Eric and Daniel Wat
Eric and Daniel Wat Photo: Jeff Marini

Brothers Eric and Daniel Wat offer seven varieties of jiaozi, the pleated Chinese dumplings they learned to make from their grandmother. Some contain beef and cilantro, others pork and chive, still others zucchini, carrot, and egg. All are elevated by the spicy-sour soup they arrive bobbing in and the dipping sauce you concoct at the table from soy, black vinegar, and chile oil. You stir, you dunk, you bite. By the time you’re well into your soup, your platter of eggplant salad with garlic and cilantro, and your steaming bing bread filled with cubes of cumin-spiced lamb, you feel just right. Then you notice all the tables are full, the next round of customers has filed in to line the walls, and everyone is where they want to be.

Update:Lao Peng You is serving its full menu for carryout, so you can try dishes like the mushroom noodle soup, pork and chive dumplings in broth, and Xi’an bing bread with lamb and cumin.