Jiao-zi Heaven
It’s just gotta be the best lunch bargain in town: a plate of 40 steamed Chinese dumplings, the form of dim sum known as jiao-zi, for ten Euros.
Hand-made, stuffed with ground pork with shrimp, ground pork with celery, ground pork with cabbage, and spinach, these are the same basic dumplings Americans know as pot-stickers. And you can eat them until you just about burst, dipping them in a sauce you mix at the table made up of black vinegar and home-made chili oil.
Where? At Wok Show, Greifenhagener Str. 31, corner of Kugelstr., in the northern reaches of Prenzlauer Berg. The proprietors have been in Germany for 18 years, in this location for eight months, and word of mouth has spread not only to the local Chinese student community, but to such prominent Berlin Sinophiles as Alexander Ochs, proprietor of the eponymous gallery on Sophienstr., who’s a weekly visitor.
I’m still feeling my way around the menu, with help from Chinese-speaking friends, and after my first visit, on which I failed to eat the entire plate of 40 with my dining companion, I returned and ordered half-fried, half-steamed jiao-zi. But I was intrigued both by the Chinese menu on the chalkboard and the side dishes listed under the jiao-zi, so I ordered some thin-sliced roast beef off of the menu, while my Chinese-speaking companion ordered some equally thin-sliced pork, gently dressed with black vinegar and doused with raw garlic bits and cilantro. We washed all of this down with some fine pu-err tea, and the whole bill came to €20!
Further Chinese conversation elicited the information that jiao-zi are available to take out, uncooked, if you want to serve them at home, and that the hot-pot illustrated in one of the paintings on the wall is also available, even if isn’t listed on the menu. This means I’ll be back up there for dinner before too very long. I wonder what else isn’t on the menu..?
Like all the other authentic Chinese places in Berlin, Wok Show could use some more customers. The jiao-zi choices are all nicely listed on a special menu, and so are some of the cold side-dishes. The amazing pork, though, isn’t, so just ask for “cold Eisbein” and they’ll know what you’re looking for.
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March 14th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
This means I officially have a hollow leg. I polished off more than 20 of those things and then started dipping the chopsticks in the sauce mix and sucking them. I did manage not to eat them though.
March 18th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Mmm. The pictures made my mouth water a little. Sign me up.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I ordered a plate of 40, but only made it through 27 or so.
The very friendly staff offered to wrap the rest up for me, however.
Great value and very delicious. Thanks for the tip-off.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
OH WOW! Thanks so much for recommending Wok Show! My hubby and I went there tonight for dinner and were very pleased indeed.It´s around the corner from our flat- I don´t know why we have been so blind and never noticed it before….
The charming owners make you feel welcome (yes, you are hearing right-rare here in Berlin!)and you can ask as many annoying, dumb questions as you want.All of our culinary questions were patiently answered and we left very full and feeling happy.
FYI: All of the paintings and wall murals in the restaurant are done by the talented husband/cook/owner. He is a professional painter. He is obviously classically trained (oil portraits, landscapes, etc)with a touch of gothic-asian realism. Go see for yourself. I was inspired by his classical murals- I thought how wonderful it would be to have him paint one on a huge, bare wall in an apartment. Just a thought…
Please keep up the great blogs! I am glad I have discovered your site!