Dumpling Condado: A Taste of China in Puerto Rico

Dumpling Condado Puerto Rico is part of the TPOL Moves to PR Trip Report.

Go down Ashford Ave, the Rodeo Drive of Condado, and you’ll see many Chinese restaurants. I stopped in to Dumpling located at 1104 Ashford Ave to try some dumplings. While there, I started speaking to the employees who were of Asian descent but spoke Spanish. It was very interesting to go from speaking Mandarin to Spanish to Mandarin, all the while hoping that I was making sense. I asked them why there were so many Chinese restaurants in Puerto Rico and was told that many Chinese people migrated to the island years ago. While waiting for my food, I looked up the history of Chinese immigrants to Puerto Rico. I learned that many Cuban Chinese fled Cuba after Castro came into power, and before that many Chinese came to Puerto Rico after the US passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. Much like I was surprised with the abundance of Arabic food in Tel Aviv (see The Old Man And the Sea: An Arabic Feast), I was surprised by the Chinese influence in Puerto Rico.

As far as the food goes, the dumplings were delicious. The noodles were greasy and great. The fried rice and spicy chicken were what fast food Chinese should be, though I didn’t understand the addition of french fries.