trained chef. It is a market counter that shuts at 6pm, so it is a lunch plan rather than a night out.