I go here pretty much every week because my mother really likes the BBQ pork buns. And for good reason! They're quite good, and you can get 6 for around $7. Decent deal. And they make them fresh! I don't really like the other buns all that much, unfortunately. Recently though, I found out that they have chicken potstickers, I believe listed on the menu as fried chicken dumplings or something. And they're pretty good too! Finally, something else I can get besides BBQ pork buns. There's better things you can get around the area for sure, but if you REALLY just want BBQ pork buns, this place is probably your best bet. read more

Inexpensive homemade dumplings! Soup! Rice plates Sandwiches Ice coffee Better then the cluster of restaurants down the street Cash is even cheaper.... Small but stool seating available You can even buy frozen dumplings to take home.... Try this place read more

Cute lil hole in the wall, food was fresh and delicious!! And the guy taking my order was super nice.

Their food is really not that good. I've had better soup dumplings at buffets. I'd rate it 2-3 stars. Plus their service is slow However, what dropped it down to 1 is today, we ran out of dumpling skins during an event, and what better place to buy emergency dumpling skins than from this place? Nope, refused to sell it to us. Not even when we said we'd promote their business at the event. Plus, they told us to go to a grocery store to go buy some. Wow, I never thought of that. Do you think I would be here if I could get to one and back in time? Is it that kind of thinking that makes us wait 20 min for some expensive-butt, not even good soup dumplings? read more

gone is Uncle Dougie. in comes Dumpling Express, except it isn't. everything in plain sight is done manually, the old fashion way, no 'bots, no machines to speed orders along menu: won ton, porridge, chow fun, chow mein, xlb, dumplings, et al. eats: meat porridge (4.13) a whole quart -watery rice, tender beef, lots of sodium-msg and salt. leftovers: -7 minute wait to order, like amount of time for food to arrive -foods cheap, quality of food average to slightly below. read more

I love that they have a wide arrangement of food here, are very considerate of their customers (I told them I was vegan and they asked for suggestions on new dumplings as they wanted to cater more to vegetarians and vegans), and is reasonably priced. I have had the veggie dumplings (vegan), snow pea leaves dumplings (seasonal, vegan), and veggie chow mein (they volunteered to substitute the egg noodles with rice noodles without me having to ask). The veggie dumplings have lots of mushrooms, carrots, chives, and other delicious veggies. Snow pea dumplings are savory, garlic-y, and well, taste like snow pea leaves. I like to eat, so I get 1.5 orders of dumplings (they honor half orders if you order at least one order). As far as $5-7 dollar food goes, this is as good as it gets. read more

This is worst Chinese food I have ever had in my life. I'm such a Chinese food snob, and Berkeley doesn't have the greatest Chinese restaurant record anyway, so I try to avoid eating it. I was reminded why I do this after my experience here. I'll admit, they give you a ton of food, but it's not necessarily food you want to eat. I ordered the chicken fried rice and the rice was oddly crunchy. I was literally forcing myself to eat it because I didn't want to waste food, when I suddenly tasted something metallic. I looked at what I had just taken a bite of and it was a piece of RAW BEEF. How the hell does raw beef get inside a container of chicken fried rice? I had to brush my teeth and mouthwash twice to get the disgusting taste out of my mouth, and tossed the whole thing. There is no excuse for a food establishment to mix up raw food with cooked food. This is a health code violation and it is totally concerning that this even happened. read more

Dumpling Express - RAW BEEF IN MY CHICKEN FRIED RICE - Shanghainese Near Me - Berkeley, California

I was really depressed after watching the Shanghai episode of Parts Unknown. Although freshly steamed, and 20 times twisted Xiao Long Bao are no biggie for Anthony Bordain, it's going to be a while before I get to experience proper Shanghainese food culture. I was then reminded that I live 5 blocks away from Dumpling Express, and I can have lovingly prepared XLB whenever I want. I have learned that there is not a lot of consistency in preparation when ordering from Dumpling Express, but that is the beauty of it. Everything that comes out of the kitchen is made on the spot, and piping hot fresh. The coveted soup dumplings (XLB) are by far the best thing on the menu, but I continue to be impressed by the breadth of options. I see a lot of people complaining about long wait times but you quite literally get to see them make each dumpling by hand after you order. They use good ingredients too, which are always kept fresh due to the high turnover. Prices are beyond reasonable, with the cash discount making it one of the cheapest eats in the neighborhood. Additionally, the staff is incredibly nice. I guess you could say they have the whole package. read more

