If hell had an entrance, this could be it. I wish I could say the effervescence of the wait staff ameliorated the powdery Singapore noodles, the foul oyster pancakes, the sickly dumplings, but I cannot. Oh Gourmet Dumpling House, you are missed! Don't come here thinking, as I did, that this place might be as good. read more

Ordered takeout from here one night when we were too lazy (and it was too cold) to go outside to eat. The food didn't take too long to come and the prices were reasonable, so no complaints there. One caveat here is this is of course takeout, so perhaps I might have enjoyed the food or the experience more if I had dined in. Hard to tell. We ordered the steamed beef and cabbage dumplings and the steamed seafood dumplings. The beef dumplings were juicy enough. The seafood dumplings were a bit bland, so I had to counter them with the dumpling sauce that came with it. The skin was disappointing; it was too thick and masked some of the flavor. I thought it was a mediocre meal and a quiet affair. It was what I asked for: my craving, dumplings, delivered within a reasonable time frame, without me having to pay too much for them. Three stars for a relatively safe, okay experience: did the job, but didn't blow me away. read more

Dumpling Cafe - Steamed Beef & Cabbage Dumpling + Steamed Dumpling W. Seafood - Taiwanese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Great xiao long bao. The broth inside the dumplings was thick and rich, and the skin was perfectly chewy. The meat was one solid ball instead of loose. Conversely, the steamed dumplings were nothing special. I also liked the soy sauce that they provided--I think the zing came from a splash of vinegar. The prices are reasonable! I came around 3pm on a weekday and I was the only person in the restaurant. read more

Dumpling Cafe - Taiwanese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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This spot is busy all the time, food is ok but price was significantly increased recently with less portion. Just a reminder , service is always rude but it's common in Chinatown at this price range, for me it's totally ok. If people care about service you can go to hot pot place just right next to it for $60-80 /person but won't fill your stomach read more

I've been coming here for years and there are so many great things to say about this place minus the young boy taking orders. This is a small restaurant that can get pretty busy on the weekends. My go to is their soup dumplings, salt and pepper pork chops, string beans with beef, Shanghai noodles, and Fuzhou rice noodles. Everything is delicious here. Their service is pretty average for a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. read more

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The food is not authentic at all. The service is terrible. As we are eating, the owner starts to vacuuming around us.

My boyfriend and I came here on a Sunday night and it was relatively busy with a couple open tables. The tea they serve is actually not extremely watered down like some other places. We ordered the braised beef noodle soup with spinach, mini juicy pork buns(dumplings) and the founder fillet. The braised beef noodle soup was flavorful and I asked for it spicy so it had a little kick. The beef had more tendon and fat than im used to and the beef wasn't as tender as I would like. They give you options for what you would like in the soups so I ordered the soup with the Shanghai noodles which had a nice chewy consistency to it. The soup dumplings were very good, better than the ones from gourmet dumpling house. Founder fillet was lightly breaded and in a spicy Szechuan sauce. We saw a lot of people order hot pot foods. Not the one you cook in the soup yourself but rather a metal plate that is served over a small flame. That will be something to try next time. Good attentive service and overall a great experience. Think I'll pick this place over gourmet dumpling house next time I'm in Chinatown. read more

Amid COVID, this restaurant is open for dine in. The darker interior of the restaurant is fairly nice and clean. This was my first time coming here and I had an overall pretty good experience. I ordered the Juicy Pork Buns with Crabmeat and Beef Noodles. The Beef Noodles came out very fast and wasn't too bad although the meat could be a little tough sometimes and there wasn't a lot of flavor in the noodles themselves. The Juicy Pork Buns were also good. Because of the tendency for the juice to squirt out, I suggest biting a small piece of the skin and draining out the juice and then eating the outside with the pork inside. I do wish there was more of the filling, however. The buns come with a dipping sauce which I highly recommend using. read more

