13 January 29 - February 4, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Courtney E. Smith The broth inside is light and a little sweet, possibly because the aromatics like ginger and scallions aren’t added during cooking. Instead, your soup dumpling spoon comes with several thin slices of ginger to eat be- fore or after each dumpling. The wrapper is delightfully thin, easy to rip into with your teeth and prone to splurting out—which is the mark of a good soup dumpling, and a poor soup dumpling eater. We tried adding soy sauce and chile oil from the table to each, only to find that these dumplings are best with no additional sauces. The kitchen got it right the first time. Dim sum is in the restaurant’s name, so take the hint and accept that dim sum is what it does best by ordering heavily from that section of the menu. The shuimai (steamed dumplings) with pork and shrimp comes in a four-piece order ($7.50) that is a little glimpse into nirvana. There’s so much meat stuffed densely in- side that it feels like a steal for the price, and these dip great into soy sauce for a lit- tle umami to cut the sweetness of the shrimp and pork. The doughy exterior clings tightly to the meat, puckering in places from the steam, but it remains thin and in no way overpowers the bite. There is a reason the dumplings here are so wonderful, and that reason is Pat- rick Ru, a master dumpling maker and one of the owners. Before Ru came to North Texas, he was in Brooklyn, working at Mr. Bun, which is known for its Shanghai- style soup dumplings. Ru is also a partner and chef at Teddy Wong’s in Fort Worth. He’s known for the delicate wrappers he creates around dumplings, following care- ful ratios of filling, and for the intricate folds on his dumplings. Elsewhere on the menu, there are capa- ble American Chinese dishes, heavy on dou- ble-fried dishes like sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken or beef, and the sesame chicken we ordered ($16), which was totally serviceable and perfectly nice, but not nearly as elevating an experience as the dumplings. We also ordered two vegetable spring rolls ($3), and the insides were a touch too mushy, while the outside was per- fectly fried and crisp. The sweet-and-sour sauce served with it was a little dense, made with more vinegar than pineapple juice, and bright red from red food dye. Keep it cute, keep it juicy, stick to the dumplings for the majority of your meal. Bushi Bushi Dim Sum 4930 Belt Line Road, Monday - Sunday 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. ▼ CLOSINGS LAST CALL AT DOTS DEEP ELLUM LOSES ANOTHER CLASSIC. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS T he number of times we’re reporting on local spots closing and out-of- town spots opening is way out of whack. This week, we wrote about Palmer’s Hot Chicken closing and becoming a ghost kitchen. We wrote about Leila’s Pizza closing, the PoBoy Shop in Preston Center, and New York Sub near SMU. Those are just this month. Yet Dallas is brimming with out-of-town all-jazz-hands spots. Delilah is a clubstau- rant opening next week; Little Ruby’s from New York is also opening. Snarf’s from Colo- rado is opening three new stores. A San Francisco pizza spot opened in Frisco last weekend. In the past year, Dallas has rolled out the red carpet for Avra, Prince Street Pizza, NADC Burger and more. Part of what makes Dallas a fun place to live is the thriving food scene. But our local restaurants are what give us a unique flavor, just too bad we can’t all thrive. Dot’s Hop House was known for its spa- cious courtyard and 99 beer taps. There were also the duck-fat cheese fries and burgers. Dot’s didn’t offer details on why it’s clos- ing, only that it’s been 10 years and its time in Deep Ellum is coming to an end. We have a few questions, like what will happen to the chandelier in the center of the courtyard, if they’re going to open some- where else, and what will happen to the grill they got from the old Club Schmitz. We’ve reached out to Dot’s and haven’t heard back. Dot’s be open Wednesday, Jan. 28, through Sunday, Feb. 1. You might want to skip the rolls and focus on dumplings at Bushi Bushi. THE PLACES THAT MADE US HUNGRY FOR MORE SCAN FOR FULL LIST