I came here on opening day but it's taken me until now to string together all the random thoughts on my experience here, to contemplate the beautiful existence of the xiao long bao, to recover from Dumpling Express's near-sacrilegious destruction of Shanghai's favorite snack. Just kidding. I mean, this place is fine, just like how Domino's is "fine" if you're craving pizza, how McDonald's is "fine" if you're itching for a burger. It's okay. Average. Sufficient to satisfy a really bad dim sum craving. But to me, XLBs should be more than "just okay"--they should punch you in the gut and make you wonder what you were doing with your dumb meaningless life before the soup dumpling entered it, leave you begging for more despite a burnt tongue and a full stomach. They should consist of a flavorful ball of meat and a generous amount of piping hot soup, all packaged within a thin delicate pocket of dough that's just strong enough to support its contents. Go vinegar&ginger for dipping sauce or go home. Within 0.07 seconds of putting it in your mouth the dumpling should explode; you should also explode (from happiness, if that wasn't clear enough). godDAMN I'm tearing up a bit writing this because I'm thinking about what their xiao long baos could've been. And Dumpling Express just didn't do it for me. There definitely wasn't enough soup in the dumpling, the skin was too thick, and towards the end of my meal the tops of the dumplings were starting to dry up and become really tough. Their service was also pretty bad although I'll just chalk that up to my being there on their first day. The ladies making the dumplings packaged mine up and then just left them on the counter. I thought it was for a person who had ordered before me, but they continued to sit there for a good ten minutes, and when I asked about my order they checked the tag on that box and then handed it to me.....what the heck, they had been steaming in the box for an extra ten minutes, which is probably why they didn't taste too good. tl;dr: I literally have zero clue as to why everyone in other yelp reviews is going cuckoobananas over this place. It's aite.....but I won't be coming back. Especially since I graduated LOL LATER LOSERS. read more

Dumpling Express - They make the dumplings in front of you. TOO LEGIT - Shanghainese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Really pretty bad food for the most part. Frozen dumplings are good dor the price and good for an easy meal or two. Just really avoid anything else. read more

So, there is a ton of places to eat near Telegraph and this is one of the places I have tried three years ago. What I remembered, was that this was nice substitute if you could not get to Din Tai Fung. This is a quick and easy place to go to if you need a quick lunch and have a dimsum/dumpling craving. If you are expecting to have some stellar dimsum or dumpling, do not expect too much. The food is average, but the people who own/manage the place are nice. read more

I only really come here when I'm sick and get the porridge, but in terms of Berkeley, the porridge here is pretty good. It gets the job done. If you pay in cash its a bit cheaper than if you use card, but overall still pretty good prices for large portions. Dumplings aren't bad, they give a lot, and the chow fun is good, lots of beef! read more

Great place to eat. Price was is very reasonable. They have 2 sets of prices, cash and credit. Lunch for 2 was less than $15 and we had 2 dishes with a side of dumplings. Food was tasty. They have limited seating but many people took their stuff to go as I sat there and ate my chow fun. I will definitely return. read more

The Vietnamese rice noodle tastes generally but the corn pork dumplings are really really delicious! The corn in dumplings is sweet and delicious. Besides, be sure to add some soy sauce to the preserved egg porridge, so that the porridge will become very tasty.Buns are also worth a try. read more

