Best Xiao Long Bao 2012 | Tao Tao Noodle Bar | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Xiao Long Bao

Tao Tao Noodle Bar

Making soup dumplings — especially really good soup dumplings — is a craft, and world-class dumpling-makers even fight over the correct number of folds required for the top of each bun. Tao Tao Noodle Bar goes with eighteen. But consuming soup dumplings is also something of an art, especially at Tao Tao, where we want to start shoving the little morsels in our mouths the second they hit the table, burning our esophagi to a crisp. Instead, we wait for the right moment, when we pluck a dumpling by its twist so that none of the liquid can escape, put it in a spoon with a little pepper and vinegar, then nibble a hole in the side so that the soup gushes out of the wrapper and into the spoon, creating a tart, pungent, garlicky broth that warms our hearts and souls. When we've sucked that down, we pop the doughy wrap in our mouths and savor the herb-flecked, ground-pork meatball inside. And then we do it again and again and again.

Best Yogurt

Noosa Finest Yoghurt

The raw material is locally sourced, with milk from grass-fed cows at the historic Morning Fresh Dairy Farm in Bellvue. The recipe (and the owners) come from a little burg in Queensland, Australia, called Noosa. The result is a creamy, full-bodied yogurt that's neither as sour as the Greek version nor as insipidly sweet as the American — and so tasty that it's hard to believe it's good for you. Available at small and large grocers, in blueberry, mango, raspberry, honey, peach and strawberry rhubarb.

Best House Margarita

Pinche Taqueria

The Pinche Taqueria cocktail list is downright cheeky. The tequila- and whiskey-focused back bar serves up clever twists on classic Mexican cocktails, as well as wondrous new concoctions. But before the bar ventured off into wordplay and wacky flavors, it worked hard to make sure that it had nailed its house margarita, which also happens to be the only margarita the place makes. The classic blend of tequila and Cointreau and plenty of mouth-puckering lime juice is sweetened with a squirt of simple syrup. Whether you like it with or without salt, these margs are just about perfect, and they go down easily. So easily, in fact, that our only gripe is that you can't order them by the pitcher.

Readers' Choice: Rio Grande

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