Dumpling House

I don’t usually rant, but honestly if your idea of Chinese food is Crab Rangoon and Moo Shu Pork, you should not be reviewing authentic Chinese restaurants. This is authentic Chinese food, I’ve lived in China and my spouse is Chinese, so I’m not unfamiliar.
They may only have 6 kinds of dumplings but these dumplings are the closest I’ve ever had to dumplings in Beijing. The skin is freshly made and has not been frozen, the thickness, size and taste is spot on. As soon as I bit into one I was transported back 20 years to eating at famous dumpling eateries in China.
I’ve had several other dishes and they were all excellent. However, if you want authentic Gong Bao Ji (Kung Pao Chicken) you need to go to a Sichuan restaurant like Sichuan Gourmet in Brookline. If you want delicious food, carefully prepared by a chef who is properly trained to a standard that would pass muster in China, then you will like Dumpling House.

Stopped in for lunch after the Globe’s exciting review. I have to confess that Chinese food is not at the top of my list of foods I love. I ordered the pork soup dumplings and the sweet and sour soup. I know, boring.
The sweet and sour soup was the best I have had since moving here from NY in 1988. Real sweet and sour soup.
Onto the dumplings; they were very good. Not sure the best I have ever had but they came with a dipping sauce that had tiny sliced ginger and lemon. It was soooooo good. I could bottle that stuff and put it on everything. The portion was substantial. 7 buns. I ate the soup and 3 of the dumplings and brought the other 4 home. My only regret was that I forgot to ask for that amazing dipping sauce.
Going to go back with a crowd to try more things.
Good parking!!!

I use to go to the Dumpling House in Cambridge and loved it. Everything always tasted fresh and was full of flavor… no so much here. I ordered delivery and it was actually really quick to get to me. So, A+ on delivery speed. BUT, the food was terrible. I got the spinach dumplings and fried tofu… both had zero flavor. Since the food was delivered without any type of dipping sauces I ended up throwing it away. The consistency of the food plus it’s lack of taste just made it terrible. Maybe it’s better in the restaurant but as far as delivery goes… definitely a NO.

If you want pristine service, don’t come here till they work out the kinks. It’s pretty clear that they couldn’t handle the volume when I stopped by for dinner last Sunday.
It’s basically Chinatown service in the burbs. They did forget a thing or two. If there was a bus boy, it would’ve been a smoother sail. In short, everything was slow because they were wicked busy with take out.
Parking here can be difficult. It’s in a small strip plaza with limited of parking spaces. I have no idea if there is street parking close by.
As for the dishes, it’s great that I don’t have to go into Chinatown for this type of food! The soup dumpling is flavored not the typical Shanghai soup dumpling style so I’m guessing it’s not Shanghainese. It does have plenty of juice and came out hot so I was happy!
Scallion pancake was nicely pan fried. It’s thick so it got some chew to it. I personally don’t like really thin pancakes because you can’t really taste much with not much texture.
The pan fried udon was on the greasy side. Loaded with oil and cabbage! Good flavor; but a bit too much oil.
Pan fried buns with leek and pork could’ve been fried a bit longer. I never really cared for this dish so it’s bleh.
I enjoyed the flavor of the cold five spiced beef tendon which was not beef tendon. It’s actually braised beef shank. Translation error maybe?

My daughter has wanted to try the Dumpling House so today because she was home from school due to the snow storm, I decided to take her and a friend to lunch there today. I was very disappointed with the food and the service was absolutely awful. I don’t ever submit reviews (good or bad) but I felt that I needed to today… don’t waste your money or your time going to this location!

Came here for weekend lunch. The soupy buns are no good, nothing compared to its counterpart in Chinatown. All the food was loaded with a ton of salt, MSG and oil. A disappointment. Would have given 1 star were it not the friendly and helpful server.
Don’t bother.

Food was great, service was fast an attentive, there are more wait staff than you need in a typical restaurant this size! Try everything, only the «stinky tofu» was not as great as they have it in China, but everything else will save you a plane ticket back! I am Chinese, trust me and try this if you are in the area!

I was really excited to have a dumpling house near by. The food tasted good but everything was super greasy. I felt sick for hours after. Not worth trying again. If I want dimsum, I’ll get my lazy butt over to Chinatown.

The wonton soup was outstanding, a large order satisfies 2 adults + 2 kids. The few dishes we tried at this new restaurant were solid. The pork & leeks steamed dumplings were very good. This place is worth a return visit especially on a busy school night when you may not have time to cook.

