C & L Dumpling House

These are actually one of my favorite cheap dumpling places. Literally 5 dumplings for $ 2. They have their own sauce as well which make the dumplings unique and delicious. Really quick service. The outside of the dumplings are a little on the thick side but the ratio of stuffing to dumpling skin is pretty good.

Service here is wonderful and I’m pleasantly content about this because this place is located in Chinatown (where 98% of the population is rude as heck).
The beef noodle soup with scallions and tendons warmed my soul and my stomach; this was such a filling meal for just $ 5!
The knock off xiao long bao was made in a dumpling format with very little soup inside :(but I still enjoyed eating it piping hot! 8 pieces for $ 3!
Cash only!

These are big dumplings. One of the biggest I have had. Fried pork and chive is $ 3.00 for a large. They taste great. Restaurant is a hole in the wall but that is alright. Good to eat these in the park across the street. Or get them and take them on a bus to Philadelphia or one of the other buses that go out of town and pick up down the street.

Eight steamed vegetable dumplings for $ 3 including tax? Can’t beat the price. They were a little undercooked and chewy, but the vegetable filling (mushroom and cabbage greens) were incredibly fresh.

Now known as CHI dumpling house.
Friends recommended this place on my quest for the best dumplings in chinatown.
It is cheap, and great for a quick bite but the dumplings were mediocre.

Brilliant hustle going on at this establishment, to which it only means that C&L stands for Con and Lie. Super dishonest cashier swindled me out of 10 bucks today. While it completely was my fault for giving the cashier 24 instead of 14, it was really low of the cashier to refuse to give back the money that hadn’t belonged to the register in the first place. I handed this sully being of a woman four five’s and four singles thinking she’d ask for 24, but then quickly doing the math in my head I then realized she had really asked for 14. Obviously a very careless oversight and mathematically retarded on my part. Probably even more moronic of me to try to point that out because as soon as I’d realized it, the cash had already hit the drawer. She played it off royally, pulling out two fives as I tried to remind her she had collected extra money from me. Case stated, but her no’ing in broken English won out. Dismissed and dismayed, my wallet and mouth remained profoundly agape. I was confused momentarily, did I really give that woman double the bill and get mindfcked? All the while I barely even got a chance to turn around, but played I was. Meanwhile, my wallet, my family and I knew what really happened and some very valuable lessons were learned.
Oh yeah and food is at best okay for what it’s worth, but I really have had better. Low prices must mean greasy and generous amounts of MSG here. But then again at 1.50 for 5 pieces, you can do better if you’re an experienced dumpling gobbler. Dumplings come pre-​cooked from a heated glass case instead of made to order like at some places in Chinatown. Menu does have a good range of options but given the experience, I’m sticking to the tried and true — Prosperity, Lam Zhou, China North to name a few.

If you’re eating your way through all Chinatown’s fare,
C & L Dumpling is well worth a visit, go there!
I solemnly swear that the dumplings were swell,
Fresh hot and juicy and CHEAP, as well.
Their scallion pancake was really great too–
Better than Prosperity’s – dare I say it? I do!

if you enjoy greasy and bland dumplings served to you with a side of attitude then this is the place for you.

The best «cheap» dumplings I’ve had in Chinatown. Been my regular spot for years. The staff always welcome us like family. Portions are massive and generally very tasty. Highly recommend.

Ambiance sucks and they are not necessarily running into with slow motion with open arms.
That being said good for a cheap meal — dumplings, soup, scallion pancakes. Specifically fried dumplings, steamed are good too. Very expensive is the selling point for this place. Great drunk food without crying over your bank statement the next day!

Good. One of many delish dumpling houses around Chinatown. They also sell instant dumplings.

This place is everything you need a Chinese place to be, but never is (at least not all at the same time):
*Clean
*Uncrowded
*Quick
*Delicious, extended menu cooked fresh to order
*Cheap
You can get a big old bowl of top rate hot and sour soup and a lucky nine steamed pork and chive dumplings (as flavorful as any in the city, and bursting with juice) for $ 4. Also for $ 4, you can get veggie and pork fried rice; hot, fresh, fragrant, and generously portioned and watch the lone chef making every single order in a single giant wok.
The napkin and chopstick dispensers on the tables are so full that it actually takes some doing to wrest them free… but how much better is this than asking for shit? The condiments containers (i.e. vinegar diluted soy sauce, Sriracha) are also always full.
You can also use their bathroom, which simple and run down as any building in this area, but is clean.
The only potential setback, that is, if you can’t enjoy it as a part of the authenticity and general ambiance and a fair trade for all the other benefits, is that one of the two ladies behind the counter is kind of mean! For example, if you are Northeast Asian (as I surely am) or appear to be, she will shout at you in Chinese at length then roll her eyes and thrust her arms up in a «whatsa matta wit you» gesture when you finally realize what’s going on (i.e. not a kitchen fire or some other emergency) and stumble to the front to claim your order. Last time I was in there, she also randomly denied a European tourist and his little boy by answering «Nooooo,» when he meagerly asked if anyone spoke English. Though I relished the continued emptiness of the restaurant, I did feel rather bad for the hungry tourists.
The other woman is very nice.
I’m not sure why this place isn’t PACKED just ALL of the time, especially considering its location, abutting the mainline of Canal Street. I wish to death I’d known about C&L while Fung Wah Bus was still in operation. I regret every Duane Reade snack and Popeye’s chicken atrocity and Dunkin Donuts tuna melt that I choked down before leaving the city for one sweet weekend.
I’d bring my mom here. I’d bring my sister here. I’d bring a foodie here. I’d bring a homesick Chinese person here. I’d bring a broke and hungry friend here. I’d bring a highbrow date here. I’d conduct an interview here. The only thing I won’t say is that I’d bring a child here so as not to encourage people to bring mealy mouthed screaming brats to the peaceful places I love. Sorry…
Clearly, I can’t say enough to love this place up, but really, it’s a short story, told by the list of miraculously existing conditions set forth above. C & L 4 LIFE!

