Barilla Dumpling

I love their dumplings and super cheap. I’ve tried a lot of different flavours and enjoyed all of them. Definitely get steamed. The only complaint is service would be friendlier.

Barilla, Barilla how I love thee… or at least thou’s unrivalled Pork and Apple dumplings. It’s like roast pork and apple sauce in a dumpling, ie: the best thing ever. Dumplings are the main attraction here, I have sampled many dishes here and they have never fallen below average. A recent re-​vamp has improved the décor and the amount of seating has practically doubled with the addition of upstairs seating. Great for group meals as it would be hard to spend more than $ 20 a person. Pro Tip: You can get frozen dumplings of any kind to take away and enjoy the deliciousness of at your leisure.

The place was crowded when I got here but I really don’t see what the hype is all about. There were plenty of dumpling options at a reasonable price. And the portions are plentiful. Went with 2 friends and we chose 2 different kinds of dumplings and ordered some veggie sides, but none of the food was memorable. The dumplings tasted quite bland.

Always come here when either me or my boyfriend are craving dumplings. The service here is always fast, which I really like. Although sometimes you got to wait for a table but it’s worth the wait when the food is pretty good.
The place is small but there is an upstairs part to it as well. The stair case next to the door is also part of the same restaurant but not many people seem to know that and still continue to wait downstairs for a open table.
I must say the food is a but oily but that’s Asian food for you. It’s cheap for a good portion of dumplings or other dishes as well. Love the chillie oil dipping sauce there. Would come back always.

Went here for dinner on Sunday night and were able to find a table upstairs amongst many other diners quickly turning over. Having been here quite a bit before I was able to pick my favourites again the wasabi cucumber dish and spicy beans which were a hit with the others who hadn’t ventured far from the great choice of dumplings on the menu. The food was all hot tasty and delicious as per normal.

Maybe this place was too hyped up for me beforehand because I couldn’t help but feeling a bit let down. Its cheap and tasty but was unfortunately overshadowed by the horrible service. I felt like I was doing them a disservice by being there. Maybe it’s a culture shock? I guess in essence you get what you pay for, great food but a poor experience. I’d rather have both so will trade off for a place with a bit more

Best things to get — Spicy eggplant & Pork n Chives n Whole Prawn Dumplings. These two dishes changed my Barilla experience

There are lots of seats downstairs and upstairs. The dumpling are good and pretty cheap for the amount you get. But you can get pretty cheap dumpling everywhere these days like the night market.
But I have to say the service is absolutely appalling. Feels like we’re in the wrong everytime we ask for anything. We sat down once for like 15 mins before we even get a menu. When we went up to pay, the person was pretty grumpy…
If they get their service right then it would be a great place to go with a big group for something pretty cheap.

This is a great choice for simple incredibly tasty food at a very good price.
The décor is a little on the interesting side, the service is quick, efficient & friendly.
We enjoyed beautiful steamed pork & coriander dumplings along with very tasty prawn & pork ones. Of course not to be forgotten beautiful Bok Choy in garlic. Not to be forgotten, washed down with complimentary green tea.
Highly recommend this place particularly if you’re heading to The Capitol as well.

It’s not much to look at and the staff aren’t very friendly but they have the best dumplings in Auckland (in my option that is). I’m not really a fan of anything else on the menu except the spring onion pancakes are a must.

FRENCH BEANS
Worth visiting just for french beans.
The dumplings are really good, too.
I went with a friend on a Friday evening and we gave the pork and apple dumplings a go — turned out to be a great decision. Steamed, of course, they were a crazy mix of old English flavours and Asian dumpling goodness.
Service was quick and friendly. Well on top of things with the tea top-​ups, too.

