China North Dumpling

This place is delicious. I got the beef stew lo-​main with dumplings, was more than enough food. Smells great in here, and the staff is very polite

I like their Shaio long bao but not a fan of their fried dumplings. Too big and flavorless. But I’m happy to find a dumpling shop in the area. Missing Taiwan

Amazing! This is the second time I ordered from here. The egg rolls are great! They are fast on delivery and very polite. The first time, they forgot a part of my order and immediately called me before I could call them. They made it right, which is great of restaurants around here.
Would highly recommend!

We just ordered from North China as it’s X-​Mas Eve and didn’t want to cook. The Sweet and Sour Pork was –gray-​! How is that possible? The mu-​shu was fine, but everything else was so bad. Over spiced or no taste at all. –Never– will we order from them again.

It is a very traditional Chinese restaurant. It is on the 19^th avenue. A friend highly recommended the restaurant. The environment is nice and the waiters are so kind. There are various kinds of food, such as pancakes, noodles, rice and so on. I ordered shredded beef roll, vegetarian dumpling, preserved veg shredded pork noodle soup. The dumplings are delicious. Others are just so so.

China North Dumpling is great because 1) they deliver 2) they have family specials. And for the two of us, family special means a hearty meal with leftovers for another hearty meal the next day.
The family special is a good staple for solid Chinese food – you can’t go wrong, even though the names of the dishes may sound mundane like «ginger with pork» or the endearingly Engrish name «leaves spareribs». The fish with black bean sauce is my favorite, with a decent amount of fish stir-​fried in bold flavors of garlic and black bean. (As a kid I never liked black bean sauce because I thought it looked like bugs, but the boo converted me.)
We’ve also been to the actual restaurant and tried their Northern China specialties:
— Beef pancake: Tasty, but very small
— Northern style homemade colorful mixed noodles (yes that’s the name): Not bad, though I always find this dish to be quite vinegary. Good option if you want to be adventurous.
— Dumpling: Honestly I find dumplings in SF to be all pretty good. (It’s the XLB that distinguishes skillz!)
The verdict? Even though the restaurant is called China North Dumpling, I think their Northern Chinese cuisine options are just okay. I am a fan of the family specials of standard Chinese food + delivery (+ Netflix at home!) It’s the little things.

I was surprised that there was a «health warning» message on the Unilocal page for this place. I’ve been going there for delicious food for awhile now and compared to a lot of the Chinese restaurants around they clean. The dumplings are what you get here! Magic in your mouth! They also have some good main dishes and soups as well! I’ve never really had a problem with the service there, just realize that the service culture is a bit different than your average restaurant. Then again they make it up with the food so its okay!

Despite the «health warning», we ate here again.
I see how they got tagged for openly preparing dumplings on a large table just behind the counter. Chinese restaurants been doing this ever since I can remember.
Ordered
1. Spicey beef noodle soup. Plenty of chunky tender beef, hand pulled noodles, and a rich spicy broth. This was hit enough to just get my nose running and light sweat building. This soul was very very good.
2. Spicey chicken. Small bites of chicken lightly battered mixed with a spicy garlic and smothered in red chili peppers. The chicken was seasoned just right and was crispy. Mmmmmmmmmm…
3. On a friend’s recommendation, we tried the lamb dumplings, panfried. OMG. Fricken’ yummy! Big plate, nice lamb flavor, and juicey. You can dip it in the variety if sauces on the table, or just eat then as is. Full of flavor.

3.5 stars, rounding up cause portions are huge! Above average northern Chinese spot. The dumplings were the best thing — had pork and chive, steamed. Very large, perfectly cooked skin (tiny bit chewy), and good meat ratio. The inside also had some soup in it as well and was not too salty which I love. The spicy beef noodle soup had potential — hand pulled noodles and numbing pepper sichuan broth. Beef itself was decent, generous portions, but was disappointed that the noodles just weren’t QQ/​al dente. Had the sautéed pea shoots in garlic which was too salty and a tiny bit on the stringy side (produce quality issue). Would come back again if in the hood!

