Dumpling King

Had a yearning to have dumplings, so went back to Arirang (where dumpling Chinese-​Korean merged with Arirang Korean restaurant.). I haven’t tried the Korean part but the dumpling was satisfying. So I’m going to continue to get my fried combination dumplings (my daughter’s favorite) and pork-​chives dumplings (my husband’s favorite) here. I’ll be back guys! Don’t change the dumpling recipe! Well, you can pan-​fried it a little longer so that it is crispier!

Visiting from out of town and wanted to try something you can’t find at home. The fellow Unilocalers were spot on in their reviews. This nondescript restaurant was a gold mine of flavor. The wife and I don’t normally have Asian cuisine outside of PF/​Pei Wei, but we now have a new fondness for dumplings. We had steamed chicken and cheese dumplings alongside pan seared pork dumpling in addition to, a unique to us, Sesame Chicken. Every item was hot and fresh and full of flavor. The staff was extremely helpful and patient with these 2 green horns. Dumpling King willl sure to delight.

Used to be great, but then they moved into Arirang.
No idea what happened. They used to have cheap dumplings but not anymore. It’s more expensive, and I think they cater more for Korean barbecue stuff now.
In any case, the Jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce) was disappointing. It’s more strange black sauce than flavor. It looks like it should be very salty, since the sauce is so dark, but it isn’t. It’s just slimy.

Dumpling King is one of the best dumpling houses in Houston. They have a wide assortment of dumpling, buns, and noodle dishes. Very flavorful, not at all greasy, and super affordable.
I recommend the pan fried dumplings (nice and crispy, and not oily), but since everything is so cheap, I usually get an order each of some fried, boiled, and steamed dumplings (shared w/​friends of course).
What I really like about this place is that you can make your own perfect dipping sauce. There is soy sauce, vinegar, some pre made Korean style sauce, minced garlic, minced garlic, and chili.
Things to note: 1. There really isn’t a good sign in English. Its now inside of Arirang. Its literally the place to the left of Arirang. 2. No credit cards. So bring cash. 3. No table service, so be prepared to help yourself.
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Just been back and had to update my review. Dumpling King is now INSIDE of Arirang. Same people, food, and service. I changed the stars from 5 to 4 because the fried dumplings were greasier than I remember. I also had the wonton soup, and It was normal.
Still a great place if you are looking for dumplings. Widest selection I have seen in town. Very tasty!

Great place for authentic dim sum on a Sunday afternoon after service.
only downside are the wait in line (when it’s good, you have to wait), the skins the dumplings were a little thick for my taste but the flavors were all there.
the crab sui mai was great!

Ever since Dumpling King took over the place Arirang used to be, it hasn’t been as good. I went last week and was pretty disappointed in what I received for the price we paid. We ordered the pork/​kimchi dumplings (these were actually what I found to be the tastiest out of all the food), the combination dumplings (the filling was bland), a seafood pancake (decent, but I could tell the seafood in it was frozen and it used cocktail shrimp), jajiang mien (this was incredibly bland, had very little meat, and didn’t have cucumbers at all), seafood soup (broth was bland and not spicy, noodles were gummy), and the bibimbap (there was two tiny pieces of meat, it was basically a salad with rice). Service is decent by Chinatown standards and prices were similar to most Chinatown places if a little bit higher on some dishes because it’s Korean food, but the quality was not enough to merit the pricing. They combined cuisines here since moving into the larger space and as a result, all the food isn’t as great. Kind of sad.

Something went awry here… I think when they moved into the main space they lost their touch.
Not very good this past visit… nothing specifically bad, but nothing was right either.
Still if you go, check out the pan fried dumplings, they are tastier than the other ones… never hurts to have a layer of fat on your food.

This place is CASH ONLY! It always trips me up when I walk up to the counter and see the ‘cash only’ sign. Still, this place is a solid find in the Houston area for some authentic homemade dumplings. They have a wide variety, but I reccomend the boiled pork and chive dumplings (they also sell these frozen), and the pan seared pork and shrimp. Condiments are all self serve, but at least they have the requisite ginger and vinegar that I’m used to back in San Fran. The seafood korean pancake is also good, but really, you’re here for the dumplings right?
One small knock on this place, were the loud sounds of construction from next door while I was here. Truly, an annoying experience when you’re trying to eat with a bandsaw going on in the background.

