On night when I'd stayed up quite late writing and was suddenly ravenously hungry, I discovered Pel' Meni. It was, in fact, very late—after midnight, and there really wasn't much open. I noticed a little narrow, hole-in-the-wall sort of place with a line of people trailing outside the restaurant. By about 10 PM, Pel' Meni is doing a brisk business and it continues to do a brisk business with the after drinks and late-night-starving-students-writing-a-paper until about 2 or 3 AM. After an enthusiastic endorsement by people in line, I decided to try my luck. Inside I found a scattering of tables, and a curved counter, beyond which were two large steaming vats of boiling water. Off to the side was a refrigerated case of bottled soda and water, and the line moved very briskly because Pel' Meni only serves one thing: Dumplings, in either potato or beef.

Pel 'meni are a traditional Russian dumpling (technically, they're from Siberia), and Bellingham, Washington's Pel' Meni (at 1211 North State Street) is owned by a couple who opened their first Pel' Meni in Juneau, Alaska. The Pel' meni are hand-made locally, with fresh local ingredients, then frozen. A single serving is a bargain at about $6.00. Traditionally, they're served with a bit of butter and curry powder, but I suggest trying them with sour cream first, then trying them with the slightly sweet, slightly spicy vinegar. The sweet chili sauce is lovely, but a little can go a long way if you underestimate just how spicy it is. There's a reason for that piece of rye bread.

You order either beef or potato or a mix, the frozen hand-made dumplings are dropped into the vats of boiling water, and about eight minutes or so laer, you're handed a small styrofoam box with a spoon, and containing a piece of rye bread and a dozen or so steaming hot dumplings sprinkled with a special curry power, a sweet chili sauce, and a bit of fresh Cilantro. You add slightly spicy vinegar, or hot sauce or butter or sour cream to taste, then devour your pel' meni. The potato pel' meni are slightly spicier than the beef, but both are quite wonderful, especially when you're very hungry—or have been drinking for several hours. In Russia, you would go have Pel' meni first, before a night of drinking, but mostly I noticed the opposite.