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Spontaneously decided to have dinner here last night after watching a show at the Wang Theatre. When I was revisiting their menu and looking at reviews after so long, I noticed they have a beef longhorn pepper noodle soup, which I've never seen on other menus before. From what I understand, this might be the only place that makes this dish, and it is so delicious. I'm somebody who likes really spicy food, so I can reassure you this is not spicy at all, but it's very comforting and filling. I'm raving about the soup because the noodle quality is different and delicious. I feel like this would be a really great comfort meal on a cold day. I asked for chili oil, and it was a good-quality, flavorful one. The inside is clean, and when it comes to service, you should not expect too much. This is a busy place--you just ask for what you want, and they will give it to you. I got the salted crispy shrimp, which was also tasty and mild. None of the food was too spicy. I also got the salted fish with chicken fried rice, which I recommend to everyone who likes savory food. I think this restaurant has a very balanced flavor profile, so it's not overwhelmingly flavorful--anyone would like to eat here.
This place isn't the best for customer service! So, be prepared to ask for napkins, straws and ice. But let's talk about the food. Because it is what I was most excited about. I ordered the soup dumplings and the fried dumplings with pork. Annnnnnnnd they were amazing! The food came out quickly, piping hot and extremely fresh. The soup dumplings were the most satisfying. The broth was well seasoned and unforgettably delicious. The crisp bottom of the fried dumplings were the best.
Been coming here 15 years or so, off/on. For me the highlights are just a few: either D1 Braised Beef Brisket Noodle Soup with Spinach, or D2 Noodle Soup with Shredded Beef with Green Longhorn Pepper, and the Guo Tie. D1 is beef noodle soup that is commonly found at Taiwanese places... but D2 is really hard to find, and Dumpling Cafe absolutely crushes it every time. Key elements to D2: - a different broth, lighter & less salty than D1 - actual Green Longhorn peppers (not substituted with Shishito, Jalapeño, bell, Serrano, or Anaheim) - both the beef strips and the Green Longhorns should be wok-tossed and slightly charred prior to soupification - al dente noodles It is simple to make but easy to mess up, and DIFFICULT to find one that's made as beautifully as this one. Often if a place has both this and the standard beef noodle soup, the longhorn pepper one will use the same soup. That's wrong! Then, the guo tie. These guys freshly wrap the filling and fry it. These aren't frozen dumplings. It'll take some time for them to produce them. That's the point. Don't be put off by the large amount of non-Asians who are constantly in here. Dumpling Cafe does great Americanized favorites too. Service is terse and to the point; ambience too, but that's part of the charm. I've eaten Chinese across China, in Flushing, SVG, Vancouver and elsewhere and always make it back to Boston for the D2.
My favorite was their pan-fried dumplings and oyster pancake. I ordered online to avoid their service. They give attitudes, especially the waitress. She was trying to place an order for me even though I told her I was here to pick up and place my order online. I repeat, I am here for pick up, and she told me I should let her know so she doesn't have to send the order to the kitchen. Food is ok since I have not been here for years, but the service, sigh.
It's alright. Nothing like what was hyped up on social media though. This was my first time here so I don't know how busy it can get, but it was absolutely dead at 9 on a Thursday night. Like most recent reviews say the service is very transactional and they require a $10 minimum spend per person, so we were forced to order something we weren't really in the mood for. Soup dumplings were solid! No complaints there. Shrimp fried rice was skimpy on the veggies and shrimp but had decent flavor.
The pork and leek fried dumplings were DE-LICIOUS! I'm not a huge pot sticker girl but I will be back in the next two days before we leave! My husband said he could eat the beef juicy buns every day too! The place is very unassuming and small, not much for ambiance, but with those dumplings... who cares. The server barely spoke to us, but got it done. One of the people that delivered the food was a bit friendlier- we got a smile out of her. The food was quick and very hot. Loved it!
Exactly what you'd expect from a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown: no frills, acceptable service, and good food. The four of us split the pork soup dumplings, beef with peppers, pan fried noodles, and Shanghai bok choy. This amount was plenty of food and each dish hit the spot. Service was efficient and our waters were always filled. Would definitely come back for some tasty food!
I only tried the taiwan dumplings and they were ok. Could have had more flavor and dough could have been thinner and more delicate. noodles looked good on other people' plates but ran out of time to try, waiters was nice but she looked so exhausted and worn out and depressed, maybe overworked
Dry fatty and not hot. Ordered grilled pork app w a side of rice. Very busy, should have ordered something else. Traveling solo, just wanted a quick bite. Disappointed.
