Joe’s Ginger, Chinatown

Eats Meats West is just not that into soup dumplings.  Or at least, we’ve never had any that really spoke to us in a transcen

dent way, as they seem

to come off when so many

others describe the ones from Joe’s Ginger and Joe’s Shanghai.  They’re just a generic meatball with some melted gelatinous broth.  Big whoop.  But I digress, and I’ve covered this already in great detail.  Let’s back up a bit: The day was Chinese New Year, and it was fast becoming the year of the tiger.  Specifically, the metal tiger.  Its  signature foods include poultry and bread.  Well, we ordered the soup dumplings (referred to as buns on the menu, confusingly) in crab and pork varieties, scallion pancakes, steamed shrimp dumplings, and crispy shredded beef.  Yes, this was basically the same thing we ordered at Joe’s Shanghai, and that’s because they don’t do a whole lot.  The shredded crispy beef is admittedly addictive.  It’s like popcorn shrimp or…popcorn.  It wasn’t supposed to be this way.  We had set out that morning hoping to get dim sum, knowing full well that all of the good, bad, and even passable houses would be full. Sure enough, there were lines at every stop.  On our way to Joe’s Ginger (where we knew we’d get a seat…it’s just not that high in demand), we’d periodically be held up by a crowd of people popping firecrackers full of confetti into the air.  Occasionally, a parachute-equipped prize package would burst out, and children would run and grab it.