Tiny unnamed shops tucked away in narrow alleys are hard to spot—thick-skinned dumplings made fresh and rolled to order, ensuring ultimate freshness.

Orange Dog Loves Sweets

Recently, there’s been a lot of hype around late-night ghost food spots—like midnight ghost sausage stalls and ghost pan-fried dumplings. Truth be told, compared to the past, there are way more people staying up past midnight these days. These so-called “ghost” eateries probably earn their name because they operate without signs, have irregular hours, and are hard to find—which only adds to their allure. The harder they are to track down, the more people want to try them, sparking endless discussions. Ironically, you might end up waiting in a long line just to get a simple sausage.

It’s funny how one day I stumbled upon a post online from a fellow netizen mentioning a dumpling shop in Kaohsiung that only opens at night, has no signboard, and is hidden deep in a secluded alley. The mystery piqued my curiosity, and just a few days later, while heading to Kaohsiung for a client meeting, I discovered the shop was right near Lion Jia Station as I stepped out.

For someone like me who’s a self-proclaimed dumpling ghost, I’m not too picky about dumplings, so it’s rare for me to find any that I actually dislike. But I can definitely eat a lot of them—like 35 to 40 in a single meal is pretty standard, XD. Even as I’ve gotten older and can’t quite handle all-you-can-eat buffets anymore, my love for dumplings remains unstoppable. So whenever I hear about a place serving great dumplings, I immediately add it to my list.


It’s funny how one day I stumbled upon a post online from a fellow netizen mentioning a dumpling shop in Kaohsiung that only opens at night, has no signboard, and is hidden deep in a secluded alley. The mystery piqued my curiosity, and just a few days later, while heading to Kaohsiung for a client meeting, I discovered the shop was right near Lion Jia Station as I stepped out.

It was pure coincidence that right after updating my list, I found myself near this shop. Starting from Exit 4 of Shijia Metro Station, it’s not far from IKEA, located just across from the side wall of Shijia Elementary School. Without Google Maps or really sharp eyes, it’s almost impossible to spot.




Just set your destination to “No. 49, Fuxing 3rd Road,” and you’ll see a narrow alleyway nearby with a lit signboard that says “Dumplings.” They don’t open until 5:30 PM. When I arrived, about twenty minutes late, there were already three tables full of customers.



 

So, if you come here with a small group, you’ll likely end up sharing a table. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait patiently at the entrance. I have to say, the person who first discovered this place must have eagle eyes—the alley is so narrow that only two scooters can pass through side by side. You could walk by and still miss it without even glancing over.




They keep things simple here—just dumplings, salty rice balls, and hot and sour soup. But I imagine being a small family-run shop, the space is limited and so is the supply of ingredients, which probably makes it tough to handle a sudden rush of customers. From the time I sat down, ordered, and finally got my food, it took about 25 minutes. But seeing how busy the aunty was, I just scrolled through my phone and waited patiently.




Mostly, the uncle is operating a very traditional machine and hand-rolling the dough, then wrapping the filling inside. The aunty is even busier, toggling between cooking the dumplings and soup, and jumping in to help wrap dumplings when needed.

They don’t pre-make and freeze dumplings like most shops do to save time. Maybe they’re just committed to serving fresh, handmade dumplings. But it’s clear that when the place gets crowded, the staff can’t keep up. To avoid overwhelming the aunty, I only ordered 20 dumplings.

【Signature Dumplings / 3 NTD each / 20 pcs】 — The dumplings themselves aren’t huge, but the filling is slightly more generous than the famous 2-NTD dumplings in Taichung. The handmade dough is a bit thicker, but I personally love the chewiness. The cooking level is just right. Despite the thicker skin, you can still see hints of the green from the chopped chives inside. The filling is pork and chives, with the chives cut into slightly larger pieces, giving a nice crunch in every bite.
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The flavor of the filling is surprisingly sweet from the vegetables, even without adding any sauce—and I really like that.
But if you want to dip them, their chili sauce mixed with soy sauce is not overly salty or spicy, and it pairs perfectly with the dumplings. If the dumplings were just a little bigger, they’d be absolutely perfect for my taste, XD.
【Hot and Sour Soup / 30 NTD】 — For someone like me who’s not a fan of sour flavors and usually avoids hot and sour soup, this one was surprisingly not very sour or spicy. Instead, the pepper flavor stands out more. The tofu is diced small, the pig’s blood is cut into thin strips, and there’s an interesting addition of pickled mustard greens.About a 5-minute walk from Exit 4 of the Red Line MRT at Shijia Station

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