Pling Houston

Pling Houston

Amidst the many hot restaurants in the neighborhood of Montrose is a dumpling bar. It’s a modern square box broken by glassy panes, almost reminiscent of a takeout box. Pling opened late last year offering a similarly modern twist on Korean dumplings, blending their food with fresh sensibilities. I had the personal pleasure of visiting the one and only Houston location to provide my thoughts here.

More Than Meets the… Mouth?

The interior of the restaurant is brightly lit and sports a clean, almost minimal aesthetic. Sunlight soaks in through expansive windows, falling upon the wooden tabletops. The owner, Jun Hyun, was quietly hard at work behind the counter to prepare incoming orders. I’m honestly a bit wary of restaurants that offer one main dish, since they usually fall into two categories. One: their offerings serve little more as a gimmick and quickly overstay their welcome. Or two: they hone in on what makes that dish special and elevate it to another level. I’m more than happy to say that Pling is a member of the latter camp, and there is no doubt whatsoever as to the quality of their food. It was honestly hard not to be amazed at the level of care put into the food, as well as the presentation of their offerings.

Two Takes on a Classic Dish

The menu is simple with six main offerings, and each box comes with seven dumplings. The first of two gyoza I tried was the Chicken Cilantro Pling, presented with the mentioned cilantro sauce at the side. While the dumplings are more than adequate on their own, the sauce is what really brings out the flavors. The cilantro provides a cool, refreshing snappiness to the dumplings, and I hardly noticed that they were fried.

The second of the two I tried was the Korean Fried Chicken Pling. It’s a bolder offering drizzled with their Korean Chicken Sauce, topped off and garnished with chives. The sauce had a tangier flavor to it that I thoroughly enjoyed, and the influence of Korean-style Chicken was evident. The dumplings were fried to perfection, with a golden flaky texture that crackled in your mouth. Feeling the satisfying snap as the skin surrounding the filling broke between my teeth was indescribable.

A Tiny Melting Pan

Before visiting Pling, I thought there was little more that dumplings could do besides their job as an appetizer. Of course, I’ve been thoroughly proven wrong, and more than happy to admit that. The restaurant provides a blend of traditional Korean cuisine packaged with the craziness and diversity of American culture. In my opinion, Pling is a testament to the ingenuity of restaurants passionate about food. Of course, be sure to keep updated with our future reviews, and follow Pling’s Instagram for their own updates!