Tong Dumpling

These tasted good and were not overly greasy. If I ate gluten I would have these regularly. Just watch out with their labeling. They labeled one box «pork» but they were actually shrimp.

We ordered two plates of dumplings, the deluxe three and the beef with green onion. I didn’t like the beef one, but the deluxe three was great. Plates are 12 dumplings each.
We also got two free appetizers came in their still-​plastic-​wrapped dishes. $ 25 after tax and tip.
I had a nice view of the employees making TONS of dumplings, so that was pretty cool.
Not bad, not great. Wouldn’t mind coming again, but I wish they had soup dumplings.

I’m Chinese and quite used to the substandard service level at Chinese restaurants. You don’t go there for service, you go for good tasting food.
But never in my 20+ years of eating at Chinese restaurants have I seen such blasé treatment of customers as at Tong’s. I walked in and was literally the only customer in the restaurant. I walked up to the cash register and got a menu, waiting for someone to acknowledge me so I could order to-​go.
5 staffers were making dumplings and 3 staffers were packing dumpling bags. I stood there for a solid 2 minutes before even one person acknowledged me. Finally one of the women working there asked someone to take my order, and the girl who came to the register had a demeanor which implied she was doing me a favor by taking my order! LOL
It was funny, but ultimately doom for my Unilocal review. I’ll give 3 stars because the food is good but the staff has attitude.

This is definitely our family’s favorite go-​to dumpling place. It is not fancy like a Din-​Tai-​Fung but it carries so many different variety.
We enjoy both dine-​in and take out from this place. When dining-​in, food shows up pretty fast and hot. The place is a bit small and cramped and it might seem like you are sitting with a bunch of strangers. If you are looking for a fancy restaurant this is not the one for you. This place is more of a small mom and pop shop in Asia.
To take out, certain flavors are only available in the fresh version of dumplings instead of the frozen one (such as fish or shrimps). The fresh ones are nicely packaged in a box with partitions to ensure they won’t stick together.

This is one of my comfort food places. Dumplings are amazing, you have to try it if you are a fan. I came for soup, dumplings and onion pancake. Definitely get the soup dumplings, yum! The soup portions are big, so get a bowl to share on a cold day and order a bunch of the other items. Also, you get twelve delectable dumplings per order. I love the crispiness of their onion pancake. They are delicious. Make sure you use chili and garlic dip mixed into vinegar! Otherwise the dumplings will taste bland. It’s all about the dipping sauce. The dumplings really taste authentic and made fresh at the counter in front of you. You can also buy frozen dumplings to make at home, which are decent.
This place gets busy so if you don’t get there early, expect to wait. The place is small so it’s hard to get a big group of people in. We arrived early dinner hour and got a seat right away. I saw several plates going to other tables and everything looked and smelled very good. Everything was served about the same time and came out nice and hot. The price was very reasonable and the service was good. The server was prompt and gave us plenty of time to review the menu. Bottom line: Not out if this world but decent. I liked it and definitely will go again when I can make it out there.

I rarely write reviews but this one absolutely could not go without:
I have NEVER had an experience like the one I had at Tong Dumpling. I actually felt sick being in the restaurant and could no longer consume anything more (and I LOVE dumplings).
I visited on New Years Day with my parents and the restaurant was fairly busy, mostly because it is a tiny establishment. Once we were seated, my mom ordered quickly. However, we received word from some relatives that they wanted to join us, so we notified the staff who helped move a table to connect with the one we were already sitting at. Our family did not arrive for about another 10 minutes, but in that time, a big burly worker (I presume must have been the boss-​lady) came to our table twice demanding to know when the rest of our party was coming and that they were «too busy to deal with this». The restaurant was no doubt busy, but not enough that taking back the side table was necessary, especially considering the rest of our party arrived literally a minute later. We had already ordered in anticipation of our whole family eating together so it was only fair that the restaurant would accommodate for our party. So, we shifted tables once another group left, fortunately very soon after our family arrived.
All the while, the boss-​lady was giving us evil looks and still coming back occasionally to make snark comments. We didn’t want to give into her rudeness but we had all intentions of eating quickly and leaving so we did not have to remain in such an environment. And then… the boss-​lady came by to supposedly help clear our dishes, and somehow (SOMEHOW!!) took my uncle’s chopsticks and threw them away with the dish. Naturally we asked for another pair, still being as polite as we could, which is when the boss-​lady and her boss-​husband (I assume) BLEW UP! They started yelling, telling us that they had done so much for us. Mind you, this is a small restaurant so this scene escaped no one. At that point, we were desperate to leave so my dad paid and left a penny as tip. For me, tip is reflective of the service and I think it was fair to say that the service was poor enough that they did not deserve any. But the boss-​lady had the nerve (!!) to demand us for more tip. At that point, I’m trying to shuffle my slow grandma out of the restaurant to avoid more conflict, when the boss-​lady PUSHES my grandma! But wait, there’s more. My aunt begins filming because she wanted to document the abuse, and the boss-​lady once again SHOVES my aunt out the door so that my aunt hits it on the way out. All the while, she is screaming «no filming» in mandarin.
Please, if anyone can tell me how to report an incident as atrocious as this, I would greatly appreciate it. This is the worst service I’ve ever experienced in my life and I would not wish this upon anyone. This place deserves less than a star. I am so disgusted.