Dumpling Cafe - Mini Juicy Buns with Pork and Crabmeat - Taiwanese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Really don't recommend this restaurant. The dumplings with vegetables were mediocre at best, I used to frequent this place more often. Overpriced for the amount of food - and waitress assumed that my $15 required no change when what I ordered was $10. I tipped that much but a 30 percent + tip shouldn't be assumed. Especially when all I ordered was 6 dumplings. Go to gourmet dumpling house! read more

VERY VERY FRESH! and delicious late night meals are especially tasty here. But I'm sure its equally as delicious during the day. Be sure to "know" what you are ordering "ask" questions or call ahead to order what you have a taste for. The Dumplings were by far my favorite looking forward to going back and trying a new dumpling dish. read more

Just a phenomenal Chinese food spot, especially if you're looking for some authenticity. Even if you're not, the Mini Juicy Pork Buns are possibly the best soup dumplings I've ever had (NOTE: these are different and *better* than the actual menu item called "soup dumplings"). We also ordered a beef with scallion pancake appetizer by accident once and it's now a go-to. Think scallion pancake burrito with delicious beef and hoisin sauce inside. I will say, it's kind of a zoo on weekend nights, so try to go during the week or earlier if you can. read more

Where do you go when the late night Chinese food/xiao long bao cravings hit at 1am? Dumpling Cafe! I honestly went into this place with low expectations due to the fact that it was 1am and the 3/5 stars overall rating. The food was actually pretty good. Don't count Dumpling Cafe out just because of the low ratings. Come for the delicious food and don't expect anything else. Unfortunately at 1am they were out of the traditional xiao long bao AKA mini juicy buns with pork so we had to settle for the mini juicy buns with pork and crab. I've had the pork and crab version before at another restaurant and hated it but I actually liked Dumpling Cafe's version. The soup was flavorful, the pork and crab filling was savory and the dumpling wrapper wasn't too doughy. Good size soup dumplings. The Taiwan style pan fried dumplings were also another favorite. Dumpling Cafe generously stuffs their dumplings with plenty of juicy, flavorful meat. The scallion pancakes could have used a few more seconds on the pan so they could actually be crispy but they weren't too bad. The Yang Chow fried rice, salt and pepper pork chops, and Szechuan style flounder were also hits. The only thing we ordered that we weren't crazy about was the egg drop soup. That's ok though - as long as the authentic Chinese food is good I don't really care if the Americanized egg drop soup isn't too great. I was pleasantly surprised by Dumpling Cafe and would definitely make a return trip! read more

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Spotted 2 Rats running around. I never Yelp but this place is not clean. Sorry for be honest but people have to tell and help people. My bf throw up In the bathroom. read more

This place is above average when compared to other conventional, cheap Chinese restaurants. Located in the heart of Chinatown, the dining area is tight and crowded, but the food is good if you order right. Ask the waiter for recommendations to avoid sketchy dishes as seen in other reviews. Appetizers Pork Dumplings and Beef Scallion Pancake: both we're good, except it felt like they were sitting around for maybe 3 minutes before being served. This showed because the dumpling skin was a little rubbery and the scallion pancakes were only warm (we were here on a winter night next to the door though). Highlights Mapo Tofu, Hot and Sour Soup, Mongolian Beef: these are solid choices for food, mapo tofu is vegetarian but has a lot of savory flavors from the sauce. Mongolian Beef is sweet but has nice charred bits from being won-fried. The large hot and sour soup is a great value . Mediocre: Chicken Fried Rice: nothing exceptional, probably not worth the price of 9 dollars. Does not have heavy soy sauce of other fried rices. read more

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The food was very good. We ordered Udon noodles and Soup dumpling. They were very good. Now, the service is a totally different topic. *****Our waitress seemed to have a bad attitude. It appeared she was arguing with another employee. We had to ask another waitress for water. Terrible employee. read more

I tipped 25% for one of the best XLB and lunch experiences I've ever had. My waitress only spoke Mandarin. I think one can just point and say with fingers how many orders, as I saw occur. They were kind, polite, attentive, food came out fast---& absolutely perfect. I ate every last drop of the carb-n-meat centric lunch. Soooooo memorable. Have Daniel C. To thank for the excellent experience-- so thank you again! PS CASH ONLY methinks read more