I’m a bit surprised by some of the reviews here but I guess it’s a classic case of Order The Right Things. As the name of the restaurant would suggest, order dumplings. But do NOT get the xlb (that’s a Shanghai/​HK staple, not a Northern Chinese specialty).
Do get the jiaozi, a whole list of which can be found on the first page of their menu. They are able to make most of the jiaozi boiled or pan fried. My personal preference has always been shuijiao over guotie; my favorites here are the pork & cabbage and the shrimp & chives (the classics, baby!). I love that they serve black vinegar instead of soy sauce because that really is the superior way to enjoy dumplings :)
The noodles here are hand pulled and I am a huge fan of their beef noodle soup. I think it may be my second favorite in the entire Bay Area thus far (there’s a couple places near Parkside I may have to try first though).
Their best non-​dumpling dish, however, is probably is their braised eggplant. I always take people here to try this and they’re always surprised that what they’re eating is eggplant! Even non eggplant-​fans may like this and it’s always a favorite among our vegetarian friends. There’s no words to describe the texture or flavor – except that it’s ridiculously delicious!
Maybe my standards are different than most non-​Chinese, but I’ve always found the service here to be good. Not stellar but definitely better than most of your average Chinese restaurants. If you dine-​in, you also get unlimited amounts of salted peanuts and kimchi as a free appetizer. I’ve ordered takeout from here many times as well and never had issues.

Ordered delivery from this spot and thinking it’s my new go-​to! Got the Hot & Sour soup (texture was good but not much heat and a bit bland), Shanghai style noodles (delicious! Hand made noodles were thick and had bite and dish wasn’t too salty), Cabbage & Pork dumplings (DELISH! Juicy and flavorful).
Overall, I was quite happy. Wouldn’t order the hot & sour again, but delivery was prompt and the other two dishes were a hit.

The more I come here, the more I like this spot. I came here last weekend with my neighbors and we ordered egg and chive pockets, beef wrap, beef noodle soup, and sang jeen bao. It’s always a satisfying meal. I have come here for some to-​go items like beef wrap and chicken pancakes. I find myself craving this place sometimes. It’s not a cheaper restaurant though.

Food was decent, albeit a little small on the portion for an Asian restaurant. I’m still not sure if we just misread the menu or was served the wrong dish but our cold appetizer of cauliflower had everything but cauliflower. It was still very yummy though — cold cucumbers tossed with bean curd and roasted peanuts covered in chili oil… yum yum yum!
As for our entrees, we ordered two types of noodles… both were pretty much the same with different noodle types. Garnishes were few and far in between so basically, we were just eating two types of noodles tossed in soy sauce. Hm. And though the steamed dumplings were pretty good, it was disappointing that they didn’t serve it with the ginger/​vinegar garnish. They only had a little spout of vinegar that you could dispense for yourself.
Lastly, this was more personal preference but because we sat on the adjacent space (the additional room) there was less of a presence from the waitresses. Another table that sat with us constantly went behind the counter to get more of the little «appetizers» — pickled vegetables and roasted peanuts. That’s really kind of a cleanliness concern for me. I really doubt it was meant to be help yourself.

We wandered here on a Sunday night, happy to find a business that’s open, and clogged with people. Tried the Northern cuisine and the verdict is: I would happily seek this place out. Delectable!
We ordered:
Braised tofu with Mushroom: tofu was soft and flavorful, mushrooms clearly fresh, not rehydrated. Brown sauce was light, gingery.
Winter melon with dried shrimp: cooked til the flesh of the melon sunk beneath your teeth. Sauce again was light and flavorful, not at all greasy.
Pork & fennel dumplings: my partner reported «fresh, with a strong fennel taste»
Vegetarian dumplings: I loved that they steamed up the room. I’ll try them tomorrow.
The wonderful flavors, freshness of the veggies, and the light touch won me over. It’s a neighborhood gem, tucked away from high prices and snooty people. Will happily come back here!
Specialty are dumplings: assorted new dumpling flavors line the walls.
Pickled cabbage & roasted peanuts for starters

This restaurant has an amazing selection of dumplings. To date, I’ve tried 13 out of their 21 types. As many other reviews have said, if you want good XLB, go somewhere else. That’s not the point of this restaurant (which focuses on NORTHERN Chinese cuisine). Try the pork with napa cabbage or the pork with bok choy steamed, or try the chicken and corn pan fried. Absolutely fantastic. They’re always making something, and if you ask what they’re making and it sounds good, order that – the fresh stuff is awesome.
Out of the 13 types of dumplings I’ve tried, I’ll steer clear of the XLB and the pork with green pepper, but all of the other ones I’ve tried have been excellent. Looking forward to ordering the Shanghai hand pulled noodle soon.
This restaurant is quite inexpensively priced, and the waitstaff is timely and friendly.

Service: typical Chinese restaurant service. They’ll come and ask you what you want. They understand English and the menu had pictures so it’s not hard to place your order.
Food: a bit of a szechuan flare in their food so it’s great if you enjoy a little heat in your meal! They have an entire section for their dumpling selection so it’s probably worth ordering some! Try their spicy soup noodles too (any of them!)

