Camden Street restaurants tend to be polarising, at least in the world I live in, and so the management at CN Dumpling did well to set itself up a few steps away. Montague Street really came under the spotlight of modern Dublin’s food map with La Gordita first, and CN Dumpling followed, albeit with less bravado to show for itself.
The menu doesn’t categorise itself based on regions in China, but I kept thinking “Cantonese” even during my third meal there. Thankfully, I worked up the courage to ask one of the servers my very ignorant question, and she clarified that “CN” stood for China; not Cantonese.
I remember liking the place a lot more on my first visit than I did on subsequent ones. The flavours have been alright throughout, but are evidently watered down to please stubborn Western palates. There’s no lack of expertise that the menu implies, though, and so I’ve been left wondering why the food feels like the equivalent of someone not using their Wedgwood dinner set because their guests have ill-mannered toddlers.
The dumplings can be ordered steamed, grilled, boiled or in Sichuan chilli broth — a welcome deviation from the standard way most dumplings are served at other Chinese restaurants in Dublin. We got the veggie ones in Sichuan chilli broth, which felt like a wise choice the first time and the kitchen’s afterthought during the next two. By the third time we ate them, they were served underwhelmingly lukewarm and with a lot less broth.
There’s something especially delightful about seeing ponzu on an East Asian menu in times when it’s otherwise on every other modern European one. The lady fingers with ponzu are crunchy and doused in enough citrusy soy so they don’t feel bland. We wish we were able to say the same for the pickled cucumber, though, which could use more dressing.
Steamed scallops with vermicelli and garlic soy sauce hold a stronger footing on the flavour front. Few things are as satisfying as juicy, garlicky scallops anyway, as is chicken when stir-fried the right way. The Sichuan chicken lives up to that standard with peppers, green beans, and a subtle but sure hint of chilli in the sauce. It makes a fair accompaniment to the very tasty scallion oil noodles.
A good test for an East Asian menu is to see how well it does its mushrooms. Both the deep-fried oyster mushrooms with sweet sticky soy and enoki with garlic and chilli seasoning are impressive. We found that the flavour of cumin overpowered the garlic and chilli in the latter, but the dish was otherwise well-prepared. The sweet, sticky soy worked like a charm with the deep-fried oyster mushrooms, the hint of sweetness a welcome palate cleanser from the other entirely savoury dishes.
The food at CN Dumpling isn’t groundbreaking, but still pleasant. However, it doesn’t make us want to rush to make another reservation. Perhaps the kitchen could use more honest feedback than flattery so they’re able to maintain flavour profiles that are closer to four stars. Until then, it remains one to pass by for us.
