I went to a Chinese restaurant that is located in the modern Roppongi Hills. The hills is one of the largest private urban development projects in Tokyo and is geared towards an upscale clientele. Since I was there for lunch they had a set menu which included four different kinds of Dim Sum along with rice and your choice of meat, I decided on roast duck. The four dumplings that were included were included were a deep fried mochi with meat filling, a Shanghai style soup dumpling, and two kinds of shrimp dumpling.

The deep fried dumpling was one of my favorites of the meal. I have only just tried this kind of dumpling a few months ago in San Francisco, and this version is levels ahead of that one. The filling was slightly sweet, and contained a mixture of ground pork, chopped shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. The outside was crispy and not oily at all while the mochi was soft and slightly chewy.

Second was the Shanghai soup dumpling. I had some high expectations of this one. In San Francisco, Yank Sing, the dim sum place I frequent has this type of dumpling as one of its specialities, so I was hoping for something better out of this one. I'm saddened to say that one was not that good. For one it lacked a soup component, or more specifically there wasn't enough soup. When I think of a soup dumpling I think of it like a hot meat slurpy. The soup is mixed in with the meat filling to give it a chunky, yet drinkable texture. The filling itself was bland as well. There was a slight hint of pork, but completely lacked seasoning. It ended up being a bland slightly juicy dumpling that was forgettable.

Next up were the two shrimp dumplings. The first was a typical one with a rice flower skin, the second had a rice flower skin as well, but it was also mixed with either maccha or green onions to give a green appearance. The regular one was not interesting. The filling was completely made into a paste so there was no chunks of shrimp in it. The flavor as well lacked something that would make me feel like it's a real shrimp dumpling. The green one however, was quite tasty. It was not as good as deep fried one but it was better than the other two. The filling was also different from the first shrimp dumpling. There were larger shrimp chunks and this one also included some green onions that punched up the flavor.

The main dish was the rice and roasted duck. Roast duck is one of my favorite chinese dishes and the one they do here is done right. It reminds me of the kind of duck that is used of Peking Duck, but better. There were no bones and the meat with incredibly rich. There was layers of fat that made that flavor of the duck spread throughout ones mouth and melting away. The sauce that came with it was also good and mixed well with the rice that was sitting underneath. The only complaint that I could make for this dish was there wasn't enough duck.

Final Rating:
Fried Dumpling: 10/10
Good flavor, these were the best dumplings out of the bunch.

Soup Dumpling: 4/10
Thoroughly disappointed, lacking soup, and flavor.

Green Shrimp Dumpling 8/10
Didn't get a a taste of what was they put in the green skin, but the filling was good.

White Shrimp Dumpling 5/10
A mediocre effort no big pieces of shrimp, lacked a flavor that usually makes these dumplings taste so good.

Roasted Duck: 10/10
The that duck was great no complaints.

Overall: 8.5/10
There were some highs, but there were also some lows. I am mixed giving it this rating on one hand The dishes that I liked, I loved. The dishes that I disliked weren't too bad, but I would never eat them again given a choice.