You don't have to go to Asiatown for your dumpling fix anymore. Inner Loopers have new options including hot and spicy dumplings from Spicy Girl in Midtown, pork chili dumplings at UB Preserv in Montrose, and Shanghainese soup dumplings from Wanna Bao in Midtown. And when Mala Sichuan opens at Finn Hall in downtown later this summer, hopefully the restaurant's red oil dumplings will make the journey.

One of the most ambitious new dumpling programs can be found at Izakaya, the hip Japanese pub that has recently refocused its menu to specialize in ramen and dumplings. Executive chef Jean-Philippe Gaston recently took a deep immersion in dumplingland, installing a sleek, glassed-walled dumpling bar where diners can watch signature dumplings being filled, pleated, fried and steamed. He also hired two dumpling chefs from Chinatown to help oversee the line of dumplings that recently made its debut at the same time the restaurant enhanced its interiors with new lighting and colorful photographic window panels of bustling Asia cityscapes.

The dumpling menu includes chicken, pork, beef or vegetable dumplings that can be had pan fried or steamed. There' also Chinese pork soup dumplings (xiao long bao) whose flavorful interiors are created without the aid of gelatin but with boiled down pig skin. A pan-fried pork bun also makes the grade.

Gaston says he has other dumplings in development, including quail rillettes, duck and foie gras, antelope, and roasted beet and mushroom. He's also fashioned tiny dumplings filled with escargot and shrimp for a special wonton soup.

Speaking of soup, Gaston also is putting ramen in the spotlight with an expanded soup bowls made with a stock of chicken, beef and pork and Sapporo noodles. The new ramen offerings include tomato ramen, kimchi ramen, fried chicken ramen and pork cutlet ramen in addition to Tonkotsu ramen, miso ramen, and Gaston's inventive menudo ramen.

In addition to the enhanced dumplings and ramen menu, the cocktail list includes some new treats. Check out the black-as-coal cocktail called Cap'n Ripley which gets its color from a cuttlefish ink shrub. Delicious.

Izakaya, 318 Gray, 713-527-8988; houstonizakaya.com. Open Monday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 11 p.m.; Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight; Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (ramen brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Follow him on the podcast BBQ State of Mind to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.