Crazy good place! Fried and steam dumplings, short ribs and rice, and fried green chives to boot! Mmm!
Dumpling King was somewhat hard to find and they only take cash, so I must deduct a star. Other than that, a great find in an area where Asian cuisine joints are abundant.

Apparently there is a game called 2^nd Life, it’s been the tail of the donkey among our inner circles. If you are in to the Virtual life virtual food and imaginary friends.
Well the Dumpling King must have gotten his recipe’s from 2^nd Life. This place is huge and oddly designed. It can’t be real?
1^st Life Dumplings: Real Asian dumplings starts with a mix of the ingredients, mixed and then stored cold, to allow the juices to congeal. Then it is scooped in to the small cuts of dough and sealed by a small amount of moisture like welding for the dough. And when heated, the gel stews within the pocket, and leaking fantastic broth with each bite.
2^nd life dumplings can be found at the Dumpling King, there is not any flavor or juices flowing. Not in their Combination fried dumplings, or Fish and pork boiled dumplings. I couldn’t even tell what types of meat were in these things, flavor apparently doesn’t exist in second world. I’ve had frozen dumplings in 1^st life that are better.
For all the positive reviews, this is a huge let down. Not only was the food less inspiring than the muddy sands of Galvestion, I had to hand over money from the 1^st Life.

Dumpling filling was great but the dough was on the thick side. Had the shrimp & pork steamed & fried dumpling. Since the dough was thick, it tastes better fried, steamed wasn’t as good. We also has the kim-​chi & pork steamed dumpling. Again, the filling was good.
The seafood pancake was great. Loved the flavor.
The location was hard to find & the restaurant’s name was not in English

I absolutely love this place when im looking for something cheap, hot, and asian! They have some korean goodies here but usually we get an order of the fried vegetable dumplings and a korean pancake. You get to make your own sauce here which is always fun since i like it spicy. They finaly made an english menu! It use to be all chinese and i didnt know what i really wanted.
TIPS are to bring some gum because garlic is a necessity in making the perfect dumpling dipping sauce.
They have noodles here too at a very good portion and lowlow price. Heads up though, cash only!
If you havent been, try it out!
Good to try: dumplings of course!
Also the dandan noodle and jap chae!

The dumplings here are pretty darn good. I don’t think this is affiliated with the Dumpling King on Westheimer, which I think has the most God-​awful dumplings.
I had a difficult time locating this restaurant. I guess I should have Unilocaled it first! It’s supposed to be located next door to Arirang Korean Restaurant, but I think Arirang closed (even though their sign is still up… odd) and Dumpling King moved to their spot. Dumpling King’s only sign is in Chinese, right next to the Arirang sign. Unfortunately, I can’t read a lick of Chinese. I was circling around the area for a few minutes before I figured out where it was. An English sign would be most helpful!
Husband and I got a few plates of steamed dumplings and pan-​fried dumplings. I wasn’t too crazy about the steamed dumplings. They stuck together in the steamer, and the wrappers tore apart when I tried to scoop them up. A thicker wrapper would’ve definitely held up better. The filling was pretty tasty, but I also couldn’t taste any shrimp in the shrimp and pork dumplings. I think there was very little of it, and it was minced up into the pork. The pan fried dumplings were wonderful though, I will definitely come back for these. The same thin wrapper has a great crispy texture when fried. The seafood pancake was also good… not the best, but not bad at all for the price. The dumplings in beef broth were amazing, they just soaked up all the beefy goodness. I highly recommend this.
Overall, the dumplings here are not the best in Houston, but they are a tremendous value, so I will be back. Dumpling King is cash only, but you definitely do not need very much of it. $ 20 gets you more than enough food for two, plus leftovers.

This is actually a Korean place but not Chinese. It’s like Korean-​Chinese food. I am not saying that it must be bad but I am just not too big a fan.
The noodles are very disappointing to me. I saw the picture of the beef noodle soup and got very excited about it. It looked good but the taste was meh. I also ordered the dumplings there. They were pretty good but not worth 4 stars with almost 50 reviews from my perspective.
Anyway, for the price and the quality, this place isn’t bad at all but I am not the kind of person who will settle with just not bad. I want it good, really good and amazingly good so this won’t be a returning place for me.

