• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Tiny Urban Kitchen
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » US Travel » Boston » Cambridge

    Qingdao Garden

    Published: Jun 10, 2007 · Modified: Oct 29, 2014 by Jennifer Che

    Wow, I'm falling behind on the food blogging. It's time to catch up.

    Qingdao Garden is a small Northern Chinese restaurant in north Cambridge between Porter Square and Arlington on Mass Ave. We had heard that they had good dumplings, and thus decided to give it a try.

    Conclusion: the dumplings are good, the appetizer we got was excellent, but we were disappointed with the stir-fry dish we ordered. We ordered a couple orders of dumplings - a vegetarian spinach dumpling, a pork and leek dumpling, and also their namesake dish, Qingdao Fried dumplings. We also ordered a pork, tofu, and vegetable stir-fry and a cold cucumber salad.

    The cucumber salad was excellent. Slices of fresh cucumber tossed with a sesame-oil based sauce and garnished with cilantro. We both really enjoyed that dish a lot.

    The dumplings were cheap (about $5 for 12 dumplings) and quite good. I liked how the vegetarian ones were flavorful without feeling too heavy. The meat ones were OK as well. We both agreed that the pan-fried dumplings were better than the boiled ones. The pan fried dumplings are among the best in Boston (which, according to Bryan, is not saying much - I guess he's comparing with California).

    The stir-fried tofu and vegetable dish was uneventful. The flavor was a bit boring (salty soy-based gooey sauce) and the dish was a bit oily. We packed it up to go but ended up throwing it out because neither of us really felt like eating it.

    Finally, the service was only average. There was only one waitress working at the time, which translated to slow service at times. The clincher for me occurred when I observed the following thing: We had opened the top of our teapot to signal that our tea had gotten cold and we wanted some hot tea. I watched the waitress go into the kitchen, pour the rest of our cold tea into the common tea maker, and then pour out some hot tea from the same container for us. I was a little grossed out by that.

    Over all, Bryan said the food wasn't good enough for him to travel "so far" to eat there.

    Oh well, it was worth a try.

    Qing Dao Garden Restaurant on Urbanspoon

    ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
    All Rights Reserved

    More Cambridge

    • Farewell Bergamot
    • Urban Hearth Cambridge - Cafe by day, Supper Club by night
    • (Partial) Solar Eclipse Fun! Solar Eclipse 2017
    • Benedetto Cambridge by Michael Pagliarini

    Recent Posts

    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris March 18, 2023
    • Wong Kee Restaurant 旺記打冷小菜館 March 14, 2023
    • Frenchie Wine Bar (Frenchie Bar à Vins) March 13, 2023
    • Dublin Ireland Trip Report March 12, 2023
    • Palazzo Parigi Milan, Italy March 9, 2023
    • Ricard Camarena Valencia Spain February 28, 2023
    • chez Alain Miam Miam - Best sandwich in Paris France February 15, 2023
    • La Salita Valencia Spain January 16, 2023

    Primary Sidebar

    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • Les Enfants du Marche Paris
    • Wong Kee Restaurant 旺記打冷小菜館
    • Frenchie Wine Bar (Frenchie Bar à Vins)
    • Ireland
      Dublin Ireland Trip Report

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2022 Tiny Urban Kitchen