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Dumpling Cafe {SNAPSHOT}

June 26, 2013 by Jennifer Che 5 Comments

_1050561
This is a {Snapshot} of Dumpling Café based on my recent experiences at the restaurant. The original post of this restaurant (written in 2010!) can be found here.

Dumpling Café is located in Boston’s Chinatown and has a nice selection of Taiwanese dishes, Sichuan dishes, and various types of dumplings. It’s almost never as crowded as Gourmet Dumpling House (which invariably has a long line outside), even though there’s quite a huge overlap in the menus and the food is comparable in quality. Perhaps less people know about this place, partly because it’s just a tiny bit off the beaten path (5 minute walk from Gourmet Dumpling House).

I like it also because it’s fast. It’s as fast as Taiwan Café, which in my mind has always been one of the fastest restaurants in Chinatown. I swear, within 5 minutes of ordering, your food starts to show up on the table. We were trying catch a movie at Lowe’s Cinema once and came here for dinner beforehand. We were in and out of the restaurant in about 20 minutes. As long as you don’t have to wait for a table, coming here could be faster than a fast food joint, and most certainly tastes much, much better.

Here’s a look at some dishes we’ve tried during our past few visits.
_DSC2029
“Sen Jian Bao” are flat buns filled with meat and vegetables that are pan fried to form a crispy edge. The best ones I’ve ever had were in Shanghai from a famous street vendor. These were still nicely pan fried and were reasonably tasty.
Xiao Long Bao
The xiaolongbaos (soup dumplings) are tasty here, and probably among the best ones in Boston (though they still pale in comparison to the ones available out west or in Asia). I much prefer the flavor of the crab roe with pork dumplings, though the pork ones are still not bad.

They are pretty huge (a negative in my book, because it’s hard to put the whole thing in your mouth), and thus can be tricky to navigate. Definitely use a spoon and be careful! They are delicate and may break, and the soup inside is hot! I like to wait a bit before eating these, otherwise they seriously burn my tongue.
_1050565
Steamed dumplings are fine – nothing particularly exciting, but they are reasonably tasty and not greasy at all.
_DSC2035
The spicy fish dish (shui zhu yu) is bold, flavorful, and quite similar to the one at Gourmet Dumpling House, which is also quite good. Be prepared for the numbing sour zing from the Sichuan peppercorns, which are used quite liberally in this dish.
_DSC2032
Beef with longhorn peppers is fine, though not particularly memorable.
hollow heart vegetable
Stir fried hollow heart greens with garlic (a simple dish I often like to order no matter where I am) were tender, flavorful, and light.
Rice Cakes with Mustard Greens and Pork
I enjoyed the rice cakes with pork and mustard greens (a classic Taiwanese combo), which were nicely flavored and not too greasy. It reminded me of simple home cooking.
Tofu noodles, mustard greens and pork
A similar dish made with tofu sheets was simple and light – something I could imagine eating reasonably frequently. [yes, eating Chinese food out can be healthy!]

Overall, this restaurant usually falls on my short-list of places to visit when I’m in Chinatown. The food is good, the service is crazy fast, and the dishes are reasonably healthy. It’s a nice option if other places have long lines. Keep in mind I’m a bit biased towards Taiwanese and Sichuan cuisine, so other restaurants on my short list would be places like Taiwan Café and Gourmet Dumpling House.

Dumpling Cafe
695 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111
Dumpling Cafe on Urbanspoon

©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Boston, Restaurant, Review Tagged With: Chinese, Sichuan, Taiwanese

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Comments

  1. ColordoXJ13 says

    June 26, 2013 at 11:43 am

    Salt and Pepper Shrimp with longhorn peppers is one of my favorites at Dumpling Cafe. Give it a try….with heads of course.

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  2. Alvina says

    June 28, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    Oh I liked this place but man the staff is RUDE. One time my friend’s parents were in town so I had lunch with them there, and they are Chinese Americans but were treated like they didn’t speak English and were told they must leave a tip!!! I didn’t go back after that even though they have delicious lunch specials… 🙁

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Trackbacks

  1. Jen's Top Restaurants in Boston says:
    September 20, 2015 at 10:49 am

    […] Chinese food, our favorites in Chinatown are Taiwan Cafe, Gourmet Dumpling House, and  Dumpling Cafe. For Cantonese fare, we also enjoy Peach Farm, Winsor Cafe, and Hei La Moon. In Cambridge, Dumpling […]

    Log in to Reply
  2. Beijing Chinese Dining Lexington - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    September 22, 2015 at 4:20 pm

    […] of Chinese restaurants of all different types. Excellent Sichuan places popped up in the suburbs. Several places specializing in dumplings opened up in Chinatown. We got a lot more Taiwanese restaurants. […]

    Log in to Reply
  3. Jen's Top Restaurants to visit in Boston - 2017 update - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    December 20, 2017 at 7:30 am

    […] Chinese food, our favorites in Chinatown are Taiwan Cafe, Gourmet Dumpling House, and  Dumpling Cafe. For Cantonese fare, we also enjoy Peach Farm, Winsor Dim Sum Cafe, and Hei La Moon. In Cambridge, […]

    Log in to Reply

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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