Dumpling Republic in Central Square?

[sopped_up_sauce]

This weekend somebody left a flier for "Dumpling Republic" hung on the doorknob of our Central Square apartment. It was a funny little ad, congratulating us for being in their "Free delivery zone" and promoting a solitary menu choice of $5 15-piece pork + leek dumplings. We tried them out, and they were pretty good -- your choice of fried or boiled, with a side of sauce. Basic, but no complaints.

Still, we were a bit sketched out by their unwillingness to tell us where they were located (beyond "an industrial complex in Central Square") and they fact that they don't accept customer pick-ups (delivery only).

Anybody else have experience with this place? How long have they been around? Where are they located? Do they have a proper license for this kind of business (and is one required)? A Google search of the City of Cambridge Web site for "Dumpling" turns nothing up...

[Luther]

"thank you for working so hard, you deserve the best dumplings"

Pretty sure this poster was customized for MIT students. Some of the other ones say "your family deserves the best dumplings."

Phone number goes to this guy, apparently:
http://cid-40bcefa6d34dd4e9.profile.live.com/details/

Here he is, looking for a good name for the business:
http://nettrinity.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!40BCEFA6D34DD4E9!1357.entry

And some thoughts on the marketplace:
http://nettrinity.spaces.live.com/blo...

[Luther]

Oh whoops, here's the photo

[jgg13]

Goku's dumplings would probably help pull in some of the MIT crowd.

[nfo]

Saw some fliers near Kendall today - I agree, lack of location is kind of sketchy. The back of the fliers had some stuff about how leeks are really good for you. I'm not sure if the purported health benefits of leeks are FDA-approved...

[avial]

Maybe you can do a reverse look-up on the phone number to see where they might be located, lest it be a cellphone.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

They sell one item that you can buy in bulk from the frozen food section of any Chinese supermarket in town, 60 for $4? You could run that from the kitchen of a one-bedroom apartment.

[avial]

I was thinking the same thing - wondering if they were just selling the dumplings from the Chinatown noodle factory on the corner of Essex and Oxford. 50/$4 I think, regardless, they're incredibly cheap but also lacking on filling and way too thick on skin. Same goes for their larger sized dumplings that are 50/$9.

sopped_up_sauce - could you go into more detail about the skin and the filling or could you post a scan/picture of their flyer?

[yumyum]

Hilarious! I've purchased those chinatown noodle factory dumplings in bulk -- never occurred to me to make a business re-selling them from my pad. Plan to see more creative ideas like this as the recession deepens. :-(

[jgg13]

At the end of the day, even if that's what they're doing, is it really all that sketchy?

They're providing dipping sauces, they're cooking the dumplings, and they're delivering them. Granted, you could buy them yourself & cook them yourself, but how is this any different than what a lot of chinese delivery places do? I know that there are a lot of run of the mill chinese delivery spots that are quite clearly using the same generic pre-made dumplings ...

[PaulB]

Local Health Department inspections, payment of sales tax to the state and several other differences spring to mind.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

The first being the most egregious to my mind.

[jgg13]

Well, there is that I suppose :)

Still, a certain central square ice cream company has a history of avoiding the latter and people still seem to flock to them ;)