I agree with other reviewers about the bad service.
We came at their busy time, the restaurant treated us like their slave in military: we were expected to order right away, we were expected to eat fast, we were expected to leave immediately after eating. And we were reminded more than 10 times of above during our one hour lunch there.
If you want to experience what’s like to eat in a prison, go there.
No more for me.

Very nice spot. Very efficient. Food is prepped quickly. Dumplings are not that well stuffed but have great flavor and 12 for $ 10 is a good deal.
Green beans with shredded pork was tasty, but a bit oily.
They’ll bring you water, you just have to ask for it.
They won’t check up on you to see if you need anything, just flag them down if you need something. It’s a small little restaurant they’ll respond to you quickly.
⁴⁄₅ would eat again

So this place has awesome food. I love their green onion pancakes and shrimp dumplings. Add soy sauce, chili and garlic on the side and you’d find yourself in heaven.
The only drawback of this place is the neatness. I feel they the ladies making the dumplings should wear gloves at least.

Bad service and found a roach in my noodle soup — –
If there is a choice of giving zero star, I would do that. Horrible service. They don’t really treat customers as customers. Forget about «customers are god».
Forget the service, the thing makes me give up on this place is that I found a giant roach in my noodle soup. That is the most disgusting thing for me:(

Tasty dumplings! Puzzled by the 3-​star or lower reviews.
As a latino dating a Chinese I’m often told: «this is not authentic, let me take you to eat good food.» Well, Tong Dumpling passed the test as one of the best dumplings in the area. I took pictures, which I’ll upload, of all the food we ate (what can I say… I learn) and although it doesn’t look as appetizing as it tasted you can go try it yourself. All was good, in fact, I briefly considered buying their frozen bag of 50 dumplings for ~$ 22.
My personal preference: pork dumplings and pay the extra $ 0.50 for them to fry it for you. So good.

Beef dumplings and fried green onion pancake were all salty.
The xiao long bao is soupy, but the meat is dry.
The sesame filled sweet dumplings are the only redeeming dish.

This place is DE.LI.CIOUS! Maybe I’ve just been void of Chinese food for too long, but my tastebuds were in heaven. I got the shrimp and chive dumplings, pork and chive dumplings (fried for 30 cents more), zha jiang mian, and eggplant with salted fish. The ratio of dumpling skin to filling was perfect, and the zha jiang mian noodles had the perfect chewy texture. They also have vegetarian dumplings which is hard to find sometimes.
The service was fast — we got our food within 10 – 15 minutes of ordering! The ladies who work there will speak Mandarin to you, but you’ll be fine speaking English and pointing.
Will definitely go back and buy a bag of 50 frozen dumplings so I can get my fix whenever I want!

