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    Dumpling District

    4.2 (45 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

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    Recommended Reviews - Dumpling District

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    Tarun B.

    I was exploring the Ballston Quarter while I was visiting the area and came by their food hall. It is located all the way in the basement around other restaurants. I did not know what to eat so I went around several times. I saw their ad for rainbow dumplings and knew I had to try them. They had a lunch special available which comes with rainbow dumplings, scallion pancakes, and a soda. That was a good deal I didn't have scallion pancakes in a long time so I had to try it. It was delicious. The soup dumplings came out warm and ready to go. I loved all of the different flavors. They had chicken, pork, spicy pork and several others. You can't go wrong with any of them. This is a cool place to enjoy some dim sum and dumplings.

    Rainbow Soup Dumpling 6
    Jamie J.

    Great food! We were in the mood for soup dumplings and this spot did not disappoint. We ordered the soup dumpling combo with scallion pancakes and a drink. It's conveniently located in Ballston quarters food court. Parking is in the garage within the building with very affordable rates.

    Chicken soup dumplings
    Alanna P.

    We loved this place! Lots of great dumpling options- we tried the chicken soup dumplings and the rainbow soup dumplings- which is one of each flavor- and we loved them all! Lots of flavor. We also tried the pork Bao and the crab now both of which were very tasty. Service was fast too

    Linnea E.

    Great dumpling spot! Love the rainbow soup dumpling option so you can try all the flavors. The dumplings were excellent, fresh and hot and flavorful to the max. Just the right balance of dough, filing, and delicious broth. They're also located in the Ballston Quarter food court so you can also grab boba, dessert, or maybe a second entree from somewhere if you wanted!

    Maria-Elena T.

    This is a true not-to-be-missed neighborhood gem! Can't believe I have this in my backyard. Lucky me! I got the rainbow soup dumplings (6 to an order) and was completely satisfied. Although I loved 5 out of six, here is my order of preference: 1. Black Truffle Pork (the smell alone made my mouth water) 2. Chicken 3. Crab meat & pork 4. Pork 5. Spicy pork (not spicy, thank god, but a little oily (die to the chili oil?)) 6. Shrimp and zucchini (didn't care for this one; flavor over powering). Loved the sparkling water selection. A sign specifically says there is nothing else in the bag so you need to grab your utensils of choice and napkins. Wish the soup spoons weren't plastic, but it is what it is. Will definitely return!

    Jasmine G.

    Waited close to 30 mins for my one order of pork soup dumplings. It wasn't busy and I saw several employees in the kitchen, so not sure what the hold up was. Cashier did apologize for the long wait. Once I finally bit into one, I realized there was no soup in any of them. They were pretty much dried out somehow. Sad :(

    Black Truffle Soup Dumplings 6
    Ailun H.

    My friends and I got dinner at Ballston Quarter and I decided to get some XLBs from Dumpling District, which is a pretty new addition. I've been to the Dumpling District before at Luna Hall so I know the soup dumplings will have decent flavor to them. BLACK TRUFFLE (PORK) SOUP DUMPLINGS (6) - 14.95 I got these to see if the black truffle flavor makes a big difference. For an additional $2, I didn't think it was. Personally, I prefer a regular pork XLB but the black truffle pork XLB was pretty good too. The dumplings were a good size, but a lot of them lacked soup. The skin was a bit thick and the dumplings tasted previously frozen and not fresh. Still, the flavor was pretty food but it's expensive to be paying $15 for only six bites. If I was really craving XLBs, I would consider going to Dumpling District but I will try to hold in my cravings probably, lol.

    Alice J.

    Convenient kiosks to order and pay; well packaged; the wait wasn't too long; nice "dine in area (in the foot court). Haven't tried their namesake dumplings yet but I can comment on other dishes -- Beef noodle soup (tasty, if simple: just beef and veggie in soup) Cucumber salad, delicious Seaweed salad, excellent (if a bit sour)

    Sweet Sticky Rice( including Crispy Dough) and Pan-fried Pork Bun 6
    Alex D.

    A friend and I stopped into dumpling district in the Ballston quarter market for a bite to eat. We got the soup dumplings( chicken, pork, and pork and truffle), the pork buns, and the sweet sticky rice roll. Everything was very good and the server was nice. I will definitely be back when I'm in the area. I loved how we could customize which soup dumplings we wanted.

    her seafood noodle soup
    Shawn J.