Seriously good food at a dangerously good price!
You already know that I would rave about it because of my 5 star rating. So, when I give a 5 star rating it means that the place is clean, great price point, great product of food (homemade dumplings), good timing (fairly quick) and the taste is great!
So, let me tell you what I order.
If I’m feeling «healthier» that day, I’ll order the pork dumplings steamed. If i’m feeling like I could care less about my health… i’ll go for the fried pork dumplings. The shrimp and pork are good also. The veggie dumplings are not my favorite but they are huge and still tastey.
I also have to order the «cha ja myung» pronounce in Korean as black bean sauce with rice noodles. DELICIOUS! They make everything themselves.
As a side note, I like to get a side of the «Dahk kwahng» which looks completely yellow but is basically a pickled turnip (just a dollar extra). Makes for a great compliment to your entrée’s. The water and hot tea are free and included in the price.
You want a cultural experience? This is it. If you don’t speak chinese or korean, no worries… they have a printed menu you can look at!

Best dumplings in town! The people here don’t speak very good English, but ask for the English menu. It’s somewhat self served. When you get there, grab a drink from the fridge on your right and order up front. Then go make your sauce which is on the left hand side. Hot water and Hot tea is free. I usually go there for fried dumplings or steam dumplings. But they also served, Korean style buns (or pork and green onions steamed in a flour dough), and various egg noodle soups.
My favorite is the pork and vegetable dumplings. The spicy dumplings are good too, but believe me, they are really spicy!

This place is located next to arirang korean restaurant, I can see why it could be difficult to find this place since the restaurant name is written in Chinese. This is definitely a great place to get a quick cheap lunch, and fyi they only take cash.
I got the seafood noodle soup which was delicious, a little on the greasy side which is probably why it was so tasty. The noodles here are huge, I was only able to finish half of mine so I recommend sharing one and getting an order of dumplings.
I also got the chicken dumplings which was good, maybe not as good the dumpling king on Westheimer but at least this place has a pre-​made soy sauce/​dip that you can go get yourself.

PROS:
— Delicious! We tried one of each «category» of items, and they were all good.
o pork & chive steamed dumpling
o vegetarian boiled dumpling
o chicken pan fried dumpling
o green onion «bao» (like an empanada)
o boiled dumplings in spicy beef noodle broth — this was the favorite among my group!
o noodles with black bean sauce
— Reasonable prices: Our group of 5 stuffed ourselves silly AND had leftovers… for under $ 28 total.
CONS:
— The restaurant’s signage outside is only in Chinese! There’s nothing that actually says «Dumpling King,» so make sure you know what the storefront looks like.
— The menu on the wall is only in Chinese, BUT when I went, next to the cash register was a stack of paper menus with English & Korean translations.
There are so many things to try, so the best thing is to come with a group so you can order a ton of items to share.

I’ll have to agree with some of the other reviewers who aren’t particularly impressed by Dumpling King’s dumplings. I’ve tried several different fillings and thought they were all right. However, I do have to say that I really enjoyed the pork+chives potstickers – they fry them perfectly, and thin-​skinned potstickers are a lot better than thick-​skinned potstickers.
Moreover, what about the noodle dishes? They are such a bargain!!! The beef noodle soup was only $ 4 and it came with a gigantic portion of noodles that were cooked just right (just a little chewy). The beef was tender as well… the only downside about the beef noodle soup actually was that the noodles didn’t taste beefy enough. The dan dan mian — I think I’d prefer if it came room temperature (which is what I’m used to) instead of hot, but for $ 3 that is a steal. They may not have the best dumplings in town, but I have found my go-​to potstickers (pork+chives) and beef noodle soup.
Oh yeah, the store sign is in Chinese, so the best way I could describe it is next to the Arirang Korean restaurant, in the lot next to (but not connected to) Jungle Café.
And don’t forget this place is cash only.

One of my favorite places in Chinatown for good, cheap food.
Ask for the English menu. They have most of the popular carbs in Chinese and Korean cuisine. And if they don’t, you can ask them, and they will usually make it for you (like duk bo gee).
Good things:
Dumplings (the «three treasures»)
Beef noodle soup
Chives pocket/​sandwich
Cold noodles (uses a vinegar sauce instead of the traditional peanut sauce)
Meh things:
All the buns (big but merely okay)
Vegetable dumplings
The best part is that most things are under $ 5 and all the noodles and dumplings are hand-​made.