Solid Shandong Chinese cuisine. At last I have found the food of my people!
Tong Dumpling is, as the name suggests, known for their dumplings, and they are quite good with many options (even some
unconventional ones including squash). We had their «three kind» (aka pork, shrimp, and chive) dumplings and their fish dumplings, and both did not disappoint. Each order also comes with 12 dumplings, which is pretty generous (most other places come with 8 – 10). And of course, they also sell their dumplings frozen to go in packs of 50. A little more expensive than some other places at around $ 20 a bag, but the quality is good.
We also had their green onion pancake and their spicy seaweed as appetizers; unfortunately both were far more disappointing. There was very little green onion in the pancake and it just tasted mostly like, well, pancake, and the seaweed was pretty bland.
That said, as the first legit Shandong place I’ve found in the Bay Area, I’ll definitely be back, if nothing else for their dumplings (both frozen and fresh), as well as to try out their noodle dishes. The close proximity to Ten Ren doesn’t hurt either ;)

My friends recommended this place for dumplings.
I never knew but apparently when dumplings are hand-​made and fresh, the skin is thicker and chewier. I always order the shrimp and chive dumplings steamed; the servings are decent and never fail to fill me up. They have the chili oil condiments and soy sauce if you want to add extra flavor to them.
Recommend if you’re in this plaza and crave dumplings.

The female owner is as RUDE as someone from Hell.
Never buy the frozen dumplings to go!!!
I’ve been a long-​term customers for some years. I loved their fish dumplings which are now only available at weekends. So, I tried the three ingridiants and the shrimps with chives frozen dumplings to go last weekend.
The three deluxe dumplings are extremely blizzard.
There are unknown additives
In them which have changed the textures and tastes to somethings else. The dumplings do not taste like pork nor shrimps. The shrimps and pork taste more like plastic materials. The shrimp and chive dumplings are the same, weird texture after cooking. My family is from Northern part of China. I am good at making and cooking dumplings.
There’s no way that I did not cook them properly.
I called the store to discuss my case and asked for store credit to trade for the fish ones. The female owner said, «NO REFUND IN ANY CASE! and yelled… I had to hang up just to save myself from her barking.
I had seen this lady yelling at her husband at the restaurant during one of my meals there. It was very unpleasant. This the last time that I may tolerate the female owner’s inferior service attitude.
I will never go back to a restaurant that is owned by a MEAN person. I am SORRY to report such a disapointment. Sigh.

Great Dumplings! FRESH and Handmade right in front of you.
I came in on a Monday late-​morning after sampling the take out my friend brought over the day before. The take out was delicious! So I had to try it for real.
The next day, we got in just after they opened. It’s a small hole in the wall in an Asian plaza. One of the only restaurants with the name NOT written in Chinese. We were helped by a young waitress and ordered the lunch specials (same price as the 12 pc. Dumplings but with an added hot and sour soup and side dish.) We also got fried rice.
Dumplings= awesomeness. Right after we ordered, two older ladies jumped out of their chairs and started rolling the little dough. Got a couple orders pan fried 3 special and steamed lamb/​squash. Everybody enjoyed them all! Next time I would get all of them pan fried, but that’s cuz my taste buds go for the artery clogging yum. The dough is thicker then I’m use too, but still soft. The meat inside was juicy and full of flavor. The soup, sides and fried rice were ok, but it’s obviously not the reason why people come to Tong.
We left with full bellies and some left overs. Not a bad day.

When the craving struck for some legit Taiwanese food, a drive down to Cupertino was clearly in order. Because, much like with Vietnamese food in San Jose and Korean food in Santa Clara, Taiwanese food just seems better down here. Which obviously explains why we ended up at a Chinese restaurant instead. I know, I know…#logicfail, and in more ways than one!
Beyond simply not being a Taiwanese restaurant, Tong Dumpling wasn’t all that busy, which should have been another reason for us to head to one of the other restaurants in Cupertino Village. Still, we decided to give them a go since A) their Shandong menu looked pretty decent and B) we were just too hungry to wait anywhere else. Plus, they specialize in dumplings, which is always a draw.
– GREEN ONION PANCAKE…$ 3.95
(
)
Not sure why it’s listed under «noodles», but regardless, this was just okay. I liked that it was nicely browned/​crispy, thin, and not all that oily. However, it just tasted like fried dough, as the «green onion pancake» was really light on the green onions.
– PORK AND CABBAGE DUMPLINGS…$ 8.95
(
)
While I appreciate that they’re handmade, the dumplings didn’t taste as amazing as I had hoped (meaty, but not juicy). Yes, they were quite plump as well, but $ 8.95 is pricey for 12 pieces, especially when you can easily find comparable for less.
– ZHA JIANG MIAN (Black Bean Noodles)…$ 8.95
(
)
It looked awesome, but, like with the dumplings, the taste left me a little wanting. Admittedly, it could just be me (hated the parsley/​cilantro), but the sauce didn’t pack much of a punch and there need to be more of it. I did like all that beef and tofu though.
– BEEF NOODLE SOUP…$ 8.95
(
)
A pretty solid dish. The soup itself could have been a little more flavorful/​savory, but I liked that there was a good amount of beef and vegetables in the dish. Plus, the noodles had just the right bite and consistency to them.
Although none of our dishes failed in any specific way, they didn’t excel in any specific way either. I’d consider getting the Beef Noodle Soup or Zha Jiang Mian again, and I did like how clean the restaurant was, but those aren’t exactly compelling reasons to make it a point of coming back. The next time I’m in the area, I may not oppose returning to Tong Dumpling, but I’d much rather try one of the other restaurants in the complex. And, you know, get some actual Taiwanese food while in Cupertino.
THREE AND A HALF STARS rounded down.