    A mixed bite, dumpling disappointment, but a soup redemption. Taking a well-earned break from my usual grind of fixing planes, I ventured out with high hopes and an appetite for discovery. I was eager to be wowed, especially by a spot known for its dumplings. Sadly, the culinary journey didn't quite take off the way I expected. This place is situated in the Ballston Quarter Food court, I got lost trying to find it, so here you go......it's underneath the building!!! My wife and I ordered an assortment of dumplings, including the vibrant rainbow dumplings and the much-anticipated crab dumplings. For our daughter, we chose the seafood noodle soup--a decision that, in hindsight, turned out to be the saving grace of the entire meal. Let's start with the dumplings. While visually appealing, the flavors left much to be desired. There was a disappointing lack of distinction between the varieties--bland, uninspired, and nearly indistinguishable from one another. The only exception was the black truffle soup dumpling, which offered a welcome burst of flavor and stood apart as the sole highlight in an otherwise forgettable lineup. The crab dumplings, in particular, were underwhelming. I had expected the briny sweetness of crab to shine through, but it was muted to the point of invisibility. Frankly, the lack of contrast among the flavors made me contemplate seeking a different dining option altogether. But then, the seafood noodle soup arrived--and the story changed. Served in three distinct components, the dish invited interaction and discovery. The base: tender noodles accompanied by a generous seafood tray. Into this, you pour a separate vessel of clear, aromatic broth--giving it a minute or two to fully awaken the flavors. The result? A richly layered, deeply satisfying bowl of comfort. Scallops, white fish, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy--each element played its part. The textures were thoughtful, the flavors balanced. I managed a few bites before our daughter reminded me, in no uncertain terms, that I was intruding on her meal. Fair enough. It was that good. Service was another highlight. The young man behind the counter was gracious, attentive, and genuinely kind--a quality that earns its own star in my book. The ambiance was refreshingly different: industrial, a touch underground, with an urban energy that stood in stark contrast to the more polished but generic feel of the Waldorf area. It's a space that welcomes families without sacrificing character. In short, the setting and service raised expectations the food didn't quite meet--at least when it came to the dumplings. But the seafood noodle soup? That dish alone is worth a return visit. Final Verdict: Come for the ambiance, stay for the soup--and if you're chasing great dumplings, perhaps look elsewhere... for now. And as always, enjoy your bite......or try someplace else.

    Vegetable Spring Roll (3)
    Lia M.

    This place was fine but I wasn't wowed. The XLB (soup dumplings) were OK, but could've been more flavorful, and had a slightly sweet taste to them, which I didn't like. Spring rolls were the same as Panda Express. Stir-fry noodles were also OK, but needed more flavor. Menu needs to state what is in each dish. You order by kiosk so you'd have to wait for someone to come out to ask. There are better places for dumplings.

    Pork Shrimp Chive Steam Dumplings 8
    Anne C.

    New addition to the food court! Delicious steamed dumplings at a reasonable price. Authentic flavors, good sized dumplings. My friends also had pan fried dumplings and spring rolls which were also delicious. Also lots of other delicious food options in the food court. Close proximity to the metro for easy transportation options!

    Rainbow Rainbow Soup Dumplings 6 and passion fruit green tea from Kung Fu Tea
    Jacob C.

    I tried the rainbow dumplings with a kung fu tea (running a promotion where the drink is free) and both were great! I really enjoyed all the dumplings, and, particularly, the mala. I thought they were better and more flavorful than others I've had at Yu Noodles, for example. The passion fruit green tea was also great!

    Rainbow Dumplings

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    Photo of Max P.
    5
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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    it tastes very good and service is very good. I would highly recommend if You are in the area

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    2 years ago

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    Matt H.

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    2 years ago

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    Matt H.

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    2 years ago

    great workers and service, would highly recommend trying their food if you stop by at ballston

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    Matt H.

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    Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant - Chicken Feet or Phoenix Claw. You can call it by either name. Chicken feet is more common.

    Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant

    3.3(1.1k reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    If you want dim sum in Fairfax at night which is not usual in LA, this is the spot!…read more I was craving sticky rice so came for dinner while in town! --sticky rice: wasnt rhe best but hit the spot --pea sprouts: a little oily tasting --pineapple buns: yummy, took these to-go and enjoyed them the next day