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I was raised in Taiwan and spent more than 7 years in the Bay Areas, while in college, I also worked as a waiter for several years at various restaurants (Szechuang, Japanese, Chinese, etc.) I have experienced pretty much all kinds of Chinese food there is, both authentic ones in Asia and Chinese-American-fusion food in the Bay Areas. First of all it is be established that the word "Express" should be taken out of its name, according to my personal experience, and several other Yelp reviewers. I arrived at the restaurant at roughly 8 P.M. on a Sunday during summer time. (off-peak hours for restaurants and less students in the areas are implied here) I already knew this fact from Yelp and planned to wait a while, the two star do not even include this fact. During wait-time, it is observed that the atmosphere at the restaurant is not really pleasant, as many customers who waited in line simply just cursed and left, and others who have already ordered frowned upon the slow and transparent prep-work that is open for everyone to see. (yes, you could see the staff at the kitchen work while you wait, which only created nothing more than frustration because instead of the authentic and interesting dumpling-making process that they wish to show to the public, you'd see 5-6 employees without proper training that cause the huge delay in everyone's precious time.) This is especially evident when you see that the cashier often has to go to the kitchen to either answer questions of the kitchen staff or stay at the kitchen to help for a little while, leaving the register and customers in line unattended. After a good half an hour, my order finally arrived. K1 for Shanghai Soup Dumplings (上海小籠湯包) and D12 for Spicy "Bean Sauce" Noodles (炸醬麵) . Dumpling skin was too thick and was already cold by the time I got home. (I live only within 2 mins of walking distance, right above the Wal-greens on Telegraph) The fillings of the dumplings were not fresh, and you'd taste the unpleasant and uncooked taste of raw pork. Just about any below-average dumplings you would get at a cheap Chinese restaurant here in the Bay Areas or at Socal. The spicy noodles was another fiasco, normally Chinese restaurants would at least use the chow-mein noodles for this cuisine but they use egg noodles (the ones you have in wonton soup noodles, which is literally supposed to be for soup noodles) This dish in summary was simply egg noodles broiled in water with "Kao-Pao-paste-like" sauce. Despite the fact that it comes with a huge portion, it was just so bad that it went to directly to the trash after two bites. I had one bite and could not sustain the pungent smile (strong and sour kao-pao-paste), and another bite to make sure my senses were functioning correctly. Two stars for the cashier with a very proper customer-service uniform and a tie, I really appreciate your hardship as you go in-and-out of the kitchen to help out while apologizing to everyone in line. But the food does not even reach the standard of "cheap Chinese food" that I would frequent. read more

If you want to eat during this century, be sure to order a week in advance. We consistently order "grab & go" specials that take a minimum of 30 minutes to get. There is one guy who is trying to move people quickly but the cooks look like they could give two $@!$. Once you actually receive your food, it's semi decent but sure as hell not worth the wait. read more

I'm honestly not sure why people here say the dumplings are good...but when I came here, I only tried the Xiao Long Bao. The Xiao Long Bao were terribly disappointing. I think the frozen ones from Ranch 99 taste better, lol. Basically, they were rather bland. There wasn't any soup inside, and the skin was really soggy/breaking apart.... It took me 20 minutes to get my order, so I really think they should change the name to watching paint dry while getting dumplings or something. I was pretty annoyed with that. The worst part is, there was NO ONE in front or behind me so I don't understand why it took them SO long. Anyways, I gave 2 stars because I didn't try dumplings....and maybe only their dumplings here are good? I'll give this place another chance but STAY AWAY FROM THE XIAO LONG BAO. I guess that's not what they're known for anyway. read more

I come here so often I think they're starting to recognize me. Whoops. Listen, no one is trying to say this place is the best dumpling joint in the bay, nor is it a necessary stop on your food tour of Berkeley. BUT, if you are a student looking for a cheap, filling, and relatively healthy meal (it has to be better for you than Chipotle) this is a great place to hit up. My tips: I always call my order in and wait 15 minutes before walking over to pick it up, & I always pay cash to avoid that silly additional fee. read more

I've actually had pretty decent quality food here and it's SO dirt cheap! I love how their dumplings have a thick skin so if you like those types of dumplings, you'll love this place; if not, then this is your worst nightmare. Their dumplings have a super thick chewy skin and they're always cooked really well! I recently had their preserved egg and pork congee and it was surprisingly really good! There was a generous amount of egg and meat inside and the congee was really authentic. I'll definitely be back to try more of their congees! Overall, super cheap food like $4-6 for most items if you pay cash so BRING CASH and definitely try the dumplings and congee! read more

