Photo courtesy of FAN
The only thing better than slurping rich pork broth from a plump soup dumpling is doing so knowing that said dumpling was made fresh to order and shaped by deft hands just moments before its steam bath and eventual death by chopstick impalement.
Chef Keita Tanaka was making shoronpo dumplings in his native Japan for 15 years before he opened FAN Shoronpo on a quiet pedestrian street in Gràcia in 2015. Honestly, I remember being sceptical when FAN first opened, as I had yet to have a truly satisfying dumpling experience in Barcelona—one that came even close to the gaudy and raucous dim sum parlours of Boston’s Chinatown, where I (accidently and traumatically) ate chicken’s feet for the first time as a child but nonetheless begged to go back. It took me a couple years to finally pull up a seat at one of FAN’s humble tables, and I watched in anticipation as chef Tanaka and his fellow cooks shaped dumplings on the restaurant’s bar with nimble fingers.
The menu of FAN is fairly minimal and very focused. Aside from the shoronpo (the Japanese name for the famous Chinese soup dumplings, xiaolongbao), which come stuffed and topped with your choice of foie gras, minced pork, jamón Ibérico, fresh seasonal truffles and more, they also specialise in tantanmen.
It’s important to note that both shoronpo and tantanmen (the latter is known as dandan noodles in China) are actually Japanese adaptations of classic Chinese cuisine and are both wildly popular in Japan. Tantanmen can be served hot or cold and is essentially a sesame-flavoured ramen with spicy chilli and minced pork. The cold version at FAN had a velvety texture in the mouth that I loved. Washed down with plenty of ice-cold Japanese beer, I could have had another heaping bowl of these springy noodles just to myself.
A side dish of steamed and chilled banbanji chicken in sweet sesame sauce was light and pleasant, but the stars of FAN Shoronpo are definitely the dumplings and the noodle soups. A little insider tip from a friend and self-trained noodle aficionado: extra noodles for your ramen cost only one additional euro. Ask for them five minutes before you finish your first batch and replenish your bowl without missing a beat. Also, do a little studying before your first soup dumpling experience on how to eat these boiling-hot meat bombs and save yourself the burned lips and stained trousers.
FAN Shoronpo, Sèneca 28, T. 93 009 2235, Mon-Sat 1-4pm, 8-11pm, Closed Sunday