Mimi Cheng’s stellar dumplings and noodles are now In Brooklyn

By Scott Lynch

Hannah and Marian Cheng missed their mom. And, more specifically, they missed their mom’s dumplings.

About a decade ago, the Cheng sisters found themselves in corporate jobs in Manhattan. Their mother, Mimi, had moved to California, too far away to drive over with a cooler filled with her handmade Taiwanese goodies, like she did when they were in college.

So Hannah and Marian taught themselves how to make all of their favorites from their childhood, using Mom’s recipes from her childhood in Thailand and Taiwan. In the summer of 2014, they opened Mimi Cheng’s in the East Village, a counter service restaurant with a sleek, contemporary design and some of the best dumplings in town.

“We had no idea what we were doing,” Marian tells Brooklyn Magazine. “We had no previous restaurant experience, but we wanted to share our family recipes with others.”

The place was a hit. They added a couple of other shops (one of which closed during the pandemic). Now Hannah and Marian are bringing the love to Brooklyn, with a brand new Mimi Cheng’s on the Cobble Hill stretch of Atlantic Avenue.

The basic menu here in Brooklyn is the same as in their two Manhattan spots, which is good news because everything they make is excellent.

The dumplings are handmade daily and come in four varieties. The eponymous headliners, made with “Mom’s original recipe,” are stuffed with organic chicken and zucchini and are wonderfully flavorful and juicy. There’s a pork and chives version too, which is also fantastic, and some meatless “mighty veggie” ones.

“Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings,” stuffed with chicken and zucchini, $13.75 (Scott Lynch)

Mom’s secret sauce, featuring a not insignificant amount of fiery chili oil, brings a lot to the party here too. I always get my dumplings pan fried, for that extra bit of flavor and bite, but boiled is an option as well.

Mimi Cheng’s also features a special chef-collab dumpling each month, and in April that means the inimitable Billy Durney of Hometown BBQ is bringing some beef brisket and swiss cheese beauties, served with Russian dressing dipping sauce.

Dumplings may be the star at Mimi Cheng’s, and rightly so, but don’t sleep on the rest of the stuff here either. The soba buckwheat dan dan noodles, sticky with a potent garlic tahini sauce, are awesome, and come with a bunch of some bright, bitter greens that nicely balance out all the richness. The menu warns you that these noodles are “very spicy” and that’s definitely accurate, and definitely appreciated.

Spicy dan dan noodles, $11.85 (Scott Lynch)

Not everything is so in-your-face. The family’s recipe for Taiwanese three cup chicken recipe makes for a lovely bird, tender and almost sweet, piled atop a bowl of jasmine rice. Another winner is the full plate of “street cart greens,” loaded with a punchy soy garlic sauce and crunchy shallots. Chicken bone broth noodle soup, miso cabbage salad, and cucumber round out your options.

Taiwanese street-cart greens, $8.65 (Scott Lynch)

The new Brooklyn Mimi Cheng’s is located at 224 Atlantic Avenue, between Court Street and Boerum Place, and is currently open from 11:30 a.m to 8:30 p.m. daily (917-909-1239)