I get asked all the time what I miss most about New York, and it’s always the same answer. The theater, good Mexican food, excellent chocolate chip cookies and soup dumplings. I had searched far and wide for the soup dumplings in Milan, and had begrudgingly accepted my fate that I’d have to enjoy these broth-filled wonders when I’m visiting home once a year. Well not anymore!
Thanks to Giacomo Brando and Instagram, I now know that soup dumplings in Milan were right under my nose the whole time at Tang Gourmet on Via Paolo Sarpi, 17. The restaurant takes a fast food approach, but they run quite a tight ship and it doesn’t have that tacky fast food feel. You go in, look at a menu, order your food, they assign you a table number, you go upstairs, find your table and the food starts to come. If you and your dining companion decide you want another order of soup dumplings (or anything else), if you ask nicely, a staff member will run downstairs and place the order for you so long as you give/him her the dough.
The close proximity of my apartment to Via Paolo Sarpi is both a good and a bad thing. I love being so close to Chinatown that at ten-minute walk gets me there, but being able to indulge my every craving isn’t smart for the wallet (or my thighs!). Sort of a similar situation with the jianbing. They also have a number of rice and noodle dishes as well as other dumplings. But I mostly just go for the soup dumplings. And in case you were wondering, no, I’ve never been to Shanghai so I haven’t had a chance to experience the “real thing” yet, but I’ll get there soon.
Tang Gourmet, Via Palo Sarpi, 17; 02 315559; Thursday – Tuesday: 11am – 10pm; closed Wednesday. Website
OMG I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!! I’m an expat in Bergamo but I literally cried when I got soup dumplings here!