Berko dumplings that werk: Drumplings

Ah dumplings. The little nuggets of love. The mystery fun bags of surprise. Steamed or fried, filled with who-bloody-knows most times but, then again, who bloody cares. Part of the magic of these parcels of delight is the juicy reveal of its innards as your teeth tear away its soft flesh (if steamed. Who even eats fried dumplings?). Dumplings are the true pearls of the Orient. And you know it.

So how do you level-up perfection? You take your inspo from other deliciousness and you force it into an arranged marriage of convenience in dumpling form. Go and check out the high priests at Drumplings on Bourke Street. Their couplings are almost inter-species, but genius.

Take the cheeseburger. The cheeseburger is heaven. Fact. Cheeseburger in dumpling form? Beyond heaven. A union so magical it transcends space and time. Space and time, you hear? Space and time. I mean cheeseburger with pickle is the pinnacle, but this is pretty damned close.

Chicken laksa dumpling? Tastes exactly as you would imagine, but better. The fish and chip dumpling, is probably one trick too much to pull out of the fusion hat, but points for trying. The beef rendang dumpling is like South East Asia made sweet love to your mouth, and the chilli con carne is pretty much en pointe, too.

And, yes, there’s more than dumplings. Drumplings also rips out classic Chinese favourites gua or bao buns (also in slider form. Drool) and soups including vegan unami broth, and fire cracker chicken ribs.

The decor is modern sleek and quaintly daggy with its choc-brown wooden picnic settings and indoor plants. Service is slick, fast and they get the job done. It can get busy, so make sure to book. And expect the possibility of possibly having to *shudder* share a table with other people. So, if you can’t people, get in early to bags your own table.

Sharing a table is a small price to pay (you can do this, Karen. Breathe) to sample the perfect gang bang of locally-produced and sustainably-sourced ingredients culminating in the most imaginative bundles of dumpling joy within Hoddle’s Grid. Do it.