The Dumpling Shop

The Dumpling Shop is the Willowdale takeout counter at 184 Willowdale Avenue that has been selling handmade Shanghainese dumplings and freezer bags for more than 15 years. There is no restaurant-run official website. Phone on city listings: (416) 512-2323. Hours are not posted by the shop on an official page — call before a Sunday run. The room changed hands in late 2024; the fold did not. First-timers: a steamed or boiled plate if you are eating now, then a bag of pork-and-cabbage or xiao long bao from the freezer wall — regulars leave with 50 or 100. Sticky-rice siu mai and vegetable buns sell out. This is a neighbourhood pantry, not a dining room. No reservations. Come early if you want the egg-yolk zongzi. Useful when North York wants restaurant-quality dumplings to cook at home and Lee’s Old Orchard is the wrong direction.