“Dumpling” is a delightfully onomatopoeic word, says AWOL – “a comforting little dump of dough, a fat mamma in your bowl, that delivers in sheer belly-swelling love what it lacks in visual aesthetics … but Jesus, they’re delicious.” And trust us, insists AWOL, “Melbourne does them best.” Ask Meiyan Wang, the ''mama'' behind the much-loved ShanDong MaMa, why we're so crazy for dumplings and her waitress will translate her beautifully simple answer: “There is no limit of nationality or culture - good food suits everybody,” writes Sophie Levin in Good Food. HuTong Dumpling Bar manager Patrick Lui says customer expectations have risen due to trips to China and increased food knowledge and David Zhou, owner of David's restaurant and Oriental Teahouse, tells Levin there is still a place for old favourites. '’You can expand, you can have whatever innovation, but the core, the authenticity, has to be there,'’ he says. Zhou has noticed a change in dumpling customs: today ''it's kind of trendy, cool, youngish.''