Alisa B.

A pretty solid spot to get Shanghai-style food in the area! Minimal seating inside this unassuming shop. Service is quick and ordering is easy via QR code. My favorite dish was the Shanghai-Style Stir-Fried Rice Cakes! Flavorful, chewy, and a pretty big portion. Easy to share. The Beef Pancake was really tasty! Flaky scallion pancake with a lean piece of beef inside each piece. I enjoyed this a lot too! The Xiao Long Bao was really top notch! Durable dumpling wrapper and lots of soup. These were BIG too. Each dumpling was so filling. I definitely recommend the kurobuta pork variety.

Julie C.

We are dumpling devotees so we pop into this spot when we're in the UC Berkeley area. The dumplings are doughy and tasty. I let my daughter place our orders; lately she's been feeling various pork options. We always get the soup dumplings. Most recently, we enjoyed the pan friend potstickers. Service is quick. You scan the QR code on your table and place your order by phone. Dishes are brought promptly and water is consistently refilled. The place is cozy but does have a bigger back room. The bathroom is clean. The music is good and upbeat though you'll likely hear your neighbors' conversations since tables are placed quite close together.

Andrew N.

Came here for lunch before heading to a concert at the Greek theater. This Chinese restaurant specializes in dumplings, but serves other Chinese dishes as well. Wontons in chili oil (4/5): Very flavorful, but the sauce was way too heavy and milky. Beef Roll Pancakes (5/5): I really enjoyed this dish as the crunchy wrap covered the tender beef; providing a balance texture. Xiao Long Bao (5/5): Very big and juicy. Shanghai style rice cake (4/5): Very plentiful and chewy, but lacked flavor. Definitely one of my new favorite places in Berkeley

Preet P.

Came here for dinner. Their pork soup dumplings were so good. Ordered twice. Cucumber salad was delicious too. Service is fast but friendly. Restaurant looks tiny from the front but they have multiple tables in the back. Waiting list was too bad on Sunday. Will be back for sure if in the area.

Lily C.

Came here for dinner on a weekday around 5:30pm to beat the dinner rush. We ordered right away from a QR code, and service time was decent for the quality of food served -- AMAZING. The Szechuan-Wonton in Chili Oil was by far my favorite. Priced at 9.95 on the menu, there were eight large wontons soaked in chili oil, sprinkled with pickled vegetables. Colors were amazing, flavor was top-notch, and the filling had no shortage of pork and paste inside. I was so eager to eat it, I burned my tongue! For 10.95 was a giant bowl of corn and chicken soup. This is meant to be shared, unless you can finish the entire bowl by yourself -- and I almost did. The soup itself has generous amounts of chicken, egg whites, and corn, mixed into this thicker, almost runny consistency that sets it apart from other soups. My only critique was that it was lacking a little bit in flavor, but it was a nice complementary to the fiery wontons I was having. Overall, awesome food! The seating, like most places in Berkeley, favors smaller parties of around 2-4 people. A line can quickly build up near the entrance if you're coming at prime time for lunch or dinner, so it's recommended to order ahead of time and get it to-go. Either way, the food will still be awesome.

Stacy M.

This place is a hidden gem! I struggle to find Chinese food with vegetarian options but this place had several options for me. I ordered the vegetable fried rice. The group I was with ordered a variety of dishes - some of the ones I tried included green beans and scallion pancake. Everything was insanely delicious - garlicky and rich. For the non vegetarian people, they really enjoyed the steam pork dumplings over the fried ones. Prior to ordering the vegetable fried rice I double checked that it wasn't made with any sort of fish oil and the wait staff was so friendly and nice! It's a very convenient location, close to Berkeley. I would come back!

Maria L.