I frequent the Dumpling House in Cambridge and was excited to try this location after running errands at Chestnut Hill mall. We ordered the pork soup dumplings, braised pork in brown sauce with chestnuts, sa-​cha noodles with beef, house fried rice, and Taiwanese fried salt & pepper chicken.
Our favorite dish was the braised pork in brown sauce with chestnuts: it wasn’t the big braised pork shank I was expecting, but the pork belly was just as delicious and the chestnuts made it even better. The soup dumplings are fine: a bit doughy but more flavorful than the other local option, Jean and Lee’s. Sa-​cha noodles and house fried rice were good reliable standbys. I found the Taiwanese fried chicken a little too breaded and oily — I would probably skip that next time.
We’ll definitely be back to try their three cup chicken and brisket noodle soup!

The food was okay. We got the soup dumplings, shandong dumplings and singapore noodles. The best was the singapore noodles because that was the most flavorful plate of all. It was basically onions, noodles, and egg cooked in curry. There were a few pieces of chicken and shrimp thrown in there. I will say there was definitely more onions than noodles in that dish.
The soup dumplings came with a few already broken and soup leaking out of it. It wasn’t very flavorful — the dumpling or the soup in the dumpling. Definitely not a top pick for soup dumplings.
The shandong dumplings were okay. They must have been juicy cause every time I tried to cut into it or take a bite of it, juices squirted out of it. I almost even hit one of my poor neighbors sitting next to me once. It may have been juicy, but it lacked taste.
It was okay, but not a bad option for the area if you’re in a pinch.

A solid «meh.» I came for soup dumplings after my hair appointment in Newton Center. It was pouring and I was soaked to the bone by the time I got in, so I was excited for some xlb! The waitress came over with the menu and a pot of hot tea. I already knew that I wanted one order of pork and one order of pork and crab. When I placed my order, she INSISTED that I did not want to get both orders of xlb, they were too similar in flavor. Actually, I did want both orders, but I relented after her she asked me a second time to pick a different dumpling and ordered the shrimp and pork fried dumplings.
The xlb were out first, I sat there waiting to see if someone would bring me a spoon but finally flagged down a waiter and asked for one. The xlb were alright, they certainly hit the spot, but the skin was really doughy and the broth very fatty and not that plentiful or flavorful. When I finished with those I took one bite of the shrimp and pork dumplings and decided against finishing, it just wasn’t what I wanted and I was mad at myself for letting the waitress talk me out of the second xlb.
$ 17 later I left feeling pretty un satisfied. I might be back, but there are better dining options closer to Newton Center.

I was excited when they took over the Little Panda Hot Pot space. I thought this, for sure, was going to be a place I’d come to regularly. But alas, I will not return.
Let me preface this review by saying, I grew up going to a Chinese food place with table clothes, that was wonderful in the quality of food they provided. The chicken was white meat, and hand trimmed. They never over-​fried things or used the same oil, so your egg rolls would not end up tasting like fish. This was my standard for Chinese food, and the bar is set pretty high. I’ve yet to find a Chinese place in Massachusetts to match it.
As mentioned by another post, their listing of dumplings is quite limited. This is a run-​of-​the-​mill Chinese place, and not one of the good ones, in my opinion. Good Chinese is hard to come by.
PROS: Tried a couple of the dumplings, including the Shandong with pork and shrimp. Good, but not great. I requested pan fried, and there was barely a brown on them. I also like steamed, but these were somewhere in between and not what I’d asked for. I do believe they are made fresh, so that’s a plus.
CONS: The Chinese dishes are heavily fried, to the point where the oil over took the flavor of the sauces coating the rubbery chicken. We did not enjoy either of the chicken dishes we ordered, and actually barely touched one of them. We saw plates at other tables, and none gave us dinner’s remorse… you know, the feeling you get when someone else orders a dish that looks better than yours and you wish you had gotten that.
Also, we ordered appetizers, the aforementioned dumplings and some crab Rangoon. They arrived AFTER our chicken dishes. huh? Isn’t that the point of an appetizer, to come BEFORE the meal? Oh well.
OVERALL: Disappointed in my experience here. We waited a while for our server to acknowledge us, but it was busy. That’s fine. The food did not good enough for me to return, although others may enjoy it.

