Pel’ Meni – Russian Dumplings

Love, love, love the beef dumplings! Tastes amazing with the sour cream and hot sauce. I love how they always open late too. Good midnight snack.

Favorite spot to go when I am downtown late at night. Super delicious potato dumplings. One order is enough to make your tummy satisfied.

Interesting.
So very simple and plain… yet delicious and mouth watering.
Let me break it down. Small dumplings with either beef or mashed potato for the innards.
Frozen in large buckets. A number of pots with boiling water on the stove.
Scoop the dumplings from the bucket into the boiling water, put some delicious sauce and cilantro on top.
Throw in a container of sour cream… and voila! A simple and filling delight.

So little offered in such a large space! On our visit there were 2 choices: potato or beef dumplings. We opted for potato. They were OK… A little bland. The curry powder and red sauce added a little needed flavor. They were boiled to order, so they were nice and moist. Overall they were OK for a snack, but not as a meal.

Whenever I work out in this area, there is always someone telling me I need to check this place out. So I finally went and checked them out. I told myself that «I already like dumplings, so how much different can Russian dumplings be?» So I asked the young Lang who worked there to help me out. I didn’t catch here name but she was extremely helpful. In all there are 2 types of dumplings that they have, potato and beef. I got a order of both. The beef was the best of the 2. Make sure you eat them with everything they come with (yellow curry, cilantro, hot sauce and sour cream). Next time I’m in the area I’ll defiantly be back.
Unilocal 100 challenge 2016– ²⁄₁₀₀

These always hit the spot. Anytime of day… every day!

Love the dumplings! $ 7 for a mix of Potato and Beef dumplings. A friend showed me this place and I try to make a stop when I visit Bellingham. The friends I’ve introduced to this place, enjoyed the food and said they would likely return. I definitely recommend trying this restaurant. The employees are nice, which is a plus.

Got the munchies or a mean craving you need fixed right now? And it’s past midnight???
This is THE place to go
With both potato or meat options I feel it caters to most everyone. The wait isn’t too long at all and the staff is very friendly. There’s even a record player and you can pick the music yourself from their vast collection.
Tons of places to sit and I often see groups of 6+ come in and find a way to gather together.
The dumplings are super delicious and unlike anything around here. They’re served out of the pot and into a container you can take to go. On top of the dumplings is olive oil and a spicy hot sauce. They give you sour cream on the side and I highly recommend dipping your dumplings in the sour cream — tastes amazing. :)

My second top recommendation for post bar hopping grub. Simple menu, hot food and reasonable prices. These dumplings are truly delicious– if you’re gluten free, good luck, sorry! But the people there are easygoing, and don’t mind if you’ve had a couple beers before stopping by. The college crowd flocks here at around 1am onward, but it’s a great little late night eats spot. Parking can be tough, streetside on State, but walk there if you’re able and sit for a bit! Rave reviews from my carnivore friends. I’ll admit, I occasionally indulge too. Yum. THEY’LL SELL YOU A TO GO BAG too!!!

So the question here is «meat or potato»? And which ever way you go, your tastebuds will be happy and your stomach will be full. On my first trip to Pel’ Meni, I had the meat on the advice of the very friendly and helpful dumpling slinger at the cash register. Dusted with curry and sporting a couple of sprigs of cilantro and a side of homemade rye bread, the dumplings were pure heaven. Grab some sour cream and some red sauce and you’re good to go for a couple of hours. I daresay these little meat pillows would soak up some serious Russian vodka, but that’s purely conjecture…
There’s a sweet turntable with some vintage tunes and the windows get all steamy in the winter on Friday and Saturday nights. Great place to take your friends for a late night nosh!

The best! Only $ 7 for a whole thing of these delicious dumplings. They’re covered in some spicy sauce and you eat it with bread and sour cream. They’re the best! I’ve been craving them so much, I couldn’t wait to eat them! The meat ones are great and so are the potato ones. I recommend getting the mix, if you can’t decide.

Right now, add this place to your «MUST TRY» list in Bellingham. Just do it. I will say, this place is HARD to find! They are near the Buffalo Exchange and they don’t have a big sign, but it’s worth the search. My friend introduced this place to me as «drunk dumps» (dumps for dumplings) and it has remained in my list of top Bellingham places ever since. The stream-​lined menu paired with the funky atmosphere make it a great choice for grabbing a bite in-​town. The $ 7 dish pretty much never fills my belly, but it’s a great between-​meal or late-​night snack. The restaurant is a great place to hang out, with a pretty extensive record collection adding to the vibe. If you don’t like hot-​sauce, be sure to tell the server.

This place is exactly what it is. Beef or potato Russian dumplings with cilantro, curry, and sour cream for $ 7. Sodas are another dollar.
It’s been in business for a long time with such a simple menu. Nothing says comfort (or drunk food) like little pockets of meat and potato swimming in curry sour cream and cilantro. It’s hot, fast, cheap, healthy enough, and locally made. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. And this place is perfection.

Beef or potato. $ 7. Simple as that!
The food is good enough that I come in multiple times a week to get it, but honestly the reason I’m writing this review is because of the exceptional customer service. I don’t know how this place was able to gather such a friendly and happy group of employees but I commend them for it. I always leave Pel’ Meni feeling better than I did going in (and not just because of the delicious food!).
And they are seemingly open ²⁴⁄₇ which is another huge draw!

