Dumpling Kitchen - Castro

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Overall: One of the better restaurants I'd consider going to in the castro. Definitely a solid choice.

The extended review...

- Got a bunch of different things. Of course the ones to get always are the soup dumplings and the pan fried Shanghai buns which are delicious.

- Friendly and attentive staff

- Nothing special about the ambiance but it's comfortable and spacious.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Shanghai-Style Steamed Pork Dumplings, Dumpling

American Chinese food, newspaper eat, 🏃‍➡️

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 5

This restaurant was a great dining experience. We chose 4 different dishes and everyone was very satisfied. The waitress was very friendly and kind and answered our questions. The prices are very affordable and the variety of dishes is sure to please everyone.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Customer service is everything today I came all the way from Morgan hill and decided to stop at this place I got uber pick up and they were laughing at me before and after they got my food then when I asked for chilli oil she said ten cents turned her back ignored me so I walked out just because people are not your race or gender doesn’t mean you have to treat them that way crappy service I will never give this place my money again so rude

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Love it.
Everything is good and the staff is super nice.
Food is delicious and inexpensive.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great Dim Sum food. No frills but great service and food.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Shanghai-Style Steamed Pork Dumplings

The pork dumplings are good. The chicken and corn dumplings were too sweet and probably won't get them again. The green onion pancakes were meh.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Shanghai-Style Steamed Pork Dumplings

The food was average at best. Too salty. No low sodium soy sauce available at the restaurant. The service was great though. The staff is friendly but the chef may use an upgrade

So I'm rating this one on my experience, which wasn't good. I ordered the dumplings, thinking I would get them before my main meal. Boy, was I wrong, the main dish came out. I was finished with it before the dumplings ever came to my table. So here is what I think happened, they took my dumplings to the wrong table. I see it a lot in different cultured restaurants. It's what I do, I'm very observant. Needless to say I won't be going back, they didn't even apologize.
So for that reason alone I'll eat somewhere else.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 2

4.5 stars
Nice neighborhood
Cute, warm , cozy restaurant. Staff very accommodating
Nice crowd
First time at this restaurant
Relatives introduced us to this restaurant
Would recommend if I was in neighborhood, otherwise it's too far for me to visit regularly.

Parking: Had to park 2 blocks away. Easy walk.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Walnut Prawns

Amazing lions head meatballs and salted egg yolk custard buns!! Took me right back to China. This is close as I’ve gotten to authentic Chinese food and the quality blew my mind. The meatballs were so tender and the custard buns so soft and custardy!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Nice place for a sit down meal. Great service, great food. Would go here regularly if I lived nearby.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Dumplings

A colleague recommended it. Pan fried XLB were great. The veg pot stickers were solid. Crab XLB were underwhelming. Staff were friendly.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

We came here for lunch on a Friday last summer. It was pretty busy all throughout, but we didn't have to wait. We sampled quite a few items, and had leftovers (3 people).

The highlight for me, unsurprisingly, was the rice cakes/niangao. They were much longer than I'm used to, so I think they may have been handmade/fresh? They were quite tender -- not al dente, but good in their own way. I thought the pickled vegetables added a really nice savoriness to the dish. This dish was different from the niangao I've had at other restaurants, but it stood on its own and was very good.

The soup dumplings were quite sturdy with thick skins. There wasn't much soup inside, but the flavor of the soup and the filling was really good.

The pan-fried dumplings were quite interesting -- I've never had it this way where it's a thin skin on the top and then a really thick, doughy skin on the bottom with a slightly soupy filling inside. I probably wouldn't get this dish again since it had a lot of dough, but it was interesting to try. It's also *really* hot, so be careful.

The eggplant in garlic sauce was better than I expected. The sauce was not overly sweet and had a thick soy consistency to it, which I enjoyed. The eggplant was cooked pretty well.

The Sichuan spicy chicken was the weakest link in the dishes we tried. While the chicken pieces were quite big, they were also tough. I'm not sure what the issue was -- if it was the cut of chicken, or marination. It was lacking in both flavor and texture.

Overall I enjoyed my time at this restaurant and thought the prices were pretty reasonable for the area and portion sizes. I could see myself coming back.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Absolutely delicious! The homemade dumplings are worth the wait! Be warned, it’s hard to not order every dumpling on the menu.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5