Dumpling King may suggest that it truly holds a high rank in the area of dumplings. Its menus boldly highlighted their signature dishes with a quotation 'Award Winning'. However, this particular perspective tends to be more of an illusion rather than fact.
Perfection is a difficult standard to achieve. Factors such as food quality, wait time and service quality all play a big role in the holistic dining experience, which unfortunately is not possessed by Dumpling King.
Adding a 'King' in the title does not miraculously make a good dining experience. It does however exacerbates the expectation of a potential diner, which ultimately creates for them an extremely high expectations prior to their dining experience.
Don't get me wrong, however, I'm not basing this review on the fact that they had a 'King' in their name, but rather on the different factors which creates a good dining experience.
Pricing is grossly expensive. The portion sizes did not correlate well with how much $$$ you spent for that dish. Most, apart from one sheet of paper of dumpling choices, are all well in the $21 upwards range, and although I haven't tried anywhere near all of them I can say that the portions served to various customers in the restaurant was definitely NOT worth the cash.
Wait time for seats and the waiting staff was adequate. To be quite frank and honest I found the waiting staff to be bored and unenthusiastic. It seemed to me that maybe they've worked there for far too long and should find another job that they can be joyful in. It's not THAT big of an issue, but who doesn't enjoy a good helpful waiter whilst dining out?
Food is below par and for good reason. Please remember that this section is aimed mainly at the dumplings and not the other dishes that are available in the restaurant. The reason the dumplings are below par was because it was just not appetizing. The dumplings were overcooked to a point where the skin of the dumplings dissolves in your mouth in a unpleasant floury way. It felt like eating powdered flour. We did order the pork buns and gladly it was good. Not great, but good. Its texture and firmness was within the desired range and it didn't make eating it a chore.
Would I eat here again? Probably not. There are a lot of other choices when it comes to dumplings, such as Raramen-the 'king' of dumplings and noodle dishes. However, this doesn't mean the restaurant is all bad. There is a menu filled with other dishes. Surely a menu like that would have one dish that would be amazing, it's just a matter of time before it is found. read more