Mama’s Lu Dumpling House

As far as SGV-​area Chinese food, this just okay. The Xiao Long Bao were decent enough but we had to ask for spoons and ginger vinegar. At every other place I have had them, they were served with the vinegar immediately. As an soup dumpling eater knows, if they sit for too long the soup get absorbed! Bummer!
The onion pancake was fine but not very onion-​y. The beef wrap was fine, but nothing special. The fried pork bun was just okay too. We also ordered the Shanghai Style noodles and the sweet and sour chicken. The noodles were definitely handmade and very good. The chicken was good too. Be aware that the portions are HUGE– even for the appetizers. Service was alright. I don’t know, this place just didn’t blow me away!

I can honestly say this was amazing. My first time here and unsure what to order, I went with few items seen on Unilocal.Fast, fresh and tasted so good.
The spicy wontons… The bomb!
Already wanting to go back.
The service was friendly, but very slow and lacked attention to things like refills on drinks.

We stopped by Mama Lu’s Dumpling House recently for a quick, cheap early dinner in Monterey Park on our way to meet local friends, and the food was really good.
For a change, Mama Lu’s restaurant was not crowded AT ALL. Coming early on a weekday evening definitely helps if you want to avoid the masses.
We shared the beef roll and shrimp-​napa-​pork dumplings, and it only cost $ 14.15 (excluding tip).
For the quality of the food and the low prices, you really cannot beat Mama Lu in Monterey Park.

Mama Lu has decent traditional Chinese food (like chow mein and fried rice, stir fries, and even juicy steamed dumplings. Their portions are huge and their prices are very cheap!
Staff here is very fast but it’s a fast pace restaurant, so you better know what you want when the waiter comes around.
My only complaint is that I wish the place was cleaner, so often I prefer take-​out vs. dining in.
My favorite dishes are hot and sour soup, juicy pork steam dumplings, their fried tofu with enoki mushrooms, and their beef chow fun.

I love this place! I’ve had «Mama Lu’s» before, but it’s not the same as «Mama’s Lu» LOL.
They’re on the same street and they serve the same food and all, but I still prefer this one over the other.
I always come for dinner and it’s always amazing! I love their Xiao Long Baos, their beef wrap, green onion pancakes, soy sauce chow mein, yang chow fried rice, salt and pepper fried chicken wings, basically everything! I think I’ve tried about 70% of their menu already.
If any of you want to try this place, make sure to beat the rush and come early because the lines can get backed up if you come during popular times, so plan accordingly!
Everything here comes with HUGE PORTIONS too. I always end up having leftovers to take home which is a plus because that means I can have Mama’s Lu for lunch tomorrow! Yay~
Everything here is so cheap and definitely worth it. I would recommend this place to all of my friends and family. Better than din tai fung and way cheaper too.

This place is pretty fcking good– just not a fan of how crowded it gets. My boyfriend and I have been here twice now and definitely plan on coming back. It’s cheap, solid service, and their dishes are authentic and really tasty!
XLB SOUP DUMPLINGS
So good, so juicy! The meat seasoning is phenom and the dumpling skin is delicate with a great chewy texture. Definitely a must order here.
SHRIMP, PORK & CHIVE DUMPLINGS
Another must order! The dumpling skin is thick and has the perfect chewy, bouncy texture.
PAN FRIED PORK BUNS
Just OK. The pork inside was tasty but I found the bun to be a little too thick and doughy for my taste.
BEEF NOODLE SOUP
Pretty solid! Good broth, tender meat, and not too salty or oily. I probably only won’t order this again mainly because I want to save room for all their delicious dumplings!
INDONESIAN FRIED RICE
HUGE PORTION! It wasn’t anything special, but we were craving fried rice so we ordered it.
Even though it gets pretty crowded (even on week nights!) I will still come back here. Cheap, bomb food and I always leave with a full, satisfied belly.