    A Chinese review: some of the worst dim sum I've ever had and the staff is racist…read more A friend and i went for a late lunch today. My friend is craving dim sum after being in the country, visiting from Hong Kong for 3 weeks. My friend is quite tan, his mom is Filipino, but he grew up in HK and speaks mostly canto and Tagalog. We tried speaking Cantonese to the staff who are speaking it to each other, so they clearly can. My friend has perfect Cantonese. Mine is ok but I am also very clearly Chinese. They replied in broken English instead. One waitress looked at my friend and handed us forks. So clearly, some racism/colorism in the staff. Context: lots of Filipinos in HK are maids and generally looked down on, so not surprised this happened here. The food was mushy and gross. The shrimp in the cheung fan was grayish. It felt like they had this ready early in the morning and reheated it for later. Siu mai was falling apart. Cha siu bao was good but how do you mess that one up? I've gotten take out from this place before in the past and I always forget why I try to not come here, they forget something every time. At this point I'm sure they're doing it on purpose, like little thieves. Anyway, this place has the advantage of being close, with so little dim sum options in the area, unless you want to make the trip to Tysons or Vienna. Or Maryland. One staff member was laying down on a bunch of chairs nearby loudly watching something on her phone. Any other day, I wouldn't complain about that, everyone deserves a break. But given the food quality and the clear racism in the staff, they should be called out for everything. As with any Asian restaurant, feel free to treat me like trash if the food is good. But this place fails in both places.

    Photos
    Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant - A temple to bring good luck to the restaurant.

    A temple to bring good luck to the restaurant.

    Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant - Beef Rice Crepes

    Beef Rice Crepes

    Hong Kong Pearl Seafood Restaurant - Chinese spinach in garlic sauce

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    Chinese spinach in garlic sauce

    Han Palace - Dim sum time

    Han Palace

    3.9(345 reviews)
    4.5 miWoodley Park
    $$

    Han Palace is hands down one of my favorite restaurants in DC, and there are two main reasons why:…read morethe portions and the drinks. First, the food portions here are astronomical. I ordered the Singapore noodles, which were packed with flavor and loaded with beef, chicken, and shrimp. The portion was so big that it honestly could be split between two people. I barely put a dent in it while I was there and ended up taking most of it home and eating off it for a while afterward. But the real showstopper is the bottomless drinks. For $18, you get bottomless Mai Tais, lemon drops, and mimosas, and the best part is they do it all day, not just during brunch hours. You can pull up at 7 p.m., get dinner, and still do bottomless drinks, which is something you don't see very often. Between the massive portions, the flavor, and the all-day bottomless option, Han Palace is an easy five out of five for me. If you're in DC and haven't been here yet, this is a must-go spot.

    Han Palace Woodley Park is a convenient location for the surrounding area since most traditional…read moreChinese restaurants are near downtown DC or elsewhere. This is a much needed addition to the Connecticut Ave corridor which lacks authentic Chinese restaurants and especially Dim Sum (brunch small plates). I hope that there are more choices like this in the near future for this surrounding area which lacks good traditional Chinese restaurants. The parking can be daunting since it still is in DC, might have a bit of a walk but that is everywhere in DC. The food was fast and had some unique choices that are not on a standard menu.

    Photos
    Han Palace - Inside

    Inside

    Han Palace
    Han Palace

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    Hong Kong Palace - Mapo V4. Ma Po Tofu

    Hong Kong Palace

    3.7(567 reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    Hong Kong Palace is honestly fantastic. I think a lot of the negative reviews are just wrong…read more I only got two dishes, but that was more than enough for ~$32. The prices are quite good and the portions are generous. I had a full second meal the next day without trying. I got the Yangzhou fried rice and it was very well executed. The meat inside was excellent, with what tasted like lap cheong or a similar Chinese sausage. The egg was fluffy, not burnt, nicely moist, and evenly distributed. Everything tasted fresh and balanced, with real depth of flavor. This is fried rice done properly. The other dish was listed as spicy fried chicken or something, though it was basically a la zi ji. It was excellent. I loved the peppers, and the spices were very aromatic. The frying was done well, clearly cooked in plenty of oil, so not exactly light food, but extremely satisfying. The chicken was crisp and flavorful, and the overall execution was strong. The food came out fast, the prices were low, and the quality was high, and service was good. This is an authentic Hong Kong-style place, not fancy or polished, but clearly focused on getting the food right. Five stars. I definitely want to come back.

    I've had many meals here since my last review. We took a long pause in the COVID years but have…read morerediscovered this excellent Szechuan joint. The dining room is quiet bc of all the competition in Chinese food these days but those new places are not quite as good, serve smaller portions, and charge higher prices. While the dining room is a bit sad and tired the food is not. Come support this small family owned business. Eat in bc takeout is never as good... especially with the amazing crispy, fried dishes this place knocks out. Chengdu Salt & Pepper Jumbo Shrimp, Cumin Fish, Stir Fried String Beans, Dan Dan Noodles, Chengdu Zhong Spring Dumpling, Cumin Lamb are some of the many dishes I recommend. They do a lot of things well --- a rarity these days in the restaurant scene.

