I reviewed T Roots back in September 2020 and gave them a poor rating. But they had just opened and it was full on pandemic times and that could knock anyone off their game. So I gave them another try and the dumplings were much better than last time. The menu has the expected hits of Taiwanese cuisine – oyster omelet, scallion pancakes wrapped around beef, congee and stewed pork over rice – and several Japanese dishes – various types of curry rice and Omurice.  T Roots supposedly has a strong pedigree, the owner previously ran Taiwanese restaurants in NYC before moving to Western MA.

The first time I tried T Roots the soup dumplings were completely overcooked and disintegrated but this time they came out close to perfectly cooked with the wrappers maintaining their integrity and the soup held inside the dumpling. The soup dumpling’s flavor was good, probably the best I have had in the Pioneer valley, but the soup needed to be richer and fattier. The sauce for the dumplings was served in a thimble sized container which was too small to dip the dumplings in. I had to dribble the sauce over the dumplings as I ate each one.

I also re-tried the spicy wontons, which last time came still cold and dressed in a soy based sauce with not heat or spice at all. This time they were served hot and doused in a mild chili oil that provided a modicum of spicy. They also had a really tasty dipping sauce that also had a little spice to it. The wontons themselves had ample crinkled wonton surface area to carry the sauce and were well seasoned. These wontons were good, but not up to the standard of the Wontons in Red Oil at Panda Garden in Williamsburg.

T Roots is located in Northampton MA at the corner of Main Street and Masonic St. around the corner from the excellent Packard’s Pub.