I'm working down the street from the Rickshaw Dumpling Bar and decided to pop in for a light solo dinner a couple of weeks ago.  I ordered six fried Peking duck dumplings with Shanghai noodles in shiitake soup.  The thick dough finally gave way to mushy, soggy cabbage filling with a meager allowance of sad, stringy duck.  Any spices purportedly swimming around got lost in the opaque brown shiitake soup, which tasted like those packaged Chinese brown mushrooms -- all musty, salty, and single-note.  The overcooked noodles were pointless.  I give better marks to the well-dressed $3 Asian greens salad addition, though the salad is not reason enough to waste a meal at this overhyped, overpriced joint.  I feel the same way about that press junkie the Dumpling Man.  You're better off with the five for a dollar fried half moons on East Broadway, or the lovingly rendered mini-mandoos at 32nd St.'s Mandoo Bar.

Grade: C-

Total: including tax (no tip required): $12

Will I return?: No.  If I'm in the area and need a snack, I'd rather hit the Whole Foods or walk a couple of blocks down to City Bakery for a cookie and a portion of mac and cheese.

Rickshaw Dumpling Bar
Asian
61 W 23rd St
Btwn 5th & 6th Ave
212-924-9220

F train to 23rd St.

**Regina Schrambling agrees.