Housed in a 200-year-old building, this endearing family-home restaurant, run by a welcoming elderly couple, offers delicious dumplings (饺子, jiǎozi) with three choices of fillings: pork and cabbage (白菜猪肉, báicài zhūròu), pork and chives (韭菜猪肉, jiǔcài zhūròu) and egg and chives (韭菜鸡蛋, jiǔcài jīdàn). You can have your dumplings boiled (水饺, shuǐ jiǎo) or, better still, pan-fried (煎饺, jiān jiǎo).
Dumplings are priced by the jīn (500g, ¥24). Half a jin (半斤, bàn jīn) is plenty for one person. Walking south from the Drum Tower, take the second alley on the left and look for the red and gold banner declaring 'Alley Dumplings'. Despite the sign, there's no English spoken or any English on the menu.