Our backs were to the wall, literally. There were 50 of them, and only two of us. Armed only with breakaway wooden chopsticks, it wasn’t looking good for my friend Bryan and I. One thing was certain; it was going to get messy. Of course, it helped that our “foes” were dumplings. Still, we faced long odds at Wow Dumpling House, which opened in July in San Gabriel Square “mega-mall.”

Wow Dumpling House is a sleek, second level restaurant from the owners of adjacent Hot Pot Buffet features next generation dumplings and décor. Track lighting touted silver metal lamps in the shapes of blimps, parachutes, and dragonflies with red-lit rumps. Four trippy blue panels in back complemented several glistening silver panels, light stone and slashed yellow walls. A silver metal porthole near the register created a submarine-like effect. Even chairs were colorful, running just about the full color spectrum.

Bryan and I ordered four different dumplings (10 to an order). We soon had 50 dumplings before us, which Bryan took as “a personal challenge.” The waitress poured pre-blended soy, ginger and vinegar sauce from a metal tea pitcher into dippable dishes and we set our chopsticks in motion.

Steamed “carrot juice, scallop and celery dumplings” ($7.95) featured dumpling skins flavored and colored with carrot. Scallops were dried, but still had big flavor.

Steamed “spinach-juice, pork, shrimp, sea cucumber dumplings” ($6.95) were green, skins flavored with spinach juice, fillings chunky and fresh.

Pan-fried “sole fish with leeks dumplings” ($5.95) had crispy, browned bottoms and a juicy blend of chopped leeks and fish.

Pan-fried “pumpkin, shrimp dumplings” ($5.50) had skins even crisper and more golden, their tasty guts a fuse of orange pumpkin flecks, shrimp and pork.

For some unknown reason, the waitress threw in 10 remarkably juicy steamed pork and cabbage dumplings (typically $4.95). Not that we complained.

To up the challenge, we ordered a green onion pancake ($2.50), eight sections of thin, crisp scallion-flecked pancakes, an excellent rendition that came with fire-red chile sauce.

Bryan and I couldn’t figure out why the waitress kept bringing us free food. Was she out to defeat us?

Bryan got a bottomless glass of iced tea (normally $1.50) and I got homemade “special plum juice” (normally $1.50), which was slightly sweet and tart.

We even received a free heap of “cold cucumber” ($2.50), great, super crisp cuke chunks mixed with chopped garlic.

After an hour, our motor skills were dwindling. All those dumplings started cementing in our stomachs. We surrendered with 9 dumplings left, just short of our goal. At first, Bryan blamed cucumber interference. Then he arrived at his version of the truth. We COULD have eaten all the dumplings; he just wanted leftovers. If that makes him feel better about our delicious defeat, I’ll go with that.