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There’s something unusual about the dumpling shop on the corner of Southwest 2nd Avenue and Ash Street: It’s crowded.
The bustle at Xin Ding Dumpling House (71 SW 2nd Ave., 503-345-7777, xindingdumplinghouse.com) would have been noteworthy even before the pandemic; the blocks in and near Old Town/Chinatown have not been destinations for Chinese food obsessives for the better part of a century. But in a moment when rubberneckers track the auction prices of downtown office buildings like they’re the wheezing breaths of a dying king, the sight of diners packing all available corners of a 31,000-square-foot hall feels a little miraculous.
The success of Xin Ding makes sense, however. Two years ago, in a food roundup (“Downtown Dining Isn’t Dead,” WW, Oct. 12, 2022), we spotted an anecdotal but unmistakable trend: Storefronts that once held stolid pubs or national chains were being revived by chefs of color trying out fresh concepts at a time of cheap rent. (Indeed, the Xin Ding location used to hold the Thirsty Lion, which saw its last call in 2017, its owner complaining about street conditions as he pulled up stakes.) And Xin Ding’s patrons know a good thing when they taste one: Not only do the xiao long bao rival any in the central city, but the Szechuan menu developed by chef Keli Jiang is fantastic, with an unmatched depth of flavor in the broth that serves as a foundation for dishes like the fish in hot gravy ($18.95) and dan dan noodles ($12.95). Manager Mindy Chong says Jiang closely guards sauce consistency: “He’s the gatekeeper.”
The result is a dining room that brings people back downtown morning, noon and yes, even night—on Fridays and Saturdays, Xin Ding serves bao and bowls until 2 am. Chong describes those hours as carrying a similar logic to opening a restaurant in Old Town: It’s a market opportunity. “More people are gonna come because they have limited choice during the late night,” she says. “Once they figure it out, we have a chance to get them back during the daily routine.”
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2024 here!