West Seattle restaurants: Dumplings of Fury opens Wednesday

Story and photos by Randall Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

As reported here a few weeks ago, Dumplings of Fury is set to furiously serve several styles of dumplings to the masses tomorrow when the hotly anticipated restaurant officially opens for business at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Proprietor Ben Jenkins used a “soft open” Tuesday night to give his new venture a test run, giving a handful of Westsiders the chance to see the completed space and, more importantly, sample the food.

An abbreviated menu available Tuesday night offered guests not only a variety of dumpling options, but also revealed steamed-bun sandwiches and soup.

Patrons will also be able to indulge in strawberry or mango bubble tea, soft drinks, bottled beer, and wine served in cans.

The shop has minimal countertop seating, with eight bar stools inside the rather small space and another four small tables arranged for al-fresco dumpling eating. Considering the fairly quick preparation of the food, however, turnover of the seating should not be an enormous problem. Even so, orders Tuesday were conveniently packaged in fairly robust to-go containers.

Matt Siegel and Deborah Caul of Columbia City stumbled upon the restaurant opening via a “bit of serendipity” and managed to get a preview of what many West Seattle restaurant-goers have long been awaiting.

“It’s fresh, and hot, and a little bit different,” says Caul, who says the couple had come to The Junction to have dinner at Lee’s Asian Restaurant across the street, but learned too late that the Junction fixture is closed Tuesdays.

Siegel says the Xai Long Bao (soup dumpling) reminded him of wildly successful Taiwanese dumpling restaurant Din Tai Fung and that, despite the 20-minute drive from Columbia City, he’d return for more. “I’d come over here before I’d go to Bellevue.”

West Seattleites Ashley Coulson and Stephanie Moores were instant fans of the restaurant, praising not only the food, but the assortment of wines, the quality of the table chili, and “the best people-watching” from the outdoor tables.

Dumplings of Fury – first mentioned here 11 months ago – will be open daily Wednesday through Sunday, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., 4302 SW Oregon. Jenkins says that extending hours later, particularly on weekends, is a possibility down the road.

LAH July 20, 2016 (8:27 am)

I’m super excited as I love dumplings!!! I was definitely hoping they would be open for lunch but I’ll take what I can get.

WSJoe July 20, 2016 (9:16 am)

An address or location would have been a nice addition to the story.

WSB July 20, 2016 (9:20 am)

SW Oregon just west of California.
MsD July 20, 2016 (9:44 am)

Translation from the Passive-Aggressive: “Could you please provide an address?”
- WSB July 20, 2016 (9:50 am)
  
  I have added it to the story, last graf. We have reported on this place what seems like a zillion times and been asked about it a zillion more, to the point where I would have thought the location is burned into the collective memory, but that’s no excuse for missing it one time, and I have to remember that there’s always someone who might have just arrived, or might be coming from across the city, or might not have visited our site (repository of a decade of details) before. – TR
  
  P.S. Reporter Randall also later sent an image of last night’s menu board, and I’ve added that midstory.
  - MsD July 20, 2016 (11:04 pm)
    
    Yes, I know where it is located, I was just correcting the typical WS passive-aggressiveness and apparent inability to use Google.

newnative July 20, 2016 (9:40 am)

hope they have earlier hours on weekends. that would be nice during the Farmer’s Market. In any case, this is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Progressive dinner/pub crawl in the near future?

Gina July 20, 2016 (10:56 am)

Good plan to take it slow and easy with opening hours.

Allison July 20, 2016 (11:03 am)

Yay Dumplings of Fury!

Chelsea July 20, 2016 (12:28 pm)

I’m so excited about their food! But am I the only one who is a little put off by their cheesy-chinesey-look? I guess I was hoping a white guy-restaurant owner in Seattle would choose NOT to use racial stereotypes. So tacky.

Don’t worry, it’s not going to stop me from eating some delicious dumplings.

WSB July 20, 2016 (12:41 pm)

That line of discussion emerged following our December report about the sign going up: https://westseattleblog.com/2015/12/junction-biznotes-sound-credit-union-dumplings-of-fury/#comments
AT July 20, 2016 (4:55 pm)

Agree that the font & kitsch factor are not a draw, and that xia long bao is not the usual accepted spelling. I’ll probably give them a try at some point, would be pleasantly surprised if they can compete with Din Tai Fung or Dough Zone on xlb deliciousness. And since all their prices are negative, I’ll happily pay minus nine dollars for a bowl of spicy dumplings! ;)

waikikigirl July 20, 2016 (12:42 pm)

Plate’s empty, 2nds please!

Martina July 20, 2016 (12:53 pm)

Shhhh!!! Parking is already going to be a nightmare, do we really need people from Columbia City and wherever else to find this?? It’s directly on my commute home, and I planned on picking up dinner frequently, but I guess it depends on whether I can find a spot for my car… either way, thanks Ben and Grant and Joe for this awesome idea – I know I’ll be all like, “shut up and take my money” from now on. :)

GlynB July 20, 2016 (1:01 pm)

Yes, I am also not impressed with the font. Not a great choice.

