Melbourne Food Review: J G Dumpling Restaurant, Glen Waverley

According to Nat, I should have started writing this post on New Year’s day, on the day that we went to  JG. And it should have been my new year’s resolution to keep my blog just a leetle bit more up to date.

Alas, we visited J G Dumplings on new year’s day. Today is April’s Fool Day. Go figure. And my new year resolution which is to completely ignore the existence of a certain Australian politician, who was recently referred to as an ‘intellectual nobody’ or I.N. for short. Clearly, that new year resolution failed too.

(The shop formerly known as Bob’s Kitchen, Glen Waverley)

Anyway! No better way to celebrate the new year than to have one of my most favouritest food in the world, the Chinese dumplings. This was the very first time at J. G. We actually intended to visit Bob’s Kitchen. But as you can see, this is what Bob’s Kitchen looks like now.

(xiao long bao – I can’t remember the price srsly it’s been 3 whole months!)

We decided on four dishes including two types of dumplings between the three of us. I have decided that I wanted a set of xiao long bao – which is sometimes known as Shanghai dumplings or soup dumplings. One can never tell, so every time I want to order xiao long bao I always just ask the waiter what it’s referred to in English on the menu. The xiao long bao were nice and juicy. They were definitely one of the better ones.

(stir-fried rice cakes with vegetables)

There weren’t many choices for vegetarian dishes for Nat but she decided on the rice cakes with vegetables. I’m personally really not a fan of the chewy texture of the rice cakes but this dish won my approval. The chewy rice cake went perfectly well with crunchy green vegetables and mushrooms. And the sauce was simple and just really genuinely good. I would order this again.

(the standard boiled pork dumplings)

Of course when you are at a new dumpling joint, you must order the standard boiled pork dumplings (never liked the fried ones, myself. Too oily) as the benchmark. These ones were meaty and juicy with the right consistency between the dumpling skin and the filling. Yum.

And here’s a picture of the inside of the boiled pork dumpling. Just cos I can.

Nat also wanted a plate of the vegetarian dumplings. They were quite all right. Some dumpling places do vegetarian dumplings really awfully with just greens.

(the inside of a vegetarian dumpling)

These veggie dumplings had a mixture of garlic chives, tofu, carrots and other bits and pieces. They were one of the better vegetarian dumplings out there. Although mind you, we don’t have them that often. Nat seemed to like them too.

However, we found an interesting item on the menu. I am told it’s the wood ear but it certain doesn’t look like it to me. And as Jess said, what the hell is Pan Fried Hairtail?

Overall we had some solidly good dishes and as most dumpling places in Melbourne most of the dishes were under $10 so we would definitely go back when the dumpling cravings strike.

But really, what the hell is Thin Cut Jew’s Ear with Cold Mixed? It sounds very very wrong to me.

J G Dumpling Restaurant
Address: 78 Kingsway, Glen Waverley VIC 3150
Phone: (03) 9561 8113