We were in the Berkeley area and decided to try Dumpling Kitchen for some Shanghainese food. After a short wait, we finally got seated and ordered Pork Xia Long Bao (XLB) (Shanghai-Style Steamed Pork Dumplings), Sheng Jian Bao (SJB) (Shanghai-Style Pan-Fried Pork Buns), and Dry-Braised String Beans. The XLBs were soupy but had a thick wrapper. They stayed firmly shaped as they were in the bamboo container when we picked them up with chopsticks. There was vinegar on the table, but they didn't come with any ginger. The SJBs were nicely browned at the bottom and garnished with green onion and black sesame seeds. However, they were somewhat dry inside. The Dry-Braised String Beans were not as blistered as we normally see in other restaurants. All three dishes were a bit light in flavor. Our experience here was just OK.

Miranda D.

Located right in the heart of Durant, this spot will satisfy your pork XLB crave! Arrived on a Friday night and surprisingly there was no wait. Durant can be very busy especially when school is in session.. so make sure to plan ahead if you decide to come. My party and I just got extremely lucky that we were sat right away. There is a parking garage a block away and only had to pay $4 for the ticket once we were done with dinner. You order everything through your phone via a QR code. Food came so fast! We were grateful because we were so hungry lol. Their cucumber salad had just the right amount of sesame oil and vinegar.. it was the perfect savory and tangy combination. Their pork soup dumplings were pretty up to par! I was appreciative of the fact that the soup dumplings ACTUALLY had a good amount of soup in them. The shanghai style chowmein was super yummy.. here is the one con: their pork buns and pork pot stickers were extremely mediocre and were actually a huge disappointment. They did not taste fresh at all.. honestly seemed like they were frozen, and the proportion of wrapper to meat was completely off. We ended up just eating the meat inside and tossing the outside wrapper. It was just way too doughy. We couldn't really bring it to our servers attention because the service was pretty nonexistent. We didn't make a huge fuss out of it though. We left very full and content with everything anyway! Will for sure come back for my XLB fix.

Kyra K.

I'm crazy a-bao dumplings and a dish I'll never say no to. My companion enjoys eating at Dumpling Kitchen in San Francisco so when he saw they had a location close to us in Berkeley he suggested it and it was the perfect choice! We arrived at the restaurant where it also is a popular takeout spot. They have a good amount of tables in the front and more in the back where the restaurant extends. The ambiance was super casual and seemed to be popular among students and young adults since it's right next to Cal. Service was relatively slow and our food came out staggered but there was only one man working at the front. This place specializes in Shanghainese dishes and dumplings so we chose to order and share. We got the Juicy Kurobuta Pork Buns, Kurobuta Pork Soup Dumplings, Steamed Shrimp and Pork Shumai, and Braised Tofu with Vegetables. One bite of the dumplings and I was in heaven! The xiao long baos had a delicate wrapper, the soup was savory and not burn-your-tongue hot, and the meat ratio was good. I could just eat these and be satisfied. This was our favorite dish out of all. The pork buns were actually pan-fried. These were much hotter and took more time but we're nicely filled with meat. The shumai were good and nicely packed with filling and the tofu and vegetables were savory, a little saucier, but a good balance. I'm satisfied with our choices and would order all of them again. If you're craving dumplings and live around Berkeley then Dumpling Kitchen is one of the better options! The food is filling and tastes wonderful, service is decent, and it's located where it's easily accessible for dine-in or take-out. It's a short walk from the campus or dorms or you can park on the metered street or in nearby lots. I'm happy that I found a good dumpling spot near my home!

Winston L.

