New West Lebanon eatery offers Chinese food fast

Patrick Teune, of Enfield, N.H. passes along a dumpling to Oliver Matthews, 5, and Willow Matthews, 3, of Grantham, N.H., at Happy Dumpling on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in West Lebanon, N.H. Teune was having lunch with their father Daaron Mathews at the recently-opened restaurant.  (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Patrick Teune, of Enfield, N.H. passes along a dumpling to Oliver Matthews, 5, and Willow Matthews, 3, of Grantham, N.H., at Happy Dumpling on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in West Lebanon, N.H. Teune was having lunch with their father Daaron Mathews at the recently-opened restaurant. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Valley News – Jennifer Hauck

Susan Anne Johnson, of West Lebanon, N.H., looks over the menu at Happy Dumpling in West Lebanon on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Johnson was not ordering food that day.

Susan Anne Johnson, of West Lebanon, N.H., looks over the menu at Happy Dumpling in West Lebanon on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Johnson was not ordering food that day. "I'm casing the joint," she said, thinking of bringing friends there. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Jennifer Hauck

Cooked in a sieve, noodles are taken out of boiling water at Happy Dumpling on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in West Lebanon, N.H. The dumpling and noodle restaurant opened in November 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Cooked in a sieve, noodles are taken out of boiling water at Happy Dumpling on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in West Lebanon, N.H. The dumpling and noodle restaurant opened in November 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Michael Liu, owner of the Happy Dumpling, chats with customer Patrick Teune, of Enfield, N.H., about China on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in West Lebanon, N.H. The restaurant opened in November 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Michael Liu, owner of the Happy Dumpling, chats with customer Patrick Teune, of Enfield, N.H., about China on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in West Lebanon, N.H. The restaurant opened in November 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Jennifer Hauck

Xing Wei, a PhD student at Dartmouth, eats his lunch at Happy Dumpling in West Lebanon, N.H., on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Wei is from China and said he usually cooks for himself, but has been to the newly-opened restaurant a number of times. He feels the food is very authentic, and has a couple of favorites.  (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Xing Wei, a PhD student at Dartmouth, eats his lunch at Happy Dumpling in West Lebanon, N.H., on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Wei is from China and said he usually cooks for himself, but has been to the newly-opened restaurant a number of times. He feels the food is very authentic, and has a couple of favorites. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Valley News photographs — Jennifer Hauck

Aavarika Niroula places an order with her mother Sharmila Niroula, both of Lebanon, N.H., at Happy Dumpling in West Lebanon on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. After ordering, Niroula said this was the first time she had been to the restaurant with her mother, but comes two or three times a week with friends since it opened in November 2024.  (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

Aavarika Niroula places an order with her mother Sharmila Niroula, both of Lebanon, N.H., at Happy Dumpling in West Lebanon on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. After ordering, Niroula said this was the first time she had been to the restaurant with her mother, but comes two or three times a week with friends since it opened in November 2024. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Jennifer Hauck

By ULLA-BRITT LIBRE

Valley News Correspondent

Published: 01-21-2025 6:01 PM

Modified: 01-29-2025 5:15 PM


WEST LEBANON — The owners of Happy Dumpling, which opened in the Powerhouse Plaza in November, hope the concept of the fast-food-style Chinese restaurant will take off.

It’s had a good start, according to co-owner Michael Liu, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Jaycee Yu. 

“I think our business is quite good,” Liu said. “After the new year, our business has become better and better.” 

Happy Dumpling is designed to deliver to the Upper Valley authentic Chinese food quickly and efficiently, emulating a fast-food restaurant experience in New York City, Liu said. 

“Our concept is special here,” he said. “There are not many authentic Chinese restaurants in the Upper Valley area … We are trying to add more options for the local people.”

Patrons can either order online, via DoorDash or eat their food inside at a wooden table, with Bruno Mars playing in the background. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except for Wednesdays. Their limited menu is centered around dumplings and noodles. This month the establishment added items such as popcorn chicken. 

The model aims to be “less formal” than other Chinese restaurants in the Upper Valley, Liu said. “We are like 5 Guys or Shake Shack.”

The couple has aspirations of opening “as many (locations) as possible,” Liu said.

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Liu and Yu moved to Lebanon last fall to open the restaurant in a section of the former New Hampshire Liquor Store they’d leased since September 2023.

The couple is originally from Shanghai, where Liu was previously a lawyer and Yu was a financial journalist. The pair moved to Massachusetts in 2019. Yu and Liu initially tried to start a business in the education sector, but were set back by the pandemic. 

They started Happy Dumpling because “we were trying to find another business. We have family culture in dumplings and we invested in a restaurant in Shanghai,” Yu said. They chose the Upper Valley because of the “good location” and the lack of other Chinese restaurants in the area, said Liu.

To help them develop the menu, Yu said, the couple spent one month in New York City’s Chinatown and one month in Chongqing, China, drawing on culinary traditions from both areas.

Happy Dumpling currently has seven employees. Head chef and general manager, Hanson Qui, said in an interview, translated by Liu, that his favorite menu items are "Dan Dan noodle" and “the spicy beef noodle soup.” He’d previously worked in the food industry in New York City before moving to the Upper Valley for Happy Dumpling’s opening.

Franchise duo Cold Stone Creamery — an ice cream chain — and Planet Smoothie are slated to open a few doors down from Happy Dumpling later this year, in another subdivision of the former New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlet.

Workers were on site on Tuesday, Jan. 21. 

A final property inspection has not yet been scheduled, however, said Tiffany Adams, executive assistant for Lebanon Planning & Development. She was therefore unable to offer a specific opening date. 

For its part, Happy Dumpling has been well received by the public. 

In November, Lynn and Bob Ferguson, of Sharon, ate a meal at Happy Dumpling. “We ordered one of each of the dumplings,” Bob said in an interview at the time. “We’re happy with the food; we really want them to succeed.” 

The restaurant was busy. Lynn did note that the establishment seemed to be “focusing too much on the takeout,” but they both said they would be back. 

“You can go to any Chinese restaurant and get egg rolls or beef on a stick. But this is real, traditional Chinese food,” Nathan Garret said as he picked up takeout from Happy Dumpling earlier this month. “This is a totally different flavor, a totally different food… It’s the only place like this in the Upper Valley. 

Garret said he’d been to Happy Dumpling “probably 10 or 12 times,” since the opening. “It really fills a gap. If I’m in Lebanon, this is where I’ll go.”

Ulla-Britt Libre can be reached at ulla-britt.p.libre.25@dartmouth.edu. Valley News Staff Writer Marion Umpleby contributed reporting. She can be reached at mumpleby@ vnews.com or 603-727-3306. 

 CORRECTIONS: Michael Liu co-owns H  appy Dumpling r  estaurant in West Lebanon with his wife, Jaycee Yu. The restaurant primarily serves dumplings and noodles and is open from 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. A previous version of this story included an incorrect spelling for Liu's last name, an incorrect description of the restaurant's specialties and an incorrect opening time. Happy Dumpling head chef and general manager, Hanson Qui, said in an interview, translated by the West Lebanon restaurant's co-owner Michael Liu, that his favorite menu items are "Dan Dan noodle" and “the spicy beef noodle soup.” A previous version of this story gave an incomplete description of the chef's favorite items.