Wong Dumplings
Kargo is the perfect place to socialise as a student, or business person working from Media City. It is an incredible open space, with a beautiful outdoor seating area for when it is sunny, and comfortable chairs inside, no matter how big your group is.
Me and Rhys went together, as a catch up after Easter, after all, it had been two whole weeks since we had last seen each other. We are both fans of Asian food, and always looking to extend our palette. Because of this, we felt drawn to Wong Dumpling.
Wong Dumpling makes handmade food originating in Hong Kong. The menu included a wide range of dumplings, roast meats and noodles, it was hard to know what to pick from! After discussing it for a while, I decided to get salt and pepper noodles with added chicken. This came to £11, I also decided to have four dumplings as they were something I had not tried previously and felt I would like. I wanted to go for flavours that I had not experimented with before, so I chose Siu Mai and Pork and Cabbage ones.
Rhys also went for the salt and pepper noodles with chicken, we joked about how it looked so enticing we just both had to have it.
The food itself did not take long to arrive, and as we went up to collect it, I felt my stomach churn as the smell took over the area. The portions were extremely generous, I couldn’t finish my noodles as I felt like I could burst. The dumplings were not short of size either, but every mouthful was a gift in itself.
It is probably obvious at this point that this was one of my favourite places I have been to on this experiment, and it only came to £19 which is definitely a score. You could tell that there was love put into the dish, and that whoever had made it was extremely passionate and experienced in cooking.
I wanted to find out more about the history of the restaurant and what inspired them to do what they do best. I spoke to Jenson, the co-founder, who, with his partner Ste, created the restaurant approximately three years ago, after wondering “who doesn’t love a dumpling?” Jenson explained to me how his grandmother always enjoyed cooking and how they used to cook together when he was growing up.
She came over in the 70s, and opened a classic Chinese takeaway, and Wong Dumplings developed the idea from there. It was clear to me that he was passionate, he talked about how he did the cooking for love and not for profit, and why places like Kargo, full of independent restaurants, were important. You can see the rest of the interview below:
After speaking to him, Jenson asked us what we thought of the food, in which we could not give enough praise, we left full and happy, which is all you can really ask for in a restaurant.
I did spend the higher end of my budget, making it to £19, however if you were looking for a lower budget, it would not be impossible. I would say that you could get a substantial, filling meal for less than £10 if you weren’t too bothered about having meat with it, or just over £10 if you wanted it.
On an ending note, this is not the only place I have tried in Kargo, I have also tried Bok Bok Chicken, That Ziki and many others, it is the perfect place to go for lunch or an early dinner. I also noticed that over the school holidays, like Easter for example, kids under ten eat free between 12pm and 5pm. It is not only family friendly, but it is a perfect place to sit and work if you are like me and can not concentrate at home. All the staff are friendly, and the bar has a wide range of drinks including both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
Kargo is a unique place however the system is clear and it works well, it truly is one of my favourite places to have food, and Wong Dumplings is now one of my go-to places in the establishment.