West Sea Neighbor July 20, 2016 (1:19 pm)

Also, if you are going to use the pinyin instead of english for “soup dumplings,” it should read “Xiao Long Bao”, not “Xia Long Bao”. Small thing, but annoying to Chinese speakers.

Jon July 20, 2016 (5:11 pm)

Something tells me that wasn’t on their list of priorities.

The Ching-Chong Ding-Dong presentation is slightly off-putting, given the context; as are the inflated prices for what I imagine will not be Din Tai Fung-quality products (not a knock against them — that’s just the bar by which most dumplings are measured). It makes sense for DTF to charge as much as they do because it’s a Michelin Star establishment totally worth the wait and price.

My guess is that they were going for a Shaw Bros.-style Kung-Fu exploitation vibe? I don’t know what they were thinking, really; but I tend to agree: if you’re going to try to come off as authentic, at least do your research when you write out the menu.

Hopefully it’s good. I’m not sure it’ll replace DTF or any of the numerous (and amazing) places in Chinatown, but — we’ll see.

erm July 20, 2016 (1:29 pm)

I think the font is more of an homage than an appropriation. Looks awesome, but alas, my celiac heart shall remain dumpling free. Look past my tear stained pillow, west seattle, and enjoy a dumpling or two for me.

waikikigirl July 20, 2016 (2:06 pm)

OMGoodness every body is so serious now a days!

They’re dumplings and we stuff them down our pie-holes I don’t think they meant any harm by the name on the “awning” or on their menu.

S July 20, 2016 (5:20 pm)

It’s more ignorant than intentional.

Noona July 20, 2016 (4:49 pm)

I love dumplings too and am thrilled to have them in the Junction! I’ll be there as soon as I can, so please don’t run out of food before I get there. But, count me among those who think that the font perpetuates the kind of stereotyping that doesn’t belong in this day and age.

Mr E July 20, 2016 (5:06 pm)

From WSJ: Is Your Font Racist?

For the tl;dr crowd (emphasis mine):

The first Jennifer Lee sent an email to FreshDirect, calling out their “unfortunate use of stereotypical typography,” and noting that she was “disappointed by the laziness of using an outdated and unimaginative font in the logos to advertise the ‘Orientalness’ of  the cuisine.”

Enjoy your dumplings.

hj July 20, 2016 (5:42 pm)

I’m also reading the logo as a ’70s kung fu homage rather than as a sign of authentic Chinese culture. I mean, the name of the place is “Dumplings of Fury”. It’s kind of obvious.

Jon July 20, 2016 (6:11 pm)

I believe that’s the idea. And to be clear: I’m not offended myself, nor am I offended for somebody; it just seems like an odd choice if you’re not going to go all the way with it (something more along the lines of Easy Street’s naming conventions but named after old film stars / characters).

XLB are notoriously difficult to make, so — if they’re able to pull that off with the proper skin thickness, I’ll be extremely impressed.

Gina July 20, 2016 (7:22 pm)

And they have sold out of dumplings! There were loads of them, too!

Also Chelsea July 20, 2016 (11:05 pm)

I am so, so delighted to have a dumpling/steamed bun place right down the street.

Hubby brought some home, though apparently they were already sold out of some things when he went in. The soup dumplings are very flavorful, but the dough was a little thick and sticky in comparison to the gold standard of Din Tai Fun. That being said, he brought home and order of the fried chicken pinch buns and OMG, they were amazing. I can’t wait to try the beef, which were apparently already sold out.

AT July 21, 2016 (11:26 am)

If they plan on doing a lot of takeout, very thin skins on XLB would be problematic. When I eat in at Dough Zone or DTF, often the last few stick and tear by the time I get to them, which is not a long time. I can’t imagine a soup dumpling with a nice thin skin surviving a to-go box and a drive home.

LKT July 20, 2016 (11:50 pm)

The food was delicious and worth the wait on crazy opening night! My favorite were shrimp and pork wontons: super silky flavorful with tiny crisp bits of fried green onions and delicious spicy sauce. Two of us ordered four items and couldn’t finish them all. I don’t want to compare a fun, independent local startup with a big international chain. D. of F. reminds me of the little neighborhood dumpling shops where I lived in China in both deliciousness and spirit, and I’ll be back. As for the Font Controversy, I’m with HJ. I’m saving my indignation for The Orange One these days. PS to Jon: We don’t use Chinatown anymore.

Maria August 2, 2016 (11:37 pm)

Actually, Chinatown is okay to use. Most cities have a Chinatown still, and Seattle’s is officially Chinatown-Int’l District per all the Chamber/Business organizations

As far as the font, the restaurant name spoofs the Bruce Lee movie Fists of Fury of the 70’s, so the font is in keeping with the tongue in cheek. Would not work for a large establishment, but doesn’t bother me as a hole-in-the-wall.