I am to XLB as Toucan Sam is to Fruit Loops. If I hear of XLB in my vicinity, I am drawn there and must consume some as soon as possible. This location opened about a year ago. I ate there then and once again today. Upon arrival, we were seated against the wall with bench seating on one side and wooden chairs on the other. Menu and ordering is all done through a website through a QR Code at the table. All the dishes we ordered, I would recommend in order of descending priority: Kurobuta Pork Soup Dumplings - If there is decent XLB at the restaurant, that is always the priority for me. The dumplings here have a ton of soup in them and pretty good flavor. Beef Shank & Tripe in Chili Sauce - maybe it was because it was the first thing we ate, but this was delicious. Super thin cut slices of beef in a sweet, spicy, garlicky sauce. Dumplings - we got an order of Boiled Pork Dumplings w/Chive and an order of Boiled Chicken Dumplings w/Corn. The former is exactly what you would expect. The chicken and corn were surprisingly good, although the sweetness/corn is going to throw some people off. Shanghai-Style Chow Mein - Thick cut chewy noodles. The starch lover's dream. Well seasoned and satisfying. Fresh Cucumber Salad - Smashed cucumbers with vinegar, sugar, and lots of garlic. Good cool starter to contrast with the carb fest that you will soon partake in. Dry Fried Chicken - if you just handed me this dish and I ate it, I would be happy since it's sweet, spicy and fried chicken. I have two problems with it though - the name implies "dry", but this is a sauced chicken. Also, it's kind of like Korean Fried Chicken except not as crispy. We had the Salt & Pepper Chicken a year ago and we liked that version (not sauced and better job of meeting expectations) Juicy Kurobuta Pork Buns - you can find much better pan fried pork buns around, but these are decent if you need a fix Szechuan-Style Noodle W/Ground Pork in Peanut Sauce - It's ok - mildly flavored compared to expectation.

Violet Y.

Came in around 7pm on a Tuesday night and it was pretty busy, but didn't have to wait to be seated. You order at the QR code from your table. Our food came out pretty fast. XLB: 4/5 The skin was thin, the pork was well-seasoned, and the soup was delicious! Would definitely order again. Har Gow: 4/5 One came broken but nonetheless they were delicious. The shrimp filling is plump and the skin was pretty good. Be sure to have it with their chili crisp if dining in! Spicy Wontons: 3/5 The sauce was pretty bitter. And tbh the spicy chili crisp at the table was tremendously better than the sauce the wontons came with. The pork filling was also dry. Would not order again. Would definitely come back to try more items!

Ed U.

Forgive me, dumpling connoisseurs, but doesn't it feel like every other new restaurant opening specializes in Chinese dim sum? I'm like everyone who is drawn to the convenient portability of these small bites, and besides, I had a solid experience at the relatively new Dumpling Kitchen on Castro (review: https://bit.ly/3JYWMc9). So I thought I'd have food delivered from their Berkeley location off the UC campus. Naturally I ordered a couple of steamed dumpling items, the $8.45 half-dozen Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings (photo: https://bit.ly/40xcGS9) and the $7.95 quartet of Steamed Shrimp Har Gow (photo: https://bit.ly/3U1ZBO1). Both were clearly handmade and quite delicious. I scarfed them down in a matter of minutes. However, the scene stealer was the $12.80 Beef Shank and Tripe in Chili Sauce mixed with garlic and green onion (photo: https://bit.ly/40yOI8T). It was a chewy, meaty, and ultimately satisfying entree since I'm a sucker for long-simmering tendon parts. It's not just about the dumplings, y'know. FOOD - 4 stars...good steamed dumplings but the shank-tripe combo worked best AMBIANCE - n/a...didn't find out this time SERVICE - 4 stars...well packaged TOTAL - 4 stars...you can't keep a good dumpling down RELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: http://bit.ly/2CbVh8u

David Y.

Great dim sum near the UC Berkeley campus. We ordered xiao long bao and sheng jian bao, both of which were delicious. Each dish featured Kurobuta pork and a generous amount of juicy soup within the delicate wrapper. We also ordered a couple of appetizers: the cucumber salad (refreshing, if not the most attractive) and the spicy beef tendon (this was a lot chewier than I anticipated, maybe that's just how tendon is?). Finally, we ordered the eggplant in garlic sauce (a bit spicy, beware), some combination fried rice, and lion's head meatballs. The whole meal was delicious and vanished quickly. The only minor complaints I had are that they supposedly used to have Shanghainese shu mai, but it's no longer on the menu, and the lion's head meatballs contained salted egg yolks in the center. I love the meatballs but I dislike those eggs, and I'm a bit unpleasantly surprised whenever they show up without warning. A few logistical notes: cash/debit only (no credit cards); parking is difficult, as you might imagine, so be prepared to look farther away. Overall it was a great experience. It's definitely high on my list of places to return to.