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This is a solid spot to hit up if you need dinner in the theater district. The soup dumplings are where it's at! I think they're actually called "mini juicy pork buns" or something like that on the menu. If you say "soup dumplings" they know what you mean! They come with 6 delicious, juicy, soupy, porky buns. Be careful - they're hot and the soup will spluge out if you don't bite in carefully. They are delicious and I make sure to order them every time I come. Last time I was there (last week after seeing Les Mis at the Opera House), my boyfriend also ordered fried pork and scallion dumplings which were fine. Good, but nothing to write home about. He enjoyed them. The service is lackluster, they're kind of like "order, eat, pay, whatever". But it's kind of expected. The place can get really busy (and sometimes noisy depending on the clientele),so beware. If it's NOT crowded, this is a good spot to get your dumpling fix and keep truckin'. read more

Great service, friendly host Great price and full of flavor, would so try again and the fried rice was amazing read more

If I'm ever looking for cheap and at decent Chinese food when I am around Chinatown, Dumpling cafe usually has a good chance of being my choice. I believe it is $6.95 for chicken fried rice? Not bad at all. While I do choose take-out much of the tome I go here since CityPlace is right around the corner, when I have dined here it has been enjoyable. There are some nice set pieces adorning walls and ledges: pictures, pottery, etc. The servers are nice people too! It only gets a 3/5 for me since when I do go, I have to strategize how to eat my food. By this I mean: how much water do I have to drink to balance out how greasy the food is? My stomach usually doesn't get upset if I have Burger King or McDonald's without a drink, but at Dumpling Cafe it most certainly does. Be sure you are drinking ample water when you eat here as the food can be quite greasy. Despite the greasiness of the food, it is delicious and I would still recommend it if you are in the area, just make sure you get lots of water! read more

It's so unfortunate that this place pops up as one of the top places in Boston. We were craving dumplings for dinner so we ordered a variety of dumplings, and shrimp fried rice. The dumplings were good, but the shrimp fried rice was bland and sad for the price of the dish. I ordered online for pick up. When I went to pick up, the person at the desk added an additional $10 charge to my total bill. When I questioned him about the difference he told Me that he said $63 and I had heard him wrong. He then rolled his eyes and handed me the itemized receipt which clearly stated $53. I pointed out his error and he refunded my card then swiped my card (again) to pay for the original price. No apology or reasoning for the miss understanding. Seems like a shady act. I understand that accidents happen, but he did not seem sorry for the inconvenience that he created. I would not go back to this place or recommend them based on the service alone. If you choose to visit this establishment, check your receipt. read more

Food saved our asses on the first winter snow day of 2021! My buddies and I were out being fools late night on Friday pre-holidays, imbibed way too much, and were lucky enough to stumble upon Dumpling Cafe (although at the time, we had no idea. We had to check our receipt the next day to know where we stuffed our faces..) The three of us had a resurrection-worthy soup and three dishes (two beef and a fish) that was a miracle prophylactic against any sign of hangover the next day. Seriously. Looking for something to make you feel like a fresh 21-year old with metabolism of the gods after a night of drinking madness? This is the place!!! Bonus points for the staff being nice enough to our unruly selves. Clean bathroom also a big plus! Cheers and hope to see you again when we aren't so in need of saving. read more

Awesome food at dumpling cafe, if you don't mind the unfriendliest service in all of china town.

