Best Peter Chang Dishes RVA - Pork Soup Dumplings

As a new budding foodie, exploring Asian-Cuisine and attempting to take on the Michelin Star system, with a more affordable and realistic approach. I don't want to break my wallet or yours and The Dumpies is here to give open, honest, and hopefully personable reviews of restaurants from someone who does not have any culinary experience or any particular outstanding taste buds that I know of. My experience is watching any Guy Fieri show at any given time, and growing up on loving the late Anthony Bourdain and their love and passion of all things food! Let's be honest though, 99% of the people in the world, those of us who pass each other on the sidewalk, aren't 5 star chefs and we taste and experience food differently! We LOVE Michelin Star restaurant foods don’t get me wrong, but if you're like me at all, a lot of it goes over my head. I love the small family-owned unmarked restaurant down the road just as much.

Let's start off the bat with Peter Chang - a Szechuan style restaurant with locations in Virginia and Maryland.

3.7 out of 5 stars I believe is a fair and honest review. Now the likelihood that Peter Chang himself was the chef responsible for the meal is extremely unlikely, he’s evidently a legend among culinary experts. I get why his restaurant has expanded into now 8 stores from the time of me writing this. It's simple, yummy, and has variety in their menu. I also would gladly link to their website, but if you do go beware you'll get a warning that the website is 'not secure'.

I ordered two things (granted to-go) Steamed Pork-Dumplings @ $9.00 and I'll begin here. Although, I did order to-go, the tops of each were a bit overcooked and therefor a bit rubbery, just enough to throw me off. The stuffing (pork) was enough to make me lean towards revisiting this at a later date though! The dumpling overall itself would have gotten around a 3.9 out of 5 otherwise, as it was great... but realistically, I'd lie if I said it didn't feel a bit basic and there wasn't a particular pop that would make it stand out from the rest! I understand why it's a popular option on the menu, and I would and will absolutely order again. But I couldn't sit here and award a Dumpy when it didn't blow me away + slightly overcooked. 

I'd like to taste some sort of pop in the stuffing itself and it not have to rely on a sauce (whatever sauce really) to bring the flavor. It was not a house made sauce to my knowledge, BUT if it is I did enjoy that. I'd give that a 4 out of 5, had a little kick but not enough to drown out the sauces flavor. 

The second item was Steamed Soup Bun @ $9.00 too, and yea I absolutely stuck with Dim Sum for my short visit (if you want to learn the history of Dim Sum, and an insight to Dim Sum strong presence in Cantonese cuisine, I highly encourage reading this from Yauatcha! Which is on the list of destinations, they are highly regarded and of course have need awarded a Michelin star. Maybe now they can receive a Dumpy in the near future!). The steamed soup bun I’d give 4.1 out of 5 and was really tasty! The bun was so fluffy, and the stuffing felt like it was meant to accent the sweet bun. Add sauce to the flavor and BOOM, was so good! I would absolutely order this again.

Bonus: Item On The Menu That Caught My Attention! Crispy Pork Belly, I absolutely love pork belly, so this would be a now brained if my goal for this visit wasn’t to take on the dumplings and soup buns! It’s considered one of the restaurants signature dishes which would definitely lead me back here.

It's really important to me to be open to any experience without prior judgement. Which is great, because before starting all of this and even now still, my knowledge of dumplings, Asian-cuisine, etc., is limited at best. I want to be fair and critical because I want the first Dumpy to really stand out and for others to go in and be blown away. Did you have a different, better, or otherwise dope moment here? Let me and others know! Comment below to do so.

Peter Chang did great, I definitely recommend checking any of their locations out. To be clear, this review is technically for the Peter Chang restaurant located in downtown Scott’s Addition, VA! But we can't just hand out awards when we want to post up against the Michelin star rating system. I will be going back to explore more options on the menu ASAP and am looking forward to doing so.