Yaki Shumai

I originally tried Izakaya Ida a little while after it opened and at the time the only dumplings they had were Takoyaki, which were excellent.  I recently returned and discovered that they had added pork gyoza and shrimp shumai to the menu.  The shumai are prepared either, in the traditional steamed fashion or Yakitori style where the shumai are steamed and then grilled.  The Yaki Shumai only come two to an order but they were amazing, the grilling adds whole new dimensions to the shumai experience.  On the grill the shumai wrapper became crispy and charred and a smokiness infused all the way into the shrimp filling.  The shrimp filling is made of chunks of shrimp that had a fresh pop texture and sweetness to them.  I also had the Vegetarian Tan Tan Men ramen which was so good.  Izakaya Ida is on 72nd street between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

As an aside, these shumai made me imagine how amazing it would be if Sun Chan Yakitori style grilled their Wasabi Shumai.