I really enjoy their food, authentic, delicious, fast, and fresh. Service HORRIBLE. Don't come here if you and your friend just want to try something on the menu, cause they will deny you table service if you don't spend minimum $10 per person at the table. I guess that's a thing now? Maybe I'm late? Ambiance is fun city dim sum. I hate that the service is so terrible, but who cares cause the food is awesome.
No frills authentic chinese place in tucked away in Chinatown. I would say service is not the best but they get the job done. I only come here for dumplings and this place is really a hidden gem for dumplings. The flavor for all three kinds is perfect and not overpowering. My personal favorite is the pan fried ones. Affordable and you get a good portion for the price you pay too. Maybe one day I will try the other dishes that's on the menu other than dumplings. But this place is gonna be my go-to place for dumplings. -9/10 solely for dumplings
Food was delicious ! But service just made the experience bad. Server was a younger girl, very rude energy , made me feel unwelcome . And she asked for her tip by putting out her hand & took my cash without saying thank you. Sorry, won't come back here !
Just ate at this restaurant. It surprised us how good the food is based on both the review ratings as well as the look of the establishment. We ordered what typically Chinese people would order and they were all very good. I would say that the ratings are off and if you're in Chinatown, definitely stop by and try this place.
9 months ago
Came here on a whim and decided to order takeout. I was skeptical at first due to the appearance of this restaurant and also the interior seems to be outdated. I ordered the chicken and broccoli with white rice dish which was about $20, my friend ordered vegetable soups and vegetables dumplings, her's came to about $25. In total we spent a little over $50. To our surprise our food was pretty good. The only issue we had was the feeling uneasy ordering due to the host's demeanor and tone, almost felt as if we should have went elsewhere. Overall the food was good, the service is questionable felt uncomfortable. read more
11 months ago
1 year ago
Two stars in my book is unusual and equals "would not return" though not horrible. That's because our server showed no interest in our experience or questions; the braised tofu with veggies was flavorless; the fried fish dumplings okay but slammed onto the table dry without sauce; and seafood Lo mein fine, though cooked with liquid smoke. You can do much better in Chinatown. Main positive was view of Empire Garden's neon sign across the street, reminiscent of scenes from Blade Runner. read more
1 year ago
Great food. Fast and friendly service. Affordable price to portion ratio. Ambiance was nice. read more
1 year ago
So many food options in Boston's Chinatown but this one had great reviews so I decided to grab something small for takeout. I went in and ordered the pork & leek dumplings. The restaurant was packed. Tables had an abundance of food that looked & smelled incredible! It looked like a great vibe. I was told my dumplings would be ready in 15 minutes and to wait in the waiting area. Someone came out with my food in about 10 minutes. Got back to my hotel & opened my package. They looked more like steamed wontons. The flavor was incredible and the portion was generous for me. So good! I would def go back and dine in next time. read more
4 years ago
We stopped by Dumpling Cafe last Friday before a show at the Wilbur. I was shocked with how busy they were, but also with how efficient they were! We got a table within 10 minutes- and within 2 minutes of sitting down we had drinks in-front of us. Ordered our food about 5 minutes after that and we had ALL of our food in front of us within 10 minutes. The scallion pancake was delicious! So flavorful! We also snagged crab Rangoon, I wish it tasted more crab like - chicken gaus, absolutely delicious and steamed buns - not my fav - but my husband loved them! The sauces were DELICIOUS! Try them all! read more
3 years ago
There's rarely a time I can't help but start writing my review while I'm still waiting for my check. I'm in town for work and my favorite thing to do is find hole in the wall places where only the locals go. I was searching for a place for some soup dumplings and this place did not disappoint. The first bite of the mini juicy pork dumplings took me on a joy ride of flavors. The broth is flavorful, delicious, and the sauce with freshly chopped ginger in it was out of this world. I already know this is going to be a go to place I come to when I'm in Boston. Haven't eaten anything like it before. I'd suggest getting the chili oil if you enjoy spice. Just know this place can get busy and it's a local spot so know that the service your getting is quick. The noddles were good but maybe not the best pairing for me with the dumplings. So delicious, not sure why it doesn't have more stars. read more
6 years ago