Always a line no matter what time or when you go. Not too large of a restaurant. Food and service is relatively quick and it is a mixture of people eating at the restaurant. Of course you have to try their pan fried dumplings and soup dumplings, along with noodle soups. For a place in Chinatown I would come here for dumplings as they do a good job with filling to dough ratio. read more

Dumpling Cafe - Taiwanese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Wow, I should have read reviews about Bad service first....I saw listed in Boston Globe as one of. Eat restaurants??? Boston Globe Article writer must be smoking crack or was bribed my someone... I ordered lunch special and told not offering til after New year? Why not put note on menu then I had to order dinner of same item garlic chicken. I also ordered pan fried dumplings as figured must be something special as restaurant name called the Dumpling cafe... Garlic chicken had good spicy garlic flavor and good dish. The dumplings tasteless and nothing to write home about... had a piece of bone or a chicken feet or other in one of them. Fortunately the one waitress was quick with my order and dumplings came out 10 minutes after main dish? While sitting there the guy sitting by cash register that other reviews mentioned... must be owners son or would have been fired by now... the clown sat there as 2 guys came in sat down... looked at menu... waitress was. Long gone somewhere.... Guys walked out past clown at register looking at his cell phone and didn't acknowledge them... 2 more people came in same thing ... people sat there I acknowledged by cell phone register clown...waitress comes out after 10 minutes with the take out orders for someone else... she must be waitress, cook, and mother if the clown ... Cleanliness of restroom turned me right off as never to visit again... if bathroom disgusting... what about kitchen... I won't be back... Boston Globe writer should be fired. Clown at register I would fire and give his job to waitress too??? Might as well... service real bad, food not worth hassle and better food elsewhere...I hope I don't get sick after eating there... should be 5 stars as a COVID spreader place... read more

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Engaged in some absolute upcharging fuckery by adding 25% gratitude charge to the bill (which is fine, I would've tipped that much anyway) but then proceeded to make us pay with a kiosk with no option for no tip! So I hope they enjoy holding their 40% tip hostage because I will never come here again and I would strongly advise anyone else to do the same! If that wasn't enough, the food was also bad! All around bad time! read more

I've been here for years now, but this will be the first time I'll be writing about it. In general, i love this place. You just have to find the right dish in the massive menu and know what to order! 1. ALWAYS get the soup dumplings. It's a dumpling cafe, why are you here for anything other than that. Their thin wrap technique is on point. I must say the filing varies from chef to chef but still awesome. (This is the only place i go to for it, you can quote me.) 2. Try something new. Their generic americanized Chinese dishes are good don't get me wrong, but it also serves authentic cuisine! (I recommend the spicy chili flounder if you're into mala spicy!) Service wise... you're in a fast turn over restaurant, don't expect 5 stars lol. The waiters might look like they're ignoring you (which is highly possible), but they won't forget about you and get to you eventually. Just be patient like everyone else. read more

Dumpling Cafe - Mini juicy pork buns - Taiwanese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

People - 3/10 Food - 8/10 Drinks - (only got tea and water) Decor - 8/10 Restrooms - (didn't use) My review for this place will incorporate not just the food but also the people. The staff felt very cold and not too energetic whereas the food was pretty good. We got a handful of stuff so I'll include a picture. The chicken I got was very delicious. The chicken dumplings were amazing. And the crab rangoons were a tiny bit heavy on the onion but I actually enjoyed it! read more

Dumpling Cafe - Taiwanese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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Ate here multiple times. Usually order egg fried rice, scallion pancakes, hot and sour soup, lo mein and vegetable dumplings. Restaurant is always busy and crowded. We went here after the pandemic and the tip was included in the bill. The waiter didn't inform us this and we still tipped 20%. Only later we realized that we double tipped. The waiting staff lack communication skills and are always rushing the customers. They're eager for you to finish your meal and leave. Poor customer service, good tasting food. read more

Believe the reviews, the service is horrible, food mediocre and then they add 18% gratuity to the bill to add insult. The servers ignore you the entire time you are there. read more

Stay away. This place was recently closed down by the health department. Reopened now but not clear that anything is different, the sign outside the door has a sanitation rating of A but is from 4-5 months ago. Outside sanitation concerns, waitstaff is rude and unhelpful. I ordered fried dumplings but got steamed, waitress didn't seem to care. Seafood we ordered did not taste fresh. For some reason the waitress automatically added in an 18% tip while I saw the table next to me was able to select the tip they wanted. Disappointing because I was in for lunch a few months ago and enjoyed the experience and really was looking forward to coming back. After today, with sanitation concerns, rude waitstaff, and rotting tasting food I will not be back. Highly recommend all others to stay away. read more