My sister had heard about this place around Unilocal and really wanted to try it. We came in on a Sunday night with our parents and grandparents, and the place was all filled. The location is a bit hard to find at first, pretty much a hole in the wall. literally. It’s also weird because its English name doesn’t directly translate to its Chinese name so it really threw us off. We ended up waiting for about ten minutes and were seated promptly.
We ordered a good amount of things on the menu but my favorites would have to be the egg tofu w mushrooms and French style beef. The tofu had amazing texture and flavor, super yummy! and the beef was really tender. Usually you’d be paying $ 15+ for a dish like that at any other place but the prices here are so hard to beat, which is another plus! The beef wrap was also really good in comparison to some of the others I’ve tried.
Only dish I didn’t particularly like were the pot stickers. It’s clear that they use frozen ones and just kept it on the pan for too long because the exterior was crispy, but the interior was really dry and just not good.
I think this is a great place to get Chinese food. Flavors are generally pretty good, and prices are amazing as well. However, the inside of the restaurant isn’t that big so be prepared to wait! There was a line the entire time I was there, and the way the restaurant is formatted, there’s 0 waiting room so people just end up crowding the entry way area.

They are known for their juicy pork dumplings. Be careful eating them as the juice is really hot. Also ordered the spinach, tofu, shrimp soup which tasted healthy and good. There weren’t that many shrimp pieces in the soup. The scallop dish had good flavor with a lot of mushroom pieces. The Shanghai noodle was nothing special, but good.
Pros:
–food came out pretty quick
–decent price
–good pork dumplings
— variety of other food to order
Cons:
–service is typical for a Chinese restaurant
–street parking

This place is solid! Huge portions for a great price.
It’s a pretty popular spot, but on a holiday Monday at 11 am, it was no more than a 10 minute wait. However, when we left an hour later, that line was crazy long. Go figure.
We tried the juicy pork and crab dumplings, beef chow fun, beef wrap, spicy wonton, fried pork buns. So good!

Stopped by on a Sunday around 6:30pm and it took us about 30 min to get seated. We ordered the beef wrap, juicy pork dumplings (xiao long bao), and the crab, shark fin & egg white fried rice. While we were waiting, they gave us complimentary pickled cucumbers and peanuts with sugar to enjoy. I loved the pickled cucumbers! They’re slightly sweet and sour, very refreshing.
My mom always compares their juicy pork dumplings to Din Tai Fung but I honestly don’t know if this place is better or not. The prices here are slightly cheaper than DTF so I guess that’s a plus. Aside from that, it wasn’t all that great in my opinion. The crab, shark fin & egg white fried rice was good though, not too oily and very generous in portion.
Normally I’m not really a fan of beef wrap but I fell in love with the ones here. The wrap was very crispy and not too dry. Beef were thin-​sliced and tender, paired with some hoisin sauce and cilantro. Mmm it’s definitely my favorite item here!

Went here for the first time with The Hubs and my parents. My parents have been regulars here for some time, but since we usually eat in Irvine or Westminster when I visit from Seattle, I hadn’t tried this place until now. Boy, am I glad we did.
The food is absolutely delicious, comes in generous portions, and isn’t expensive at all. We went a little wild and ordered 7 dishes and it came out to only around $ 57. We’ve got leftovers now for dinner, salty breakfast (my favorite), and lunch!
We had the XLB, green beans with dried shrimp, beef chow fun, shaved rice cakes, sliced beef in pancake (Da Bing), boiled pork & shrimp & chive dumplings, and a French-​Vietnamese style beef. Everything was delicious and the flavors and seasoning were so spot-​on. Also the service was fast and our waiter Alex was very friendly and accommodating.
It’s a popular place so be prepared to wait in line for a table but it’s definitely worth the wait!

Dumplings, truth is, they can have a lot of dimensions. And it’s all in the freshness of the ingredients. Mama Lu’s is now one of my favorites.
–Xiao Long Bao — The juicy pork dumplings (10) for $ 7.50, soup-​to-​go straight into your mouth ARE EXCELLENT! They can be a huge miss but they got the texture of the pork right, the seasoning and the juice ratio. Ahhh kinda wanted another dish but had to try other stuff such as:
–Spicy Wonton (10 pieces) $ 6.99: these made me sweat, so yes they are spicy but also tasty. Keep a pepcid in hand and prepare for next day’s digesting game of thrones.
Parking underneath. Zero wait time on weekdays lunch.