    Photos
    Hong Kong Palace
    Hong Kong Palace - S30. Cumin Fish

    S30. Cumin Fish

    Hong Kong Palace - Takeout tastes as good as dinning in. Month-watering chicken. Ground pork & pickled long beans. Fried intestine with chili peppers.

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    Takeout tastes as good as dinning in. Month-watering chicken. Ground pork & pickled long beans. Fried intestine with chili peppers.

    Peking Gourmet Inn - Crispy beef

    Peking Gourmet Inn

    3.7(2.8k reviews)
    2.2 mi
    $$$

    Came by on a Friday evening for a celebratory joint graduation dinner. Our party of 4 ordered the…read morePeking duck, mandarin lo mein noodles, and the crispy beef proper. It was a LOT, and we had to take about 1/3 of the food to go. -Peking duck: 9/10 definitely one of the better Peking ducks in the area. Not oily at all, and the skin is crispy ! -Mandarin Lo Mein Noodles: 7.5/10 pretty good, but nothing too special. -Crispy beef proper: 10/10 it was amazing, we actually preferred it over the Peking duck. Full of ginger flavor and remained crispy even after a couple of hours It's pretty expensive, but the portions are big. They will try to upsell you by suggesting more dishes to order, but 3 dishes per 4-5 people are plenty.

    When at the Peking Gourmet, order the Peking duck. No argument…read more There are few places in Virginia that I would entrust with this dish. It's expensive and definitely a meal for multiple people (yet somehow I managed to get a good portion of it in one shot) but oh-so-worth-it. I visited on a late Sunday afternoon yet it was still reasonably busy. I love the huge number of photos of famous politicians and generals (the Pentagon isn't too far away) and I figured to myself ; "If it's good enough for President Bush, good enough for me!". Cutting up the duck is something of a show in itself. Most of my photos didn't come out great, but my server had obviously done this hundreds of times. He knew exactly how to slice and dice, then lay out the tiny bread pancakes like they were on display. That was a treat in itself.

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    Peking Gourmet Inn - 2.18.24

    2.18.24

    Peking Gourmet Inn - Fried rice

    Fried rice

    Peking Gourmet Inn - Lomein

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    Lomein

    A&J - spicy beef noodle soup

    A&J

    4.0(1.1k reviews)
    5.9 mi
    $$

    I've been going here since I was a baby, some of the workers still recognize me despite me not…read moregoing for years! I have to admit the quality has gone down a tiny bit (some of the food's a little dry, slightly smaller portions, namely the scallion pancake duck roll was mostly veggies instead of meat), but it's still a spot I really enjoy going to for some homey food. You can choose between thick and thin for your noodle soups and I honestly like both even tho I usually like thick noodles. Their soups are nice and brothy, not too rich which I like. I've tried most of the food on the menu and it covers the bases for when you're feeling something more light or something more filling.

    We tried A&J and liked it a lot!…read more This is not a typical Chinese-American restaurant. A&J has quite a few pleasantly unexpected dishes. Service was welcoming and efficient. On a mid-Saturday afternoon, the restaurant was about ¾ full. We started out with the Wonton Soup and the Spicy Wonton soup. The Wonton soup is just okay, but the Spicy Wonton Soup is wonderful and highly recommended. For another appetizer, we ordered the Scallion Pancake. It has a nice dense texture and I really liked it. It would've been even better if it came with a dipping sauce. We also ordered the pickled cabbage. It was good, though lacking seasoning. Our first entrée was ground pork in a delicious sauce accompanied by sprouts and thinly sliced cucumber (or was that zucchini?). Recommended! Our second entrée was a Pan Fried Beef Bun. The beef was flavorful but the bread was kinda dry. Our last entrée was the Beef Wraps. These were great! Who woulda thunk that beef and fresh carrots would go together so well?! Oh, the chili sauce in a jar on the table is extra tasty. At the end, before we got our check, we were given a plate with sliced cucumbers in a light tasty sesame chili sauce. Excellent! But the hot tea was an epic fail. It had no flavor whatsoever. Peeking inside the teapot, all I could see was a micro tiny tea bag floating or sort of sinking. One other thing I kinda don't want to bring up in light of the great food we enjoyed, but need to in the spirit of full disclosure, is to mention that A&J shares space in the building with several other businesses. The restrooms are common to all the businesses. A&J needs to lean hard on the property owner/manager to do a deep cleaning in those restrooms. I'll leave it at that.

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    A&J - Interior space is pretty small.

    Interior space is pretty small.

    A&J - Pan fried pork bun

    Pan fried pork bun

    A&J - Dining room

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    Dining room

    Dumpling District - dimsum - Updated May 2026

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