West Seattle – July 5, 2019

While exploring West Seattle on a rare day off for the both of us, we stumbled upon Dumplings of Fury. For those that know Ray and I well, they know that dumplings are one of our all-time/top-five favorite foods. A food encased in itself? Hello superior snack! Intrigued by the name and menu outside, we decided to dive in.

Let’s talk about the….

SPACE

• 

• 

Dumplings of Fury is definitely a hole-in-the-wall place with limited counter seating inside and a few two-person patio tables outside. Most patrons opt for take-out orders. We decided to sit outside for our visit to enjoy the food, fresh air and a bit more elbow room. While limited in space, the restaurant held a steady stream of visitors while we were there, either picking up a takeout order or enjoying their grub at the restaurant. There seemed to be a mix of West Seattle locals who knew what they wanted and newbies (like us) who took a bit longer to peruse the chalkboard menu. Clearly a space to sit down and eat is not stopping customers from visiting the establishment.

SERVICE

Understanding the nature of the restaurant as fast-casual, we didn’t have any expectations as far as service. The only times we interacted with a server was when they brought our food out to our table. Otherwise, we got our own utensils and water. Again, we didn’t really expect a fine-dining experience as far as service with a super attentive waiter, so the service was as expected for the nature of the establishment.

That being said, the staff were diligent in providing food to all customers in a timely manner, for both dine-in and take out.

FOOD

In short, the food we ordered had good taste and were large in portions. We also appreciated that they hand make all of their dishes and dumplings. We ordered:

• Beef Jiaozi – This dumpling was filled with brisket meat that was cooked pulled-pork style. The dumpling was tasty with deliciously seasoned meat but Ray thought the wrapper/wrapping was too thick. I, however, thought that the wrapper to meat ratio was just right.

• Shrimp and Pork Wonton – These dumps (what we like to call dumplings for short) were a little too spicy for my tastes. While I shy away from spice, Ray is a fan of heat and while he thought these also had a bit of a kick, they weren’t as spicy as he would have liked. The wrapper on these dumplings were more to Ray’s liking but we both agreed that as far as taste, the Beej Jiaozi’s fared better.

• Pork Belly Bao – Again, for those that know Ray and I well, they know that we LOVE pork belly. When we say love, we mean LOVE. If there is something with pork belly on the menu, it’s pretty likely that one of us will be intrigued and want to try/order it. So, when we saw these pork belly baos on the menu at DOF, we both agreed it was a must-order. While tasty, the baos weren’t what we were expecting. The meat inside was more of a char siu pork (Chinese BBQ pork), rather than the traditional pork belly you typically see cooked in restaurants (thick slabs). Although this wasn’t what we expected, the baos were still tasty and a good size.

Shrimp and Pork Wontons

IN SUMMARY

This quaint little hole-in-the-wall is worth a shot if you are in the West Seattle neighborhood, but I don’t know if I would go out of my way for it. The food was tasty and it was nice that it was laid back and casual, but nothing was super extraordinary that made us say “We’re coming here again sooner rather than later.” Worth a visit if you’re in the area or a local, but nothing to change your trip over.

Space and ambiance – Quaint, fast casual, good local neighborhood spot.

Food – Most of it was good, but some hit and misses for the both of us on certain dishes. There seemed to be something missing in each dish for one of us that would have made it perfect.

Service – Appropriate for nature of establishment.

Price – A little overpriced ($9 for each order). While portions were large, still seemed a bit expensive.

Next visit – Maybe the next time we’re in West Seattle, but only if we’ve tried all the other restaurants on our West Seattle list.