This was a convenient place for us to have a mid-afternoon snack. I love dumplings --being from China and thought I could get a quick fix since I was visiting. I really applaud the owners for making XLB in-house (pork filling AND dumpling wrappers made in house). We ordered the standard steamed soup dumplings and a dozen fried dumplings just to try something different. The xiao long bao definitely delivered! The skins weren't too thick and the delicious broth from steaming them was wonderful. Dipped in vinegar and hot sauce -- perfection. I've had better, but these definitely aren't the worse thing on the menu! The fried dumplings weren't anything special and they were actually burnt, and instead of pan frying them, they dropped them in a fat-fryer -- I wouldn't suggest ordering this. For a quick fix and because it was convenient, I would say try it! It's close to the Durant and they do take out -- but if you're looking for "REAL" xiao long bao, I would recommend yelping for another place. read more

Warning: It's definitely NOT express! It probably takes about 20 minutes to get your food. For the price of the jia jiang mian noodles (~$6), you get a box packed to the brim. It's enough for two meals! The xiaolong bao is pretty decent too, but it takes quite some time for them to steam the dumplings. What grossed me out though, is that the last time I went, one of my dumplings was still raw. Perhaps the best part about eating there though, is that you can get a scoop of mano or green tea ice cream for dessert for only $1! read more

This place has potential, the people are quite nice and the food is interesting. They have an open kitchen and you get to see how home-made dumplings are made. Beef chow mein comes with thin egg noodle with huge pieces of beef and is very tasty. It costs only $5.50 and you can definitely make two meals out of it. I also order shanghai soup dumpling and am a little disappointed with it. For those who have not a clue like me, soup dumpling is not soup with dumplings. Prepare to wait about 30 minutes or more for your food. I really look forward to my next visit and try some other dishes on the menu but they should seriously consider cutting down the wait time, it's really annoying when you're hungry. read more

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Never again. First time will be my last. I specially asked for dry chicken dumplings. Guy didn't understand me and said the ones I asked for are fried. Got the dumplings. Super excited. Opened the box, and my gosh. It is not dry. Tried it, omg. I can't even. It was 90% dough. 10% chicken, was it even chicken? We just left. Didn't even finish. It was the worst experience ever. We're out. read more

I craved a fresh platter of dumplings and the place looked legit. There's an employee making dumplings on site so you know the dumplings are fresh. For about $7 I got 12 Napa and pork dumplings, thick skinned. They were disappointing in taste though... something off flavored. There were carrots in my dumplings which probably threw it off. The other issue was the long wait line at the time I came. Given their simple menu I just expected faster service. The seating was also cramped. In sum, cheap but could be faster and better tasting read more

Ordered the "special" of the day: 6 pork Shanghai soup dumplings with a steamed bun for $5.02 ($5.50 after tax). The dumplings and bun were premade and sitting in a steamer, keeping them warm. I ordered them to-go, but there is a little bit of seating room if you choose to eat-in. There is Sriracha and soy sauce available on the side. Overall, the food was average. The dumplings tasted good, but the skin was a bit tough at the pinch point. The steamed bun was light and fluffy and the BBQ pork filling was sweet and a bit dry. I'd come here again to try some of their other dishes, but there are other options in the area that may be more appealing. read more

No no no just like a lump of dough. This place oh my the dumpling was not seasoned bland and a lump of steamy dough. I ate if forced myself to eat a couple of pieces but it was the worst.No wonder you get to 12 please fix this you need seasoning and your dough needs to be thinner read more

I went at lunch, when it was filled with students and had to wait about 20 minutes for 12 dumplings. I got the napa cabbage and pork dumplings which were apparently one of the more popular ones. While it did taste fresh (you watch an assembly line of workers make the dumplings right in front of you) it tasted a bit bland to me. I think when I ate it as leftovers, I was able to taste more of the flavor. My friends got the kimchi dumplings, which tasted OK and was not too spicy, and the shrimp and chive dumplings which I think I will get next time. It was the most flavorful of all three dumplings but perhaps a bit too greasy? Not sure, but I'll report on it next time. Bring cash! It's cheaper by about 50 cents. Over all, its nice that there is a dumpling place in Berkeley now and I look forward to getting dumplings on cold days. read more

