Review: The night market is back, and the dumpling stall at the end is worth the line

The night market returned to Harbor Street on Friday with 41 vendors, up from 28 last year, and a line for the dumpling stall at the far end that stretched past the second stage.

The line is justified. The pork-and-chive dumplings, pan-fried in batches of thirty, have a lacy bottom that shatters and a filling that is almost soup.

Two stalls down, a new vendor is doing a scallion pancake rolled around a fried egg and a smear of fermented bean paste. It costs $6 and I would pay twelve.

Not everything works. The 'Korean-Mexican' stall's kimchi quesadilla was limp and underseasoned, and the bubble-tea line moved slower than the dumplings for a worse reward.

The live stages are louder this year. If you want to talk, sit at the picnic tables near the north entrance.

Parking is bad. Take the Route 12 bus, which runs until midnight on market nights.

The market runs every Friday and Saturday through the end of November, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.