There's a lot of restaurants with "dumpling" in the name in Chinatown. I almost get them mixed up. This location is great for stopping by for a satisfying dinner before paying tons of money at the movie theater for random snacks. I'm writing this review during the great pandemic so it's actually kind of rare to have a sit down experience. They were literally making the dumplings fresh for us to see. Their soup dumplings have a little thicker skin than Din Tai Fung's, but I enjoy the chewiness and flavor. I laughed pretty hard when my friend took a big bute and juice exploded. Make sure to wear glasses or goggles if you sit across someone inexperienced in eating these things. The pan fried dumplings have a satisfying crunch. They have a lot of stuff for Americans to eat such as chicken teriyaki skewers, general gao Chicken, and I think I saw some other tables getting poo poo platters with the little candle flame under the plate. Overall, really solid place. Make sure that you get a bunch of dishes and share it family style with people you trust to get the best experience. read more
I feel like I just got punked, I've had far superior food court Chinese. We ordered spring rolls, pork fried rice, noodles with chicken and vegetables and beef with scallions. The rolls and beef are the only remotely decent options which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 The fried rice is essentially white rice with what looks like frozen vegetable medley, a few sad strips of pork and scrambled egg. I can confidently say I can make it better. The noodles, I have no words, they're pasty, gummy, dry and the only vegetables look like someone chopped up old flower stems and cooked them to death. Beef and scallions, the scallions look sad and wilted but at least we have some extra sauce to eat with the bland fried rice. We went to pick it up, waited several minutes for someone to great/approach before finally interrupting 2 staff who seems to be actively ignoring us to try and pick up the order. I'm genuinely curious as to what went wrong here. read more
2 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
If you're looking for juicy and meaty dumplings in Chinatown, Dumpling Cafe is the place to go! The menu is very diverse, but we got the soup dumplings and pan fried dumplings. The soup dumplings are huge- the top skin is a little thicker than my liking, but the skin holds the piping hot and flavorful soup very well. Even when I bit down into the pan fried dumplings, juice squirted out. The place is no frills and a mom-and-pop shop, so service is very homey especially if you speak Chinese. read more
2 years ago
Went for a lovely night out, my night was ruined. First off, there was an oily film on the top of the water. The food was quick and we were surprised, until we tasted it. It was so booty butt bad. I also got chicken and green beans, which came with a pound of green beans and nibbled up chicken. We found a piece of egg shell in the fried rice, and when we asked a waitress she said "no it's just egg". The salted fish chicken fried rice tasted just like peanuts and it ruined it tbh. Also waitress needs to control her stink eye. The duck bao buns were good on the outside, but a drunk and neglectful father on the inside. They tasted like alcohol and it was very overpowering. I'm not sure if somebody forgot to cook the alcohol out of the sauce but maybe that's why it came out in 10 mins. Fast, but shitty im ngl. If you wanna waste ur money go to this place read more
2 years ago
2 years ago
4 years ago
The fried rice was lighter in color but it tasted pretty good. The sauce for the chicken was strange. It reminded me of a baby's drool in that it's like a really long string of thickness and then it drops. It was kinda gross to see the sauce dripping off my chicken like that. I'm not sure what they could have done with the sauce to make it so that but neither my partner nor I liked it. Overall it didn't upset our stomachs, so I guess it was fine overall. Will not be returning though. read more
Been on a chinese comfort food / dumpling spree for the last few weeks, and had somewhat high expectations for this seemingly authentic place based on Yelp reviews for "terrible service but great food." Easy to get in on a Thursday night, and food came quick. I was hungry enough to order enough food to feed 4, but I struggled to eat a single portion's worth. All the items we got just seemed a little off. My stirfry rice cake was too soft, and had a weird salty aftertaste. The XLB were big and generous, but something about the flavor made it seem too overwhelming to gulp down multiple in a row. The fried dumplings were yummy on th first bite, but also seemed too much afterwards. My husband's Taiwanese noodle soup was not the beef kind as expected, but a bland version of ramen with noodles that lacked the homemade texture. Maybe it was an off night (for me as well as them) but I left disappointed (and with alot less in my wallet than I expected). read more
4 years ago
Late night visit with my partner. Service was not super welcoming but quick. Frankly authentic places aren't always welcoming so I took that as a green flag. If you know you know. We ordered the orange chicken, seafood fried rice, vegetables dumplings, and scallion pancakes(not pictured). Honestly was a lot more food than we anticipated so we were excited to have leftovers. All the food was amazing. Next time I will try the seafood or shrimp dumplings as the vegetable was a little dry. Overall, great late night spot! read more