Been here twice; good inexpensive comfort food, and haven’t had to wait. Green onion pancakes are nice and crispy and chewy, the big pan fried pork dumplings (shui jian bao) are solid, good noodles, and more. The only let down we had was the pork belly with the bok choy — it looked nothing like the picture, with the pieces being smaller, darker, and tougher than expected. Those will not melt in your mouth, unfortunately.

I am always in search of good dumplings and noodles, but China North Dumpling was a disappointment.
The noodles in the soy braised beef noodle soup ($ 7.95) were mushy and soft, the broth was light, and the beef was tough.
The pork three flavor dumplings ($ 7.95) had floppy wrappers and abnormally greasy fillings and were not very tasty. Beijing Restaurant has better three flavor dumplings.

2 ½ stars.
Not on point.
Some guy from SFGATE just wrote an article about how bomb these dumplings are. I’m a huge dumpling fan and knew I needed to try these dumps ASAP. The SFGATE article made these dumplings sound heavenly. They were totally disappointing. It truly makes me question his dumpling palate.
I’ve experienced my fair share of delicious dumplings and Northern Chinese cuisine. This place doesn’t make the cut. The string beans were standard. Not as tasty as my go to Shanghai restaurant. The D5 and D8 dumplings lacked agreeable flavor, satisfaction, zest and care in their preparation.
I understand that when you take out food there is a chance that it won’t taste as good or be in tact once home. I live five minutes away, have a car and garage to park it in. Almost all of my dumplings were busted open when I got home. Yes, dumplings burst. I get it. That’s normal for 2 – 3 dumps max. But almost all 24 dumplings busted within five minutes of driving? Not cool.
It should be noted that my rating also includes service. Upon ordering the staff said the wait time would be 20 minutes. Cool. Standard. 30 minutes roll by, then 40 minutes. It took 45 minutes for me to receive my take out order. I rush straight home to find ALL of the dishes I ordered to be luke warm. It’s one thing to wait for perfection. But to double my wait time and bestow me with luke warm food is undeserving.
Prices are good for the dumpling portion. However, I’m definitely going to pass on this restaurant in the future.

After reading some of these negative reviews, I think Susy C.‘s review is spot on — those people just came in with the wrong expectations. Although they do offer a few dishes from other Chinese cuisines, China North Dumpling (as its name suggests) focuses mainly on Northern Chinese dishes. What does that entail, exactly? Noodles and dumplings galore!
While it may be disappointing for some not to see a favorite like Xiao Long Baos on the menu, China North has plenty of other great dishes to offer — about 160+ in total? It’s impressive that they can offer such an extensive range of appetizers, cold dishes, noodles, vegetable/​tofu dishes, soups, seafood, and, of course, numerous types of dumplings (other than XLB).
– GREEN ONION PANCAKE…$ 4.95
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It was thicker than I typically prefer (thin and crispy), but the outside had a nice crust. The center was pretty good too, as it was slightly chewy and not bready, and the fresh green onions helped to add a lot of great flavor.
– NAPA CABBAGE WITH PORK DUMPLING…$ 6.95
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Although they weren’t as tasty as others I’ve tried (still good), it was awesome how they were so packed with filling. I wonder if the ones with mushroom or chives would have been better, but these were still solid overall.
– PAN FRIED DUMPLING…$ 6.95
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Like with the dumplings, every one of these was loaded. In this case though, the filling was both savorier and juicier. The bottom crust was the highlight though — the skin had the perfect consistency and the bottom was so nicely browned!
– SHANGHAI STYLE CHOW MEIN (with Hand Made Noodles)…$ 7.95
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Even though they aren’t very long (perfect for kids though), the hand made noodles are a plus. They had just slight bite to them, and the sauce on the noodles was terrific. A little more meat would have been nice, but it was just fine otherwise.
– HOUSE SPECIAL PORK…$ 8.95
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While all of the other dishes were good, this one stood out the most. It was simple (pork belly, bok choy, and their house sauce), but well done. The bits of pork were cooked perfectly (soft and tender) and I thought the sauce added a slight tartness to the dish.
Considering the three of us were able to try five things for a measly $ 40 (with leftovers), it’s safe to say the portions at China North are both plentiful and cheap. Which is a good thing too since between the various types of hand pulled noodle soups (particularly the spicy beef noodle soup) and all of the dumplings, there’s plenty more to try! About 155 or so, give or take.