My XLB hunt in the Bay has been unsuccessful and extremely disappointing. Every Chinese restaurant seems to feel obligated to put XLB on their menu but most of them have no idea how to make it correctly. When I walked into Dumpling Express, a college takeout spot off Durant, I had very low expectations. Were the dumplings amazing? Of course not. However, they actually had some soup inside, although there is certainly room for improvement. The XLB here is superior to many sit down places I've tried and it's priced reasonably. An order of XLB comes with a bonus bun (filler for hungry college students). I would definitely give Dumpling Express another try but I'm not sure if I'll ever stray from the dumplings on the menu. read more

I'm torn between giving this place 3 and 4 stars. On the one hand, the Shanghai dumplings are pretty damned good. Fun to share with a friend, ridiculously hot at serving time, and small enough that you can eat several and not feel ridiculously slow. On the other hand, the wait was pretty long. My wife and I were standing around for about fifteen minutes waiting for our order. When the word "Express" is in your name, you set certain expectations around prompt delivery of food. The other ding was that our other order (kimchee dumplings) were just about average. In short -- stick to the soup dumplings. I might be back to see if the service itself is quicker. There isn't any sitting space here, just a counter, by the way. We didn't mind, chowing down on a half-dozen or a dozen dumplings is pretty quick to do anyway. read more

Got 12 shanghai soup dumplings. Small, but decent value for good dumplings. They were tasty, fresh, and juicy. Don't be alarmed if the the juice that spills gels up, that's how it's supposed to be. The owner is really nice and smiley too, I liked that. The place gives a very homey/asian feel of nostalgia. You'll find a bunch of chinese people making their dumplings who look like they know their shit when it comes to dumplings. I hope this place succeeds, it a nice addition to the variety of places to get food in southside berkeley. For that reason I give 5 stars, though normally I would give 4 based on the fact that the 12 dumplings is definitely not enough to make me full. read more

This is honestly the worst dumplings I've ever had not counting the ones you can buy frozen at Safeway and those are possibly a little better. The napa cabbage and pork dumplings (usually my favorite dumplings) had absolutely no flavor. It tasted like a cabbage dumpling and I even tried to use soy sauce to try to flavor it a bit more but then it tasted like salty cabbage dumpling. Horrible. I ate a couple then gave up on it. We also ordered the xiao long bao. They stuck to the foil because we had to walk home in the cold at night and I guess the 15 minutes was long enough for that to happen and in a previous review, they complained about the juice in the XLB but every good XLB is supposed to have juice so I thought these would be better but they're not. They have a weird taste and the dumpling skin was slightly hard. The last thing we ordered was sweet and sour pork and when we saw it, we were initially excited because the reviews were right. You get a ginormous portion enough for two people for two meals! However, it tasted bad. It was better than the dumplings and XLB but it still tasted bad. I'd rather get half the portion if they could make it taste good. The only good thing about this place is the price because it's cheap as all hell but that should've been the first warning sign. The other reviews claim that the noodles are good so I'm going to give one noodle a try and if it's good, I'll change my review to 2 stars but for now, this is not even worth my 6 bucks. I'd rather go have Top Dog or starve than come back here... read more

Bottom Line: Quantity for an unbeatable price. Looking to get full with some dumplings or rice dish for cheap? This is the place for you. There's nothing exceptional on the menu: the kung pao chicken, fish with black bean sauce, and the dumplings are are solid options-- and they'll all run you about $6-7 each. I easily go to this place once or twice a week, especially since you can call ahead and get your food in 10-15 minutes. MUCH better than Chinese Express down the street. read more