The food is good. However the service is horrible and I'm sure you could go somewhere with equally appetizing (or even better) food and definitely much better service. When asking questions our waitress seemed annoyed and disinterested. When we received our food, we let them know we were missing an item, they proceeded to shush us and hold a finger up. They eventually came back and literally flung the dish across the table. We got out of there quickly! Ive never had service so bad. But as I said FOOD IS GOOD SO Order ONLINE!! read more
3 years ago
Ordered a few times take out, and there were 2 times the pork chop meat is not fresh becoming sour. It's relly dishusting. The scallion pan cake is also bad and sour. I am done with trying this place. What makes them think customers won't notice it ? read more
We grabbed a quick bite here before going to see a movie. We tried the salted fish chicken fried rice, beef scallion pancake, and soup dumplings. The food came quickly. The prices seemed on par with Boston Chinatown prices. There was a lot more pancake relative to beef for the beef scallion pancake. The soup dumplings were on point. If you're coming here, do so for the food alone and not for the ambiance. The wait staff was pretty frosty. The lady barely said anything to us. I was amazed when she even said good-bye in response to two other diners saying bye. I enjoyed the food overall but her unfriendliness detracted a bit from the house experience. The other thing is, both of us ended up Extremely thirsty after eating here so be prepared. read more
Review #1066 Really mediocre! 3-star sounds just about right. I came here for its lunch special ($24 for a three-dish combo deal). I got the green beans, chicken in the garlic sauce, and pork in bamboo shoots. All the food were just okay. The green beans dish was actually not very good, it had a burnt smell to it. I don't think I've ever had a restaurant that messes up green beans. The bamboo shoots dish was kind of bland. The chicken in garlic sauce was probably the best of all. I would give other restaurants offering lunch specials in the area a chance before returning here. Come here if you want quantity and speed to your meal. I think lunch specials are pre-cooked and ready served, as they bring out the dish within a couple of minutes of your order. I believe this place has a $20 cc minimum. When in doubt, always come with cash in Chinatown. read more
Don't expect the warm fuzzies from anyone here...but you'll get good dumplings. The soup dumplings were a target for us as we have a friend that lives right on the edge of Chinatown and....wait for it....has never had dim sum or soup dumplings. So we researched the crap out of the restaurants that offered soup dumplings (and other dim sum style stuff) and was told by a random local guy (as we were peering in the window of this spot) that these were the best in Boston. And...that the other place we were considering is always packed and overrated. Ok! Sold! Soup dumpling flavor? Spot on. Dipping sauces were good. Dumpling skin a bit thicker than what I'm used to/prefer. The didn't serve (nor offer) hot oil and I was afraid to ask for it since the staff were not the friendliest. The veggie dumplings, chicken dumplings and vegetable fried rice were all decent. I wanted to try other stuff, but I got full rather quickly. We didn't have to wait long for a table-they don't take reservations. Conclusion? I'm spoiled. I have access to great soup dumplings/Shanghai/Taiwanese style fare in NYC and the Albany area. I enjoyed our meal, but have had better soup dumplings elsewhere. read more
3 years ago
Ordered the pork and leek dumplings for take-out. Tasty, reasonable price, filling, in the city and close to where I was staying. Typical Chinese restaurant interior. Menu is a little overwhelming like most old school Chinese restaurants. read more
1 year ago
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3 years ago
3 years ago
This place was great! I loved the food and everything was tasty. * * * * Food: We ordered a lot of things from soup dumplings to Mapo Tofu. They are known for their soup dumplings, so definitely give those a try when you come here. I cannot comment on the taste since I'm a vegetarian but my family liked it. The vegetable dishes were great though. The Mapo Tofu was a little bit spicy, but not spicy enough for my taste. The portion size for this was on the smaller side. It was still flavorful. The green string beans were tasty and cooked perfectly. The fried noodles were made vegetarian. It came with eggs and some vegetables - simple, yet still great. Service: Standard. The food came out relatively quickly. Price: Comparable to other Chinese restaurants. Ambiance: Comparable to other Chinese restaurants. Overall, I would say this is one of the better Chinese restaurants to go to in Boston! I had a good experience and I would come back. read more
2 years ago
More info about Dumpling Cafe
695 Washington St
Boston, MA 02111
Chinatown
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(617) 338-8858
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https://dumplingcafe.com
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Ask the Community - Dumpling Cafe
Is Dumpling Cafe open? I've been calling and trying to order online maybe 3-4 times in recent weeks. Phone just rings and online ordering is closed. Guessing they're closed?
It's still open. I ate there last week.
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