My partner and I discovered this place almost 3 years ago. When we first went we were the only non-​Asian patrons in the joint. Rapidly Barilla grew in popularity and as such the quality of the food and service dwindled just as fast. Although to be fair, in talking with the staff anyone would provide terrible service if you worked at Barilla 12 hours a day, day in and out. It used to be the occasion where the food didn’t come out at similar times but it has now become the norm. In fact i can’t remember the last time I went to Barilla and enjoyed all the dishes I ordered at the same time.
I completely agree with the burnt dumplings and they always over steam the pork shao-​mai. However, I do like the prawn dumplings with the tails sticking out and I dearly miss the fried green beans with spicy salt.
I hope that they can make some efficiencies, hire more staff, and maybe get a bigger place to change things around. Otherwise, I just feel like a part of me has died with what they have become…

I was longing for dumpling for sometime so when my friend asked me to go to Chinese with him, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. We initially planned to go to New Flavour as it was my favourite dumpling place but the restaurant was packed with people lining up outside. We were not the patient kind so we decided to try a new place, Barilla. It had some good reviews so we were hoping to have a great experience. We ordered prawn and pork dumpling ($ 14) which came with prawn tail inside. Are you kidding me? The dumplings were really big and far from being crispy. Some were burnt. The other dish was slightly better — Spicy chicken with veges were okay but plain. Maybe we didn’t order the right food. We saw some people ordering fried french beans and they looked yum! Ah well, there is always a next time. Also, what is up with the service here? Lower your expectations…

I live in Balmoral, so as you can imagine I’m a big fan and I frequent Barilla quite often. It’s delicious. At the moment, it is receiving a bit of negative attention because of the D rating, but I really don’t mind. That’s probably a terrible thing to say, but I’ve eaten there so often and I love it, so I’ll forgive the D rating. Some won’t be so forgiving — as a friend of mine recently said «So much for the reviews Metro and Viva!» But they’re probably the people that haven’t been there.
Recommended dishes: Eggplant, potato and capsicum dish, pork and fennel dumplings, french beans, garlic bok choy.
Tip: Don’t expect great service or even a smile. You are going for the food and the cheap prices. Sometimes it may take ages to pay, sometimes you may sit with randoms at a big table so they can accommodate you. Don’t go if any of this weirds you out, because you won’t enjoy it. It is, however, an experience.

Barilla serves good, tasty food. They’ve won plenty of Auckland eatery honours. That is about all I can say in a positive light.
I’ve dined at Barilla several times and each experience has been worst than the last.
You really have to go there in high spirits with several people, and don’t be in a hurry. Usually the output is reasonably timed. But during my most recent visit with my girlfriend, we waited almost an hour for one order of dumplings. They forgot, which happens sometimes. But when we, after waiting 45 minutes, asked how long it would take, they scoffed! The place wasn’t crowded like usual, and the table next to us [who you could tell were friends of the staff/​owners] saw plate after plate flying out from the kitchen. Which brings me to my next gripe…
This place has RUDE wait staff, bar the lovely elderly woman who occasionally makes an appearance. The first few times I went to Barilla, I felt rushed with ordering and neglected otherwise. God forbid I ask for a tea refill or an extra napkin. I’ve been pushed past and blatantly ignored a fair few too many times for my liking.
Don’t be fooled by the hype. Again, the food is good, but nothing special. If you want the absolute best dumplings in town, go to Canton Café on New North Road.

What can I say about this place that hasn’t been said already? My Barilla template is vegetarian dumplings (don’t trust the meat on this road), the fried beans and the cold tofu with scallions. The garlic bok choy and milk buns are also good. It’s pretty hard to go wrong unless you wander in after a night of drinking and think ordering the ‘pig trotter’ sounds like a good idea. I was lucky enough to discover Barilla during the period which I’ll call ‘pre-​Metro’ so I could pretty much wander in whenever I felt like, whereas now I have to be a little more calculated about what time I want to have my fried beans. If Barilla is too full to take you then head over to any of the surrounding restaurants, especially New Flavor (which I have lovingly nicknamed ‘the Barilla Waiting Room’) which offers similar if not nearly identical items.
I came here once with a friend and we got a little ambitious and ended up paying around $ 20+ each which I felt a bit dumb about, like I kinda missed the whole point of coming here. It’s definitely way better to come here as a group because you’ll be able to order more while paying less. the beautiful Barilla paradox.
I’m giving Barilla four stars NOT because it’s a four star establishment (though it’s gradually starting to look more respectable. kind of) but because you get good food, free tea and free K-​pop on TV and all for $ 15 per person give or take. Plus their dumplings make a reeeaaally good breakfast when you’re hungover..