Outstanding idea, wish it was here when I was a student, I hope the hard-working folks here do well. But the execution is lacking. + Hand-made dumplings! + Very reasonably priced + Great change of pace from other campus eats - XLB not that flavorful. Lacking in savory broth & meat sweetness. Crab XLB slightly better. - Strongly recommend against XLB take-out, as they have no chance of surviving journey. - Water dumplings not that flavorful. - Texture is OK. Just OK. - Tremendous amount of packaging waste. Stacks of mini-cupcake foils, giant plastic clamshells, all for an eat-in order. Not very Berkeley. Perfectly good choice if you happened to be in the area. But not a destination. read more

Great place. Handmade dumplings in 10 minutes. You should try the kimchi pork or the signature soup dumpling. Their quality has gone down and the soup dumplings are overpriced now. Still good just less of a fan now Pro tip: ask for the special chili oil they prepare themselves read more

First time here and decided to try it even though I talked to a few people that said this place was not good. I was being hopeful and wanted to form my own opinion of this place. Problem #1 I decided to try the vegetarian dumplings special that was advertised. I placed the order and they told me 10 min before it was ready. I patiently waited for 30 min :( Problem #2 While waiting for my food, I was observing the people making dumplings since it is right in the open. It was pretty cool until one of the cooks sneezed a few times by the food, didn't cover her mouth, nor did she wash her hands. How unsanitary is that! At that point I should have just walked out and was amazed by how unfazed everything waiting was by what I just observed. Lastly when I got my dumplings, they really did not taste good at all. They really lacked flavor and very disappointing. Would not recommended this place. read more

I got take out from them through postmates and got fish porridge, the beef dumplings, and supposedly a jasmine milk tea. There was a mistake because I didn't get a jasmine milk tea (I assumed the tea would be like what you get from boba shops), but I got a hot jasmine tea instead, not milk tea (It's fine, it's a cold day and it tasted fine, so I won't complain about the tea). The dumplings however wasn't up to expectations from all the great reviews I've seen. I'm not sure if it just wasn't good because the dumplings are not 100% fresh since it sat in the box for probably 10-15 minutes during travel time, but the dumpling skins were doughy and the proportion of dumpling skin to meat is more skin than meat. In addition, both the porridge and the dumplings were bland. However, I actually liked the fish porridge despite it being bland. Overall, it wasn't anything special and I'm not sure I'd get food from here again. However, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and go into the restaurant to try the food in store instead of just doing take out, since judging by takeout may not be accurate. All in all, I would not recommend getting dumplings for take out and would hope they get orders right in the future. read more

Their pork porridge tastes weird, spicy and sour. Not authentic shanghai food, or any kind of authentic Chinese food. Probably won't go back there, at least not for the porridge. read more

I wish it would satisfy the shrimp dumplings craving but instead had me yearning for something else to replace what it lacked. The wrapper of the dumpling was thick paste with a thin layer of shrimp and stuffing. Tasted better with soy sauce but wish it was best as is. May return to try a noodle dish off the alternate menu. read more

This is my go-to for a quick and cheap, but tasty meal. I love the 6 pc pork xiao long bao and appreciate that it comes with a lil egg custard bun or taro bun too. Just this is a meal for me which isn't bad for about $6.00, but I can see how it would get pricy if you order more servings or multiple kinds of dumplings. I often come here with friends too, as it's a nice place to stop by for lunch or dinner after classes and we all enjoy the food. It can be a little slower when it gets busy, as well as a bit crowded as it's a small place with limited seating, but nothing that hasn't been manageable in my experience. There's some outside seating as well. I haven't tried much else besides the xiao long bao and har gow, but I find it amusing that they also have a couple Korean dishes and Vietnamese dishes like pho and banh mi. I'd recommend this place to anyone looking for fresh and tasty dumplings! read more

I have been waiting excitedly for Dumpling Express to open since I first saw their grand opening banner hung up across their storefront last semester. I ordered the Shanghai soup dumplings are while they are not the most delicious ones I have ever had, they're pretty good. Especially since they're 12 for $6, that's a really good deal for soup dumplings. There are no tables for you to sit at, but there is a counter where you can stand and eat if you'd like. The waiting time is not terrible, but the soup dumplings do take longer to steam than the other dumplings. read more