Portland Dumpling Week 2020

February 1 – 8 2020 marks the 6th annual Dumpling Week as organized by the Oregonian. This year there are 35 restaurants participating in offering a special dumpling menu item for $10 or less. I have been enjoying Dumpling Week throughout the years – you can see my photos from last year in 2019, then in 2018, then 2017, and 2016, and first year 2015. Here are what I have enjoyed for Portland Dumpling Week 2020.

I went on a Dumpling Crawl on Day 1 (February 8) with friends @eatrichordietryin, @trailofcrumbs, and @hummingbirdhigh, so you may find additional photos there. I then went on a second smaller crawl with @perfectfooddays. You can find a Dumpling Map at the initial link above for Dumpling Week, but for the descriptions of the dumplings being offered at each location check out the article at the Oregonian here.

One possible start is for a dumpling crawl (and which we used on Sat) was they serving dumplings after 11 AM at Nel Centro. Here they are offering a Duck confit and radicchio Tortelloni in porcini parmesan brodo. I recommend also ordering a side of foccacia bread for a few dollars more to soak up all that lovely broth.

Next we popped into wine bar Canard for the maple sausage, egg and cheese breakfast gnocchi. Seared foie gras can be added optionally for $15. I found it sort of dry since it is not with a sauce, and sweet with the maple flavors. But, lean into the sweet and do as we did – order the Paris Brest with the cookies and cream and chocolate sauce, which was wonderful.

Next we headed to Stammtisch for the “Maultaschen,” pork dumplings with caramelized onion, bacon, and creme fraiche. I recommend washing this down with the specialty of the German eatery – a German beer. We all enjoyed the medley of savory and sweet and sour in this dish and would recommend it.

The above are some of the few places offering dumplings during the daytime (aka before dinner service, generally starting at 5 PM). So take into account when planning your crawl.

At this point we headed over quickly to Urdaneta to try to get into the small cozy restaurant before it got busy with full dinner service. One of the best dumplings of the night was here, the Braised Oxtail Empanadilla with dates, green olives, Idiazabal cheese, pimenton alioli.

In addition, get the Tarta de Queso, burnt Basque cheesecake, membrillo, sherry whipped cream. It’s fluffy and even if you are towards the end of the dumpling crawl you may find it disappearing in mere minutes, which was our experience!

Our final stop is open for lunch and dinner, but we had timed it to coincide with our Urdaneta visit since they are next door to each other. Kargi Gogo also offers their dumpling week special to go if dining in is busy at this little 20 seat location. Here for Portland Dumpling Week 2020 they are offering a special take on their khinkali that they call the “All-American Khinkali” – bacon cheeseburger dumpling with adjika pickle relish, Georgian ketchup and walnut mustard.

We also ordered the Acharuli Khachapuri, an Open-Faced Bread Boat with Cheese, Butter, Easy Egg. I always encourage dumpling diners to order additional items to help the restaurant and the servers out to make it worth their while for all the work they put in to participate in Portland Dumpling Week 2020 to introduce you to their offerings. And of course, tip well!

If you are over at Canard, you may want to consider walking a few blocks over to Normandie. They are participating this week both in Dumpling Week and in Shuck Portland. Shuck Portland has a little over a dozen restaurants offering oyster specials (raw or cooked) with proceeds benefiting charitable partners who are helping to maintain or restore wetlands. For dumpling week they are offering Pork and prawn dumplings with oxtail pho broth, scallion, chile oil. The oyster option is the Shucked Portland Broiled Oysters with Boquerone butter, Lardo, Pink peppercorn, Roe for $8.

Or, for another take on a burger in a dumpling form, Delores has on offer a special version of a pierogi for Dumpling Week 2020. It really does taste like a Big Mac!

What’s on your Dumpling Week list?