My wife and I decided to dine at Dumpling House’s new location the other night, and were pleasantly surprised at how great everything was. First, the Mai Tai… not everyone’s bag, and not a drink everyone can make well. Theirs were made well, and not scant with the booze. The food that we ordered arrived promptly, hot and fresh, with one exception. I had asked for Hot & Sour soup… it never showed up. I probably could have mentioned it, but it never came up on the bill, and honestly, it would have detracted from the rest of the food we got. What we did get:
Stinky Tofu — The waitress was very concerned when we ordered stinky tofu, and warned us that if we had never had it, it was quite stinky. We assured her that we would be fine even though we had never tried it. When it came out, she gave us a beginners course in eating stinky tofu, and we were off to the races. In my opinion, it didn’t really stink, and it was delicious. That said, I’ve really got no frame of reference. I’ll order it again.
Pork and Leek Dumplings — These were great. I mean, it says «Dumpling House» right on the building, they’d better be tasty.
Spicy Fried Beef in Wok — This was the second thing our waitress warned us about… «It’s VERY spicy… do you want it less spicy?» We again assured her that we would eat it, and that it wouldn’t be a problem. She wasn’t kidding. It was spicy, but also delicious. Were I less of a chili-​head, I’d have probably preferred it toned down, but being what I am, it was perfect.
We shared everything, and ate rather haphazardly, as everything came out within a 5 minute window. While moving from dish to dish, it occurred to me that this was the Motörhead of food. «Everything more delicious than everything else» No matter the order eaten in, each bite was tastier than the last.
I’m definitely a fan, and hope that in the future, I’ll get to try the H&S soup.

Order the wonton soup. Then order more to bring home. Trust me.
Food was excellent, atmosphere was ok, but the food was totally worth it. Fast and friendly service.
We had the seafood dumplings, pork & cabbage buns, scallion pancakes, and shandong style pan fried dumplings. Oh, did I mention the wonton soup? It was amazing!

Comfortable and spacious setting, reasonable distance with other tables. The service from beginning to end was attentive. Clean and cozy. Szechuan food is always my favorite, stinky tofu, pork belly with garlic, spicy cold noodle, taste so good there. Definately going back!

Excellent authentic dumplings! Don’t need to make a trip to Chinatown for dumplings anymore. Great soup dumplings, fantastic spicy wontons in red chili sauce and my favorite was the scallion pancakes w/​beef. This is also the first restaurant I have seen in the greater Boston area that offers cold noodle skin as part of the regular menu and it was good as well.
We also had pan fried dumplings with chives and pork and couple other dishes which were all good. As you can tell, we only ordered from the Chinese apps/​dumplings area of the menu but will definitely go back to try rest of the menu. Service was fine and tea was decent plus bright, clean décor.

Was lucky to have stumbled on The Dumpling House on their opening night. First off, the newly decorated restaurant was very inviting and the restaurant workers could not have been any nicer.
We ordered Kung Pao Chicken, Sautéed Udon Noodles Shanghai style, and Pan fried dumplings. Thought the quality of the food was excellent. Really liked the King Pao chicken, which is one I always order at a Chinese restaurant and it was the best in the Newton area.
Can’t wait to go back.

Got the mini soup dumplings and spring rolls as takeout. Delicious, steamed goodness. A little chewy but very similar to the quality of Dumpling House in Cambridge. Good for a quality dumpling fix.

Finally open! I couldn’t wait to try. Sad to say, it wasn’t stellar.
南北園 in Chinese means «North South Garden», loosely translating to «people from the North and South will enjoy». I happen to think they forgot to include from the East or West.
Fairly crowded, and the interior is all spic-​and-​span new. Same faces as the previous restaurant in the same location — the story is, the water main broke and a hot pot restaurant needing repairs instead was reborn as… a dumpling house.
Except… Where are all the dumplings? On a menu of nearly 150 food items, dumplings only count for 10 of those items. And not just that, it’s a «dumplings and buns» menu section! So scratch out the 4 buns and you have a whopping 6 dumpling options at a dumpling house. Um… an obvious omission from their list would be anything Sichuan, like a Chengu spicy dumpling or even a spicy Sichuan wonton…
So I ordered 3 items: Shandong Style Pan Fried Dumplings, Pork & Cabbage Dumplings, and a standard Kung Pao Chicken (with a side of white rice). Time to taste test.
Shandong dumplings were… ordinary Peking Raviolis. Average. Good, but average.
The Pork and Cabbage Dumplings I had steamed. They were tasty enough, but… about 3 dumplings in I realized my pork was both chewy and still pink. I couldn’t tell if it was food coloring or a lack of cooking (raw) but based on the chewy meat factor I opted to stop there, decided to pass.
Kung Pao Gai, pretty straight forward, right? Well… while I’m used to Chinese food restaurants not making it spicy enough for me (this one was 0.5 on a scale of 10) they also somehow were able to make it completely bland as well. I could go so far to say this was my least favorite Kung Pao Gai to-​date, and that includes the kind you can buy in a microwavable bag in the freezer section of a supermarket.
Look, this place is only 2 days new. I’m being harsh, but also understanding. I’ll try them again. I’ll give them a month or two to work out the kinks. Hopefully I can update this review with praise. I wish you better luck than I had in the meantime.