Back in 2010, my wife (the early adopter in the family), was futzing around on the internet, and found a thing she called a Unilocal review. Apparently, people go to places, then write little stories about their experiences for other people to read. I remember being pretty blown away by what a cool idea this was. Peers offering their impressions and opinions to peers. Pretty brilliant.
Anyway, this review she read to me was from someone in Seattle, and the gist of it was: whatever you’re doing right now, wherever you are, get in your car, and drive to Bellingham. Don’t think about it. Just do it. And when you get there, find Pel’ Meni Dumplings, and hold on tight. Because you’re about to experience one of the most amazing things that has ever been put in a mouth, anywhere on the planet.
And I thought to myself? Whoa. I live in Bellingham. Where the hell is this place, and how do I get summa that in MY life? So we hopped in the car, only to find a skinny little spot tucked between a flower store and a used clothing boutique, across from a paint store, that we had passed a thousand times without noticing.
Fancy? Nuh uh. Menu? Don’t got one. Your choice is digital. Get dumplings with meat in them. Get dumplings without meat. Those have potatoes in them.
Green salad? Not here. Side dishes? Um, nope. You apparently didn’t get the digital part of my story. It’s like that classic Saturday Night Live skit with John Belushi. Cheebugger, cheebugger, cheep, cheep. No hambugger. No fry.
They do dumplings. Thassit. But they do them so well, it’s just perfection.
Walk in. Order a meat, and a potato. Step back. They’re going to put them in boiling water for you and you’re going to wait about five minutes. Flip through their giant vinyl collection, maybe put something on the turntable.
When the dumplings are ready, ask for the sour cream. It’s free. They’ll give you a couple slices of homemade rye bread. Also no charge.
Then fill a little plastic cup with hot sauce, and another one with vinegar. Squeeze bottles are on the counter. Pay like 12 bucks to the person behind the counter, leave them a nice tip, then find a table and open up your little clamshell of amazingness.
It’s then that you will have an involuntary reaction. Your eyes are going to roll back in your head. This is OK. You’ll shiver just a little bit. Don’t panic. You won’t have any control over this, but it’s fine. Remember to chew. Focus. Come back to the sound of my voice. And put another of these steaming bliss pillows in your mouth. Repeat as necessary. Or until your dumplings are gone. Then thank me. Because the little morsel assaulting your taste buds and finding its’ way to your stomach has just changed your life. Forever.
You’re welcome.

Glad I finally got to try this place with my buddy. From far away the store was written in Russian and it looked like some vintage store when we walked in. The store was filled with vintage vinyl records and music was coming from the turntable. You can even see kitchen to see how Pelmenis are cooked.
Casual atmosphere. The type of place to hangout after school. Pre-​pay at the counter and it’s a self serve. You can get water at the fountain by the counter. Fast service and good food for $ 7. Menu is VERY limited, they just sell potato and beef Pelmenis. We felt full from eating. I’d prefer lesser amount of butter though. Curry powder and hot sauce enhances flavour. My buddy can’t take spicy food and she was glad hot sauce wasn’t too spicy.
Good food for the value. You can ask staff for extra sour cream if you like. Staff told me the dumplings are hand made and business isn’t owned by Russians. It’d be awesome to have different type of Pelmenis or get to try different Russian dishes. Pretty satisfying meal for $ 7.

Everything about this place, YES! I am still surprised I haven’t tried this place in all of my college life until my junior year and my life has changed forever! I always get beef with two packets of sour cream. Seriously the most delicious thing anyone can have (drunk or sober). I love the mixture of the cilantro, hot sauce, curry powder, and vinegar but once you dunk it in sour cream, it is magic! Your order also comes with bread, which tastes okay to me, I usually just ignore it. There’s some extra condiments by the register if you need to add more stuff to your order.
Although there isn’t much seating and it can be a bit loud during the night time, since it is so conveniently located in downtown Bellingham by the clubs, you can easily take it to go. Still good the next day if you can’t finish it all. I also love that there’s a record player in there that you can play with and a lot of the vinyls are classics such as the Beatles. A bit pricey for the amount of dumpings you get but I still won’t hesitate to get this whenever I visit Bellingham.

Good, cheap, and filling food? We’re a fan.
We stopped here on a road trip to whistler just as they were opening (5 minutes early!) and got a sampling of both dumplings.
They came sprinkled with a curry seasoning and some hot sauce and sour cream. My interpretation? Asian people love vinegar and they have some up front. Douse that package in vinegar, throw the sour cream in, and lightly cover it up with some hot sauce or soak it in if that’s your flavor. The vinegar really makes it pop!
The rye bread? We didn’t really know what to make of it it so we just left it on the side.

Only one item on menu, Russian dumplings, two versions.
Had the beef (other choice was potato).
A bit of a bite because of the curry but very tasty.
Comes with sour cream and a small slice of rye bread.
It’s a lite but filling lunch.
Canned/​bottled beverages, $ 1 each.
You can’t go wrong!
Wow! I’m happily stuffed.

Such a yummy and savory meal whether you’re grabbing dinner with friends or satisfying a late night hunger.
A simple menu, but hits the spot each time.