Got the vegetable soups with no idles and the crab Rangoon a few times. Delicious each time. The house fried rice was a little dry. The beef teriyaki was absolutely disgusting, small bits of meat that did not taste like beef. read more

Much better and CLEANER spots in Chinatown to go to. This was our first stop off the train. It was incredibly dirty everywhere (bathroom horrifying) we got the miso soup with veggies and tofu which was very good. My boyfriend got the steamed dumplings that were alright. The water glasses had smears and gross stuff on the sides so we paid and ran out of there as soon we could. read more

This was the worst service I have ever had. My family and I ordered 3 servings of dumplings, Sesame Chicken, and chicken with string beans. We just wanted to enjoy a meal as a family after sightseeing. The food was just ok, but the servers acted as though they did NOT want us there. We looked around and that was a common theme. The dishes were just thrown on the table, at us. My kids politely told them thank you and they didn't even respond. Who is rude to kids?? To add insult to injury they added 18% gratuity for "good service"!!!!! Please, if you are out with your family and you want a good experience, heed these reviews and pick from the much better options in Chinatown. read more

Probably the worst Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. The food has very low quality yet the prices are much higher than they deserve.

came here before seeing a show across the street. sunday night, walked in with a group of 3. only free table was a 9-top, where they sat us immediately. best dumplings i've ever had, warmed us from the inside out on a cold day. everything came out super quickly. no frills, just great food, like any good restaurant should be. since coming home i've told everyone i know about this place and the next time i'm back in boston i will be returning!! read more

I came here for a late dinner (7pm) after doing some research on Yelp. I never been to Boston's Chinatown and was pleased to find that it was an easy walk from my hotel. Upon finding this place I was surprised it was packed, and even more surprised to be seated immediately, across another customer getting ready to leave. Tables were not yet cleared which was awkward. In terms of food, the entrees I ordered are 5-stars in quality. Mini Pork Buns (Xiao Long Bao) were a misnomer - they should be called Da Long Bao since they were enormous! Easily double the size from Din Tai Fung and other places in SF Bay Area, but with the same excellent rich broth and juicy pork. I also ordered Beef Brisket Noodles with Spinach - excellent broth, very tender and juicy brisket, and good use of spinach and pickled greens. Noodles were chewy, which is how I like them. Minor quips is that the tea was a bit bland. I ordered a coconut boba tea (to go as a dessert) that was pretty good, except pearls were a bit bland. Service was decent but I can't help but feel its a bit erratic with seating folks and moving chairs and tea pots from table to table. read more

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Amazing soup dumplings/juicy buns, great service, and packs well for takeout. No bubble tea the last few times we've been but that's fine, just be aware. read more

Decided to try this restaurant since I was in the neighborhood and it was written up on Eater. I was impressed by how quickly they were able to shift chairs around to quickly accommodate the group of 27 people in front of us from a Nike volleyball tournament. The service is definitely efficient. We ordered clams (tasty, watch the shell fragments), soup dumplings (nice texture and taste to the broth, rice cakes (sauce is salty, texture so-so) and ung choy (it's called watercress on menu). I was surprised how quickly the bill added up. read more

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The food was OK but the server was downright hostile. She really made me feel uncomfortable.

Came here for a quick bite to eat after a late night show. We were brought glasses of water that had lettuce pieces floating in the bottom. Meaning they don't clean properly. The table was gross and sticky. Plates and chop sticks had past food residue on them. The food wasn't great, meat had tons of tendons and bone in the dumplings. I wouldn't ever come back here again. read more

Dumpling Cafe - Waiter brought us glasses of water that had lettuce debris floating in the bottom. Meaning they don't clean correctly. - Taiwanese Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

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