4.5 stars for the food and 3 stars for the service. Soup dumplings are a must here! Actually, any dish you get will probably be good. Portions are great for sharing. They’re always really busy but they turn their tables fast so the wait isn’t usually too long.

Delicious food, ok service, parking is good. Great prices. This place gets busy!
Love the xiao long bao, potstickers and eggplant. We usually order a lot and have leftovers. Wasn’t a big fan of the chives pancake.

WATCH OUT! This restaurant could be dangerous to your health. At first, everything was great last night: the dumplings, the rice cakes, the beef roll, the noodles with beef, the scallion pancake… we split everything between the four of us, we all enjoyed everything, said our good-​byes, and toddled home content as can be.
Then, around midnight, a biological battle started in each of our digestive systems unlike any I have ever encountered. I thought it was just me at first but no… this food poisoning landed one of our group in the Emergency Room. I am taking the day off work because I feel about 40% at the moment. BEWARE!
There were a lot of customers in the dining room last night. I hope they are okay. Thinking about calling the health department because this place is dangerous.

05/​13/​2016
A Night of Food Poisoning
What the heck, Mama Lu’s. Yah, I did say I want to eat and not gain weight but not like this.
Went for dinner with three other Unilocalers on a Thursday night and was seated in about 15 – 20 minutes. They are busy even on a weekday.
We ordered:
Fried seaweed fish
Rice cakes
XLB’s
Beef noodle dish
Beef wrap
By 11:30 — midnight, all of us settled in front of our respective houses’ toilets for a night of vomiting and… well, lemme tell ya. It’s not fun getting rid of food from both ends at the same time.
Pros and cons of the night
P: those firefighters were cute.
C: the looks I gave them were more «Help me» than «Hey there.»
P: I have a legit excuse for not going to work today
C: Doc said no food for two days; just clear liquids and maaaaaaybe chicken congee.
Does Mama Lu’s have congee? [@_@]

Really really enjoyed our impromptu dinner here. Super duper whooper fast service, amazing soup dumplings and excellent beef tenderloin. No wait, great attentive service. Will definitely be becoming a regular.
Few negative points– sticky teapot, wrong bill handed over to us, non communicative server, ridiculously big portions

Love this place. I literally can’t get enough of it. I have to have it at least once every other weeks… practically a drug.
I have to get the juicy pork dumplings, unbelievably good. The best dumplings I’ve ever had, hands down. They cannot make a bad dumpling in this restaurant. If you haven’t tried it by now, you are missing out.
My other personal favorites are Kung pao chicken and beef wraps. Literally the best Kung pao chicken I’ve ever had, perfectly cooked and just the right amount of spice. Tonight I went with beef chow fun instead of the beef wraps, and it was still amazing.
Service is very informal and not really personalized/​friendly, however they make up for it in their quality of food haha. The environment: very loud, so if you’re into a quiet atmosphere for lunch/​dinner, this may not be your scene.
All in all, five stars. So so good.

Love the food and the prices! The portions are HUGE and a lot of dishes are just under $ 10 but are meant to be shared family style.
Place is popular so you’ll probably have to wait, but it’s worth it for some good ol fashion Chinese food.
+ Hot and Sour Soup: well balanced between spicy and sour. There were a ton of ingredients inside as well including bamboo shoot, tofu, shredded meat, and shrooms. Great to have when its cold outside.
+ Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic: huge plate of beans! They were crunchy on the outside but cooked all the way through. Were a little oily but that’s how they’re suppose to be.
~ Shanghai Style Chow Mein: flavorful but wasn’t my favorite dish. But again, it was HUGE and had a good amount of cabbage, red onion, and sauce mixed in
+ Fish Dumpling: 8 per order. skin was a good thickness and packed with fish meat and veggies (cabbage?). Loved it.
+ Steamed Vegetable Dumpling: 10 per order. same as above: good amount of ingredients and they were a good size.
Overall, if you’re looking for good Chinese food in the Valley, come by here and try all their different dumplings!

