Bicycle Dumpling Tour (4th Annual)
Three times makes a tradition-- after last year, I had to do it again-- organize a bicycle tour of my favorite dumpling shops for friends and strangers through the SF Bike Coalition (picking up hundreds of dumplings as takeout to eat in a nearby park).
I spent the previous weekend scouting, test-riding, and test-eating, and put together a route combining low-key roads, paved off-road paths through Golden Gate Park, and riding along the ocean... with stops for last year’s group favorite (pan fried pork buns and ‘soup dumplings’ from Dumpling Kitchen, eaten in a small park nestled above Stern Grove), the chicken and Chinese spinach dumplings from Kingdom of Dumpling (most notable for the intensely pleasurable fiery orange chili sauce) ferried all the way to a strip of trees and benches at Judah and Great Highway, and new-to-the-ride Shanghai Dumpling King for the eponymous dumplings and ‘dessert’ in the form of sweet BBQ pork buns plus a few other sweet dumplings from across the street, eaten in a nearby playground.
The weather was excellent (sunny even at the ocean, and without sand kicking up along Great Highway), the group of 35ish riders was friendly and laid-back, a friend riding sweep helped keep us from splitting up, and the logistics went surprisingly smoothly (dropping by dumpling shops the previous weekend had let me put cash down to pre-order, letting us call in the day of the ride to keep them apprised of our progress).
And the dumplings. The dumplings! All three places were in fine form, with the sometimes-uneven Shanghai Dumpling King really on top of their game and the always dependable Dumpling Kitchen turning out intact, juicy soup dumplings and savory “pan fried pork buns” (a steamed soup-dumpling-like dumpling... then seared in a pan until the bottom is brown and crispy).
As a group we managed to put away over 700 dumplings-- a new dumplings-per-person record. I didn’t eat anything else all day...
A really fine way to spend an afternoon.
The route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10865276