- If you can lift this Starburst out of my hands,
you can have it.
- Oh, perfect.
- Cuz I'm so-- oh!
- Oh no, I dropped it.
- I'm Kimberly Kong and I'm your DC host
for "5 Buck Lunch."
I've spent the last 14 years eating my way
through the capital and documenting it all
on my food blog Nomtastic Foods.
Let me take you to the best spots in the capital
for cheap eats that are five bucks or less.
We're hitting Chinatown for some
of the best dumplings in the capital.
DC's Chinatown may not be as big
as New York or San Francisco's
but our food's just as bomb, maybe even better.
Yeah, that's right, Cody and Nicole, fight me!
And you know what? Make a day trip out of it,
because there's so much stuff to do in the area.
Let's go see what DC has to say.
There's gotta be five bucks somewhere.
Let's go, guys.
So if you were making dumplings,
how would you wrap them?
- So first you have your dumpling sheet...
- Put the meat, you know, in the middle...
- And then you fold it over and
you have to pinch it closed.
- And then come up the sides a little bit
and then mush mush mush mush...
- Oh, that sounds exactly right!
- And then you do the little twist at the end
- Oh yeah, the folding...
- Oh yeah you can do the twist thing oh that's fancy.
- If you were a dumpling,
what kind of dumpling would you be?
- This is gonna sound real crazy,
but I would probably be a pork and shrimp jerk dumpling.
- What would you call that dumpling?
- The spicy bitch.
- Oh, I love that!
- How would you rank your chop stick skills?
- Ten.
- Ten, OK how about you?
- No, eight, eight, eight.
- You're not eight, not eight. - I'm an eight.
- So actually I have a fun little competition.
- OK.
- So each of you guys are going to take chop sticks
and then you are going to compete for...
- Oh oh oh oh...
- Starbursts.
- OK.
- On the count of three one...
Wait, wait, wait it's not ready!
One, two, three...
- I got it - Oh winner!
- One thing's for sure...
DC peeps love their dumplings.
So without further ado, let's go and indulge.
And we're here, you guys...
I have my five dollar bill handy
and in DC we have dollars, not duckets.
We're here at Reren Lamen & Bar
located on H and 7th street.
It's half a block away from the iconic friendship arch.
So make sure you guys go snap a selfie
of yourself before getting your nom on.
Chef Leo opened this place a few years back
to bring authentic hand-pulled noodles
and dumplings to the DC area.
Everything is made in-house so
you know lunch is gonna be lit!
So let's go see what they're all about.
So what are some of your favorite dishes on your menu?
- You gotta try the signature lamen noodle.
This is our restaurant No. 1 selling item
and so the dumpling's the best
because all the ingredients we purchase
is local farms and the noodles daily fresh.
- So on a really busy day,
how many dumplings do you go through?
- Each order about, I would say six pieces dumplings,
and we almost just go over like 240...
orders not pieces.
- So I have five dollars, what should I get?
- Pork dumplings only five dollars.
- Thank you so much.
- All right!
- So the first thing that I'm noticing is the portion size.
For five bucks I'm getting six fat dumplings
so clearly I'm getting a ton of bang for my buck.
I can't wait any longer so let's dig into this.
I'm gonna take a giant bite...
The texture of this dumpling is blowing my mind right now.
It's super chewy and I mean that in the best way possible.
Think of it like pasta,
you want your noodles cooked al dente --
if they're smushy... thank you, uh, next.
The pork in here is super juicy,
and I love that I can taste that
ginger and scallion goodness.
In fact I can't resist, I gotta take another bite.
And you know what's really spectacular here
is their chili oil...
They make it in-house or you can dip it
in their dumpling sauce, which is also phenomenal.
For those of you who are not interested in pork dumplings,
they got your back...
They have fish dumplings for the same deal.
So make sure you guys get down here stat
so you can enjoy the yumminess that is Reren.
Happy eating, friends!
So I only had five bucks on me,
but if you have 10 dollars and you're a high roller
make sure you get here and try their signature ramen.
Just look at how gorgeous that is...
Beautiful colors, it's so Instagram worthy.
And like I said, they have hand-pulled noodles here
so they are as chewy as can be.
I hope you guys liked this episode of "5 Buck Lunch."
Let me know what you thought of Reren
by leaving me a comment below and
make sure you subscribe, follow, like and share.
And make sure you guys catch our last episode
on the best cheap tacos in DC.