My Neighbours the Dumplings (Clapton)
Bec Wharton grew up rearing sheep on a farm outside Bristol, which is why the dumpling everyone argues over here is the lamb one.
Why go
Wharton and Kristian Leontiou opened the Lower Clapton room in April 2016 and put a sake bar called Matilda's in the basement later the same year. She is direct about the lamb: Lamb isn't a common ingredient in Chinese cuisine as it can be quite strong for a lot of people, but the combination works
(Eastlondonlines). The meat is free-range from the Rare Breed Meat Company, and the fish comes from the sustainable fishmonger Soleshare. Dumplings are rolled in house daily. Wharton also lends the room out, hosting Rahel Stephanie of Spoons and opening the space to cooks working in the ESEA sphere. Hackney rated the kitchen 5 on 19 November 2024.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the lamb dumplings, then har gau and sticky rice. The Infatuation says the lamb pot-stickers are good enough that you would
punch your dining companion in the face over the last one.
2 The whole steamed lemon sole in coriander butter sauce was the Hackney Citizen's best dish. - Avoid: the crispy pork belly, called
incredibly salty, cumbersome to eat,
and the fish of the day, which the same review says tends to come outmushy.
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What locals & experts say
- Bec Wharton, co-founder, to Eastlondonlines (Charmaine Wong, 18 April 2023):
Food has always been in my life. I grew up on a farm just outside Bristol and we reared sheep.
1 - The Infatuation (David Paw, 31 January 2022, 7.7), with the caveat included:
on the odd visit, we've found the quality to be not that much better than the average spot in Chinatown.
On the pork belly specifically:incredibly salty, cumbersome to eat, and not a patch on the average Chinatown spot,
and the fish of the day tends to bemushy.
2 - Hackney Citizen (15 April 2016): the siu mai
weren't firm enough, and the pork in the filling overpowered the prawn,
and prawn wontons at five pounds camedry, with a thimble-sized portion of sauce.
The paper still said it woulddefinitely head there when hit by a dumpling craving.
3 - Time Out London (Sonya Barber, 20 May 2016, 4/5): highlighted the vegetarian side of the menu, naming
steamed shiitake mushroom dumplings and fried aubergine and sesame 'potstickers'.
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Good to know
- Which branch: this is the Clapton original at 165 Lower Clapton Road. The Victoria Park site at 178 Victoria Park Road E9 7HD opened in late 2019 and is a separate kitchen with its own inspection.
- Timing: Clapton trades seven days. Victoria Park runs Wednesday to Sunday.
- Booking: worth booking. The room has been busy since it opened.
- Drinks: sake cocktails, with Matilda's in the basement.
- Price: the Hackney Citizen paid 60 pounds for two in 2016 with one cocktail and called it a shade too pricey. No current prices are published.
- Dietary: nothing flagged. Time Out named good vegetarian dumplings in 2016, which is too old to carry as a current statement, so check the menu.
- Hygiene: FSA record 1000231, rating 5 under Hackney, inspected 19 November 2024.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Good spot" REAL.
Verdict
could-visit — Bec Wharton grew up on a farm outside Bristol rearing sheep, and the dumpling that carries her name in every review is lamb and coriander, a filling she points out most Chinese kitchens avoid. The har gau are well made, the sticky rice is good, the meat is free-range from the Rare Breed Meat Company and the fish comes from Soleshare, and there is a sake bar in the basement. The catch is consistency: The Infatuation says that on the odd visit the quality is no better than an average Chinatown spot, and both 2016 reviews found specific dumplings dry or underdone. Go if you are in Clapton, order the lamb, skip the pork belly.