The main street of New Lynn is no place for the timid seeker of a decent takeaway. It's the width of your average motorway, prone to flash flooding, and reasonably devoid of parking. You have to be brave, particularly if parking across the road from Mr Zhou's during rush-hour, as I did. The place is spare and suburban inside. They poke a little hole through the white polystyrene dumpling box to let the steam out and avoid excess sogginess - a thoughtful touch.
THE TAKEAWAY
Mr Zhou, the man, was the original force behind Dominion Rd joint New Flavour, which was at the vanguard of Auckland's dumpling revolution. When he left to start his eponymous restaurant in New Lynn, he brought a good slice of his old clientele with him, but now he has reportedly moved on again, leaving only his name behind him. There have been mixed reports as to the impact of this move, but the boiled pork and fennel dumplings, long beloved of hipsters, are still a rambunctious, herbaceous pleasure. They have the thrill of the savoury liquid eruption of the first bite, clean bite of the white skin, the satisfyingly correct ratio of meat to herb. We also had a savoury vegetarian pancake ($12), thick with flavour, and a little greasy, which is not to say bad.