Food is good. Huge varieties. Constantly being selected as Metro best. Or NZ Herald’s best.
The place to have dumplings.
Not the cheapest; not the finest; and not the original either. Service is awful if you are Chinese. Give you the wrong food, take your menu away before you even finish ordering.
Great to Kiwis though!

Being a Balmoral local, I’m spoiled for choice when it comes to dumplings. Unfortunately for me I am a fussy tart; particularly so when it comes to meat, and even more so Asian food with meat. So sadly for me it’s always vegetarian dumplings and therefore one dumpling is often not so different from another.
I have to say I do prefer New Flavour; mainly because the food is fresher and the place is cleaner. That’s not to say Barilla are not better than they were but for me they are still second choice. One of my Sichuan favourites is Green Beans with Chilli and Barilla’s version taste like the oil is dirty. I don’t know how else to describe it but there is a generally «old» grease flavour to many of the menu items.
Having said that, in the Balmoral strip coming second is really not so bad. This part of town does it thing well even if ultimately the influx of Westerners is neither here nor there for the business owners. I’ve lived here for over 15 years and as far as I can tell, popularity with the locals is of no concern to the bulk of these businesses.
I will be back to Barilla Dumpling but probably on a night when the queue at New Flavour is dauntingly long.

Dominion Road’s strip of Asian restaurants has increased in popularity over the last few years — locals have begun to flock to the area for tasty, swiftly made food that is easy on the wallet. Barilla is probably the area’s biggest success story — it is often full to the brim with people chowing down on the restaurant’s famous dumplings.
Like most of the restaurants on the strip, Barilla is a no-​frills dining experience — each table comes equipped with a tray of sauces and a splash-​proof plastic tablecloth, and a recent renovation has done little to improve the very bare bones aesthetic of the place. But a pretty visage is not why anyone comes to Barilla — it’s the dumplings.
Barilla’s dumplings are cheap — you can come to the restaurant with $ 20 in your pocket, grab a plate of 20 dumplings, and leave with a bunch of jangling change. They’re also absolutely delicious — my favourites are fish with chives. I will often grabbed a plate of dumplings (fried on the bottom to crisp perfection) and take some home for the flatmates, or for leftovers.

There are few dining establishments in our fair city that can feed a family for under $ 40. Bar the fast-​food options (McDonald’s doesn’t quite cut it), a plethora of inexpensive Auckland restaurants there are not. That’s where Barilla comes into the mix.
Don’t be fooled by the name, Barilla is in no parts Italian or European. Barilla is an increasingly popular dumpling house situated in a block of Asian eateries along Dominion Road. The décor is makeshift and tacky, the service isn’t particularly friendly and ‘clean’ isn’t a word you’d use to describe the place, but you don’t come to Barilla for any of those things — you make the trip for the dumplings. The freshly made, plump morsels are stuffed with delicious fillings in a variety of clever combinations — lamb and scallions, pork and mushroom, beef and chives — complete with a little stock for good measure. Even the vegetarian options are good.
Available boiled, fried or steamed (the latter being this writer’s number one choice), a plate of 20 dumplings will only set you back about $ 10. Paired with a plate of greens in garlic ($ 10) or cold tofu with scallions ($ 7 — it tastes better than it sounds), you’ve got a great meal for two. Add a couple of friends, another plate of dumplings and the fried green beans with cumin, and everyone will leave full with a change to spare. Can’t get much better than that.