Thanks Chris H. for finally getting my ass here. I can’t believe I lived in Monterey Park for almost an entire year and did not ever eat here.
We came here during lunch on a Wednesday and there was no wait whatsoever. I have heard dinner time is quite a zoo here at Mama’s Lu. Upon getting seated, we were quickly brought tea and paper cups of water. Between the two of us, we ordered the xiao long bao, beef noodle dish and the beef wraps.
While the XLB did not give me any «WOW» moments, I absolutely loved the beef noodle dish and the beef wraps. The meat was so tender in the soup and there were a lot of noodles in it too. The beef wraps were very savory and crispy too! I would make another trek out here again just for those two dishes.
While service is friendly, don’t count on them to refill your water or tea. I entered Mama’s Lu Dumpling House with high expectations and I came back out very satisfied with my culinary experience.

Two words of wisdom:
Beef Chowfun.
Okay, three: BEEF CHOW FUN! Order it with extra beef — it’s $ 2 more and worth every additional piece of meat you’ll get with the amount of chow fun they toss in there. The mountain of food you get can and will feed a family. In fact, the portion size here in general is fit for a family of 4+. Every time my bf and I have come, we’ve ordered 3 – 4 items and after filling up, we leave with take-​out that looks like it’s barely been touched. To give you a visual: the amount of leftovers from each plate fills a styrofoam box up to the brim like any average full order would.
Fact, leftover for days :)
FOOD
* Beef Chow Fun: red onions, scallions, soy sauce — classic, nostalgic and completely satisfying on its own. We will order this every time, guaranteed — $ 6.50
* Pea Sprouts: my favorite part of Chinese cuisine is being able to order a full plate of greens where the greens are the star and not the excessive bacon, bacon fat or sodium. These guys are less salty/​perfectly seasoned compared to other typical veggie dishes at other Chinese restaurants. Crisp, green, good.
Ong Choy has always been sold out by the time we’ve arrived to dinner on a Sunday night, so these have been our default — $ 8.99
* Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice: lightly-​scrambled eggs, green onion — not overly greasy and a rather plainer type of fried rice where bites with pungent salty fish paints add flavor and intrigue. This is a good choice. Considering pairing with sautéed eggplant, veggies or a saucy tofu dish. Again, huge portions — $ 6.99
* Juicy Pork Dumplings: a must order for the restaurant’s namesake — I’d say I had my fill after 2 of these babies. They’re juicy and get the job done but the sweetness from the meat filling makes it less of the star of the meal. For me, I don’t feel obligated to order these every time, or after a first try unless we come with a big party. It’s a bargain though! 10 pcs — $ 5.50
* House Special Fish Fillet: we expected savory and peppery from what seemed like a black bean-​based sauce. In actuality, this is a sweet dish! The fillets are battered, fried and glazed with a sweet sauce sprinkled with seemingly spicy dried peppers. It’s not. And stray away from pairing this with salted fish fried rice, chow fun or anything savory. Perhaps, these go best with white rice — $ 7.99
Wait time for party of 2 on a Sunday night, 7pm: ~15 min.
Sunday night, 8pm: ~5−10min.
For a bigger party (at prime time), prepare to wait longer.
Very family-​oriented space, homey, nostalgic and on the tidier side. This is on my go-​to list for good Chinese food… and beef chow fun.

Maybe I expected too much, but we ended up with leftovers even though we arrived hungry… which means that the food wasn’t as good as imagined or perhaps we ordered the wrong things. .
Alana and I were in starvation mode and ordered 8 items. The disappointment was the blandness of the Green Onion Pancake (a bit oily but nice crisp), the fried pork buns, Chive pancake, fried Pork dumplings, and Spring Rolls. We asked for dipping sauce, but the one waiter was running to every table; also seating customers; and handling complaints about waiting. He was too busy and kept forgetting to bring a sweet sour sauce and said that it would have to be made special. There was a vinegar bottle and a jar of hot sauce on the table, but shouldn’t spring rolls have a thicker sauce? Plus, we had to ask for bowls to pour the vinegar in. No little sauce dishes available.
The Juicy Pork Dumplings (XLB) and the steamed Napa and Pork Dumplings had great texture and flavor. The winner was the Green Beans — delicious and perfect firmness! I should have concentrated on the beans!
The free street parking in the front is convenient. The seating is tight because this is a popular place. Remember to sign in on the clipboard and take a number. We were seated right away at the community table. If I returned, I’d try a noodle dish and some Chinese broccoli!