Tang Dumplings [Hershey]

Finding myself desperate for a late lunch in Hershey recently, surrounded by seemingly every single FF / fast casual restaurant chain in the US (you name it, it was there) & not wanting that slop, I was super-excited to discover a relatively new dumpling place in a mall just a stone’s throw from my hotel.

The online reviews were overall very positive, and I was starving.

The host, whose accent I immediately recognized as Turkish was extremely friendly and lead me to a table overlooking the open kitchen and the pleasing modern design. We chatted about Turkish food, compared our very basic knowledge of Turkish / German & commiserated on how it’s damn near impossible to get a good Adana kebab in PA, and how excited I was to have all the good stuff in Berlin very soon :slight_smile:

But back to the topic at hand & what I came for in the first place: XLB! The menu also has a good selection of steamed & pan-fried dumplings, a handful of ramen, stir-fried noodz & fried rice, plus a few Sichuan dishes.

I ordered the standard pork XLB, which I was told would take about 20 min. Did I mention I was starving? And so, I ordered MOAR dumplings as an app — wontons in spicy peanut sauce that were scrumptious & even better with some of the chile oil provided on the table, along with the prerequisite black vinegar & soy sauce.

The XLB arrived much sooner than expected, and for a hot minute I thought I might have to take half of them back to the hotel. The wontons had been quite filling, presumably due to the rich peanut sauce they came with.

But I womaned up :woman_dancing:t2: :flexed_biceps:t2: and ate them ALL: plump as they were, with delicate skins of which only one tore (SADZ!), and a flavorful broth with juicy meat.

You can order all the food through a tablet that is brought to the table, but I preferred going through my server, who was also super-friendly.

Sated & happy I suggested my PIC and I try some of the other dishes for our dinner that same day. The mapo doufu and garlic cukes were calling my name, the crispy duck his.

We shared excellent pork & shrimp siu mai for starters along with the cukes that were just ok,

and we enjoyed the duck quite a bit,

but the mapo doufu was a major letdown. I’ve never had it served with anything but leeks, whereas this came with frozen peas & carrots & was entirely lacking heat and ma la.

Conclusion: take your cue from the restaurant’s name & stick to the dumpling section of the menu, which is clearly their forte.

BYOB.

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