TL;DR? Good dumplings, everything else mehhhh. I can claim to be a regular Chinese cuisine appreciator, and Tong Dumpling is not the place to take your 80-​year-​old traditional Chinese grandma for dinner. Ambiance is okay and service was not memorable either (at least they weren’t blatantly rude).
3 Stars for Dumplings Only.
2 Stars for other Chinese foods, Service, and Experience.
Our lackluster experience and financial bump left a sour taste and even their good dumplings can’t make up for the bland, borderline terrible time.
Verdict: Not Returning Here.
My friends and I wanted to grab dinner in Cupertino Square on a Thursday night. Someone suggested Tong Dumpling and since most of us haven’t tried the place, we didn’t contest to it. Entering the restaurant, we noticed that it was mostly empty and probably had 1 – 2 other customers for dinner around 8PM. We were immediately seated and given menus.
The first page consisted of many different types of dumplings and the rest of the menu listed various Chinese entrees, rice, noodles, appetizers, etc. We ordered the Pork and Cabbage dumplings, fried Pork and Chives dumplings, Hot and Sour Soup, and Beef Fried Rice.
Overall the dumplings were delicious! I usually have a bad experience with dumplings for some odd reason, but Tong’s dumplings were savory albeit on the salty side. I wish they had fried our dumplings moreso than just the bottom because it costs EXTRA $.30 to fry them. The Hot and Sour Soup was terrible… at $ 1.50 per bowl per person, it seemed cheap but you pay for what you get. My friends did not even finish their soups and I barely finished mines. So point being, SKIP THE SOUP. The beef fried rice was decent, although I could probably make the same thing at home. It tasted more homely and had peas, strips of soft beef, egg, etc. My friend wanted the green onion pancakes but they ran out. How can you run out?
Lastly, they would not take multiple credit cards. THEY ONLY TAKE 1 CREDIT CARD. I asked the server why she couldn’t take more than one card, and she replied it was boss’ call. Okay BOSS MAN, we spent like almost $ 40 at your restaurant and you can’t split cards for us?! How frugal, how cheap!

I have to say that people need to come here and judge for what they have on their name — dumplings.
I’ve been living outside china for ²⁄₃ of my life. There are very few things that connect me to China and dumplings is one of them. It’s one of the few things my mom makes well (sorry mom) and I know when I’m eating good dumplings and dumplings from this place is TOP.
You don’t come to this place and try their menu unless you’ve tasted their dumplings which are all hand made. The best is the shrimp, pork and chive one (3 delux?) and my friends and I always eat more than a dozen each.
You know when dumplings are good when you taste the wrapping. The filling is easy to make and can be faked with MSG, but the skin is not. It should be soft yet firm to the bite, elastic but just a bit. This place makes it and cooks it to near perfection (again, better than my mom).
They got some other good stuff like the big fried pancake with filling (egg, chive and small shrimps) and several good appetizers. They also sell frozen or fresh dumplings to go so you can cook at home.
Anyway, don’t listen to those below who can’t appreciate the dumplings (which is their specialty) and judge on service and other minor things. Perhaps those patrons will be better served in Palo Alto or Mountain View where prices are high and flavors are low.