I like this low key, kind of overlooked dumpling place. I frequent a lot of Chinatown dumpling places because I love dumplings. This one is never too busy, always quick and has a very solid variety of dumplings.
Pro tip: The fried pork dumplings are ready on the spot. If you want a different kind, you’ll wait an few minutes. I like to get a small order of the fried dumplings to eat while I wait for steamed chicken dumplings.

In a nutshell: Come here for fried dumplings.
This was part 2 of our mini dumping tour of Chinatown. This is the spot to go to for fried dumplings. For $ 1.25, you can’t go wrong. You get 5 dumplings that are prepared fresh on a regular basis.
The best part? The sauce!!! The dumpling sauce tastes like a mixture of chili sauce, dumpling sauce, and soy sauce… and maybe some other things.
I’ve never had anything other than their fried dumplings here, so I’ll keep the review short.

If only I can give them zero stars!
EVERYONE BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU PAY AT THIS DUMPLING HOUSE!
Just today, my friends and I ordered dumplings and paid with a $ 20 bill. When we got change from the lady, we did not realize she had put in a fake ten dollar bill on the bottom. It is our fault for not realizing earlier, but when we returned to complain about the fake bill, the lady simply denied us by saying «I never even served you guys.» She claims that we found the wrong person and if we cannot point out who served us, they will take no responsibility for the fake bill. We ordered a good amount of dumplings (funny how she has no memory of us at all) and there is no reason for them to give us a nasty attitude either.
I hope everyone else can watch out for the bills they’re getting back from this place, and not get stuck with a fake ten dollar bill like me.
The dumplings were actually good, but after this experience, I will never go back to this dumpling house.

I was walking by here and saw a sign for $ 1.25 dumplings. The woman behind the counter was very nice and my dumplings were ready in minutes.
They were really good and I liked the flavor of the pork. A small order had 5 large dumplings, that is a quarter a piece.
I would come back for cheap dumplings and maybe congee or a scallion pancake. I can’t speak for the American-​Chinese menu which has typical Beef and Broccoli type stuff. I try to stay away from that kind of food while in China town since I can get it anywhere.

My friend had an major epileptic seizure while in the restaurant.
The staff did nothing. Ambulance, fire, police came, and there was a delivery guy blocking the door. The staff didn’t ask him to get out of the way — I had to scream at him myself.
The staff didn’t enquire if my friend was all right, or if there was anything they could do. Our party couldn’t stay in the restaurant after that, so when I asked for boxes to take our lunch, the woman behind the counter frowned, and handed me styrofoam — she had me pack it myself. I had to ask three times.
If you’re at any risk for a medical emergency, I don’t recommend C & L Dumpling House.

They say the bathroom is for employees only, per the NYC Department of Health. I’m having déjà vu about someone joking about such a sign. Was it this place? Was it Unilocal?
More importantly, the food’s good overall and the prices are startlingly low. I got a spicy beef soup. The broth was great; the beef was o. k but too fatty. More successful were the dumplings. I’m not sure which one I got; I think pork with chives. They were fresh and meaty and a stunning deal at $ 1.25 for five. Homemade iced tea was pretty good.

A beacon of efficiency and cheap eats, I ordered a 5 pack of dumplings for a mere $ 1.25. 5 quarters later, I was on my way to an above average dumpling, on par with my two favs in the East Village Plump Dumpling and Dumpling Man on St. Marks. Plump will send you back $ 5 for a 6 pack and the Dumpling Man is slightly cheaper but still at least double what this place offers.
The catch here is that there isn’t any sort of variety to the proceedings aside from fried or steamed, you are getting pork dumplings. It’s right next to the park, so it’s perfect to take out some dumplings and watch some basketball or soccer.

Sometimes budget dining, means you have to endure much. Last time it was at Panda Dumpling where it was full of worker drama and unhygienic and unsavory diners, C&L Dumplings follows suit. On a recent trip to C&L Dumplings, I found a nice niche right by the window. The table was small and it was good for one or two people. I ordered the steamed pork and chives dumplings. You get eight pieces for $ 2.50. In one Unilocaler’s review a year ago, it used to be ten pieces for $ 2.50. The recession has hit us all.
These dumplings look doughy and the skin thicker than regular dumplings. They remind me of mandoo. The chive and pork mixture is pungent and seasoned well. The skin though thicker and doughy is still rolled thin wrapping the body, it’s the top of the dumpling that accumulates all the dough. I was fine eating my dumplings on a silver plate, until one worker decided to mop the floor. She was mopping one side, and then the next. She also dragged out a chair and food particles and swept it out and then placed a chair in front of the door so the floor in the corner could dry. It looked unhygienic and was very unappetizing as I stared at dingy wash water. Another lady dragged any empty box outside. When the lady finished mopping the floor, she rested the mop right in full sight of me. At least the mop was new and clean, but who wants to look at it during dinner.
Eeeya! As I was eating the dumpling, all I could think of was the dirty, water. Seriously this is NOT the time to clean, with a shop of patrons trying to eat. The ladies are nice but are clueless about when not to clean. The dumplings were good enough, but beware the budget atmosphere might scare you off. This place has dipping sauce in recycled bottles with cakey tips, but I was too skeeved out to try it. My advice is to take out, eat fast or eat with your eyes shut. I want to give this place an extra star for the dumpling, but can’t due to bad sanitary practices.