Bloggers’ Bites: Dim Sum Garden and Audabon Bakeshop

Bloggers’ Bites is a series of posts chronicling the foodie adventures of Penn Appétit’s blog staff. On November 15, Penn Appétit bloggers went to Chinatown in search of dumplings and macarons.

Elena Crouch: I have been wanting to try xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, for a while now, and today I finally got the chance.  A small group of us bloggers went to Dim Sum Garden, Philly’s #1 place to get xiao long bao, and we gorged on 5 different kinds of dumplings: pan-fried pork, steamed shrimp, steamed veggie, and the famous pork soup and pork-crabmeat soup dumplings.  While all of them were fantastic, the pork soup dumplings were my favorite, each a tender ball of pork bathing in a deeply meaty broth encased in a delicately chewy dumpling wrapper. Eating them required a little bit of technique, my personal approach being to puncture the bottom and drink the soup out, then eat the rest of the dumpling.  After we had our fill of dumplings, we got a bruleed carrot cake pudding and four different kinds of macarons at Audabon Bakeshop, which is owned by a Penn graduate.

pork soup dumpling
pork soup dumpling
shrimp dumpling
shrimp dumpling
veggie dumpling
veggie dumpling

Farrel Levenson: On Saturday, a small group of us ventured downtown to Chinatown to try dim sum.  It was my first time experiencing it, and I was impressed with both the speed of service and sheer amount of dumplings available at Dim Sum Garden. I learned a suggested way to eat soup dumplings (bite off the top to let it cool, and then enjoy the soup!), and enjoyed the savory crab and rich pork. Adding the dumpling and chili sauces made the soft, warm dumplings even more flavorful. A short walk around the block led us to Audabon Bakeshop, a Penn Alum-run bakery specializing in macarons. The upbeat music, bright colors, and personal stories lining the walls gave it a more modern feel than a typical bakery. On the macaron front, the chocolate salted caramel pretzel was my personal favorite, which was unsurprising given my love of chocolate. Nonetheless, the coffee caramel, peanut butter, and thai tea  macarons were equally rich and true to their namesakes as well. The carrot cake pudding was sweet and decadent- like creamy carrot cake, and the bruléed top added a welcome crunch.

salted chocolate macaron
salted chocolate macaron
thai tea macaron (my favorite)
thai tea macaron (my favorite)
carrot cake pudding
carrot cake pudding

Melissa Lee: This past Saturday, we traveled to Philly with the objective of eating dumplings and macarons–two of my favorite foods. To start, we went to Dim Sum Garden, where we shared platters of various dumplings filled with vegetables, meat, and even savory broth. Though the steamed dumplings were tasty on their own, traditional sauces sitting on the table complimented them well. Finishing the dumplings with no problem, we left satisfied, yet still a little hungry for dessert. So we walked to Audabon bakeshop for dessert. There, we had the unique combination of pudding and macarons. I found the macarons to be light, yet packed with both sweet and salty flavors. The pudding was also very sweet but also had an inconsistent texture that I would definitely favor over the creaminess of typical Jell-O pudding.

photo 4
Audabon Bakeshop featured a wall of photos and stories, offering personal wisdom and advice.

photo 3

Nicole Woon: With a chill in the air, xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) seemed just the ticket for the brisk November day. A quick trolley ride took us into the belly of Chinatown, where we trekked to the doorstep of Dim Sum Garden. Seated nearly instantaneously (trust me when I say they’re efficient here), we decided to indulge in 5 types of dumplings: pan-fried pork and chive dumplings, steamed vegetable dumplings, har gow (steamed shrimp), pork xiaolongbao, and crab and pork xiaolongbao. While we ate most of the dumplings with ease (simply bite and chew), the juicy xiaolongbao took a bit more technique. My process involved nibbling a bit of the dough on top, carefully slurping the savory broth within, applying generous amounts of dumpling sauce and hot chili oil to the remaining dumpling, then biting and chewing as normal.

There’s always a second stomach for dessert, so we strolled by Audabon Bakeshop. You’d be remiss passing up their salted caramel pudding (sadly they ran out by early afternoon when we arrived!). In its place, we split an aromatic carrot cake crème brûlée that tasted exactly like carrot cake in pudding form.

P.S. Serious Eats has a great guide on how to eat these boiling hot morsels (as well as where to get them in New York, but hey, we’re in Philly!).

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