Asian Food Galore

Brunch at Oriental Flavors, Amherst, MA:

Steamed roasted pork buns (didn't eat), crystal shrimp dumplings (ate one), veggie dumplings
(The veggie dumplings had slightly more mushrooms in the filling than I would have preferred, but I like the filling to wrap ratio and the level of saltiness. The dumplings weren't bland, but they weren't overly salty either. I could have dipped them in soy sauce or I could have chosen not to. The shrimp crystal dumpling was filled with shrimp and saltier, but I personally don't like strong shrimp flavours so I dipped this in soy sauce.)

Shrimp shu mai (ate one), steamed bean curd sheet rolls (didn't eat), xiao long bao (didn't eat)
(The bean curd sheet rolls were filled with pork, so I didn't try them but they look interesting! The rest of the table seemed to like them. The xiao long bao were not filled with soup, which is essentially the point of xiao long bao, so that must have been a disappointment. Similar to the crystal dumpling, the shrimp shu mai was basically all shrimp and a teensy bit of herbs. Great if you're a shrimp lover, a bit more mediocre if you're ambivalent. I also ate this with soy sauce because it was just so shrimpy.)

Cheers to a great brunch!

Snack:

Green smoothie* topped w/hemp seeds, spelt croissant, tangerine cous cous salad, nomad salad

*Green smoothie: spinach, cucumber, OJ, peach, mango, ice

EMz Date at Mom's Dumpling and Noodles, Amherst, MA:

Emma's pork dumplings (far back) & aloe drink, veggie dumplings (front, shared w/Emma)
(I didn't try the pork dumplings, but Emma seemed to like them! The veggie dumplings were huge and ultra doughy. I liked this filling better than Oriental Flavors' because there were less mushrooms; the majority was cabbage and carrots. I wasn't a fan of how thick the wrapping was though.)

Veggie ramen w/miso base (gave some to Emma, didn't finish)
(Gave the mushrooms and scallions to Emma, but I liked the rest of the toppings. The broth wasn't salty, which pleased me immensely, but it also didn't taste like miso much. The rice noodles reminded me of pho more than ramen, so I don't know if I should call this ramen. This is more akin to a regular bowl of veggie noodle soup. Despite all my complaints, I did enjoy this though and would order it again on a cold day.)

Vanilla ice cream sandwich w/red bean filling (shared w/Emma)
(This was fun; I neither enjoyed it nor disliked it, but I suspect that had it been in any regular shape, I would have disliked it. It was also ridiculously sweet and the outside was strange; it was really sticky once moistened, and kept sticking to the roof of my mouth.)

Strawberry mochi w/red bean filling (shared w/Emma)
(Too sweet, but enjoyable.)