Dumpling Master Restaurant

This is my second time dining here. It was definitely better (3 stars) last time (about 6 months ago). Maybe it was because I ordered the pork pot stickers rather than the dumplings but these dumplings I had with my mom were really chewy. We ordered a plate of shrimp/​pork dumplings and a plate of fish dumplings.
The fish dumplings were not only hard, they also had a funny smell. We decided to only eat ½ of the fish dumplings. The shrimp/​pork dumplings only had chewy wrapping but we really didn’t see the shrimp which was suppose to be inside. The good news is that I didn’t get sick afterwards but I tend to have an iron stomach so I’m not a good judge. My mom didn’t get sick either so at least it wasn’t that rancid!
You can tell that this restaurant is struggling. It’s located in a really remote part of the shopping complex next to other shuttered businesses and during the height of lunch crowds on a Saturday, this restaurant was 80% empty. By 1pm, we were the only patrons there. It’s really depressing. You can see it on the lady’s face who served us. The restaurant is not particularly clean and the bathrooms are pretty foul. By the time we left around 1pm, the cook in the back came out to eat his lunch. Most restaurants in the area wouldn’t be this dead until 3pm.
I think this place might have done better in Chinatown where traditionally, crappy Chinese restaurant service and sub-​par food is met with a standard 10% Chinese gratuity and repeat customers due to how inexpensive the food is. However, in the Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights area, these types of establishments don’t do as well. Here, the Asians have embraced the west when it comes to good service and also can afford to pay an extra dollar here and there for fresh ingredients.

They serve old food. We had to send back a few dishes as well as the rice. The rice was yellow, and hard and a little stinky. You could tell it was a few days old.
They weren’t surprised that the food was returned. So they obviously knew they were using old ingredients and they were letting it out to customers! Where’s the integrity on that?

If I could, I would rate this restaurant with 0.5 stars … The quality has deteriorated so much over the years. I ordered some pork pan fried dumplings, green onion pancakes, and combination fried chow mein.
It was such a disaster! Not only was it SUPER AND EXCESSIVELY greasy, it was also bland. The combination chow mein tasted like it needed some salt or flavoring while the texture resembled that of ramen noodles. NOT even exaggerating.
Don’t waste your time here. Drive a couple of minutes to Rowland Heights.
You won’t be disappointed.

All in all the food was fine. Nothing really great and we ordered pork dumplings, hot and sour soup and a lunch special with General chicken.
Good prices though all in all.

First off, the service here is mediocre. I come here mainly for my favorite dishes (listed below)! :)
This is one of my favorite restaurants around my hometown. Before I moved out to college, I was a regular here ever since middle school. Because I came here so often, I got to know the main chef, who is the owner of the restaurant. He is really friendly and nice. Sometimes he would come out and start making small talk with his customers.
As a heads up, you may have to seat yourself. I think I just got used to it after awhile so every time I come in, I seat myself at a table and the server comes to us with the menu and tea.
Now onto the FOOD! Below are my top picks:
1) Xiao Long Bao: JUICY! One of the juiciest Xiao Long Baos I have tried in California. Din Tai Fung has juicy ones too, but they are both different in their own way. Din Tai Fung’s skin is more thin, while Dumpling Master’s Xiao Long Bao skin is a little thicker. Although it is a little thicker, I still think it is delicious especially because there is a lot of juice inside the dumpling. :) I highly recommend to order this dish if you decide to come here!
2) Onion Pancake: Crispy and delicious. It is not oily, just how I like it. The downside is that they don’t have a lot of scallions in their pancakes.
3) Ma Po Tofu: When the main chef cooks this dish, it is amazingggggg. I get disappointed when he appoints another chef to cook it for him. It is definitely not the same and a lot different from the main chef’s recipe.
This dish is a little different from normal Ma Po Tofus I have tried at other restaurants. It has a thicker sauce and the taste is a bit unique. It is pretty spicy, so if you can’t handle spice, do tell the waiter for a milder version. As for me, I always order this dish when I come here along with the Xiao Long Bao.
4) Lamb Hot Pot/​Soup: During winter, my parents and I would always order this for dinner. It is a bit expensive but they give you a lot. It comes in a medium sized pot with a cooker to keep the soup hot while you eat. In the pot, there are a lot of lamb chunks and veggies cooked in an herbal soup. If you are not a fan of herbal ingredients, then this dish may not be right for you :). I love lamb and the soup warms you up especially during cold winters.
5) Pork Dumplings: The skin for these dumplings are on the thicker side, so if you are not a fan of thicker skinned dumplings, then I don’t recommend you ordering this dish. The pork inside the dumplings is fresh and not mushy.
6) Hot and Sour Soup: Their hot and sour soup is great. They use white pepper instead of chili oil, which some restaurants use for convenience sake. In my opinion, the use of white pepper gives the soup more flavor. They have a lot of ingredients in their soup and you definitely get your money’s worth. No skimping on the ingredients :)
TIP: If you want black vinegar instead of white vinegar, you have to ask the waiter for it. She’ll bring out a big bottle of black vinegar for you.
Overall, I give this place 3 out of 5 stars. The only things I order from here are the dishes listed above. I think the rest of the stuff on the menu is okay, but not great.

I dropped by Dumpling Master around lunchtime with 3 other friends on Tuesday. The restaurant was pretty empty when we first walked in but more customers trickled in after us. There was only one lady waiting everybody so service was pretty subpar. But on to the dumplings!
We had an order of the Xiao Long Bao, hot and sour soup, one order of the scallion pancake with beef, one order of the pan fried dumplings, and an order of the pork and shrimp dumplings.
The dumplings were pretty good. You can tell that they make em fresh here. I didn’t like the Xiao Long Baos though… They were kinda flat cause the soup leaked out. Nothing more depressing than a Xiao Long Bao without the juice :(
I would come back, but maybe at a different time when there are less customers. The one lady waiting all the tables tried very hard to keep up with all the tables. Maybe when there’s less customers, the service will be better.

I’ve walked past this place many many times as I get my nails done next door and I also get a foot massage in the same complex.
A few people have told me that the food is good so last night I decided to try it after getting a massage.
The fried rice was good and so were the spicy won-​tons and pork and shrimp dumplings.
The 3 ingredient noodle soup wasn’t great, I took about 3 bites to make sure I didn’t like it. It had a weird flavor that I didn’t like at all.
There was a weird smell in the restaurant, not a bad smell, but it was distracting.
BEWARE THAT THIS PLACE IS CASH ONLY!!!
I didn’t know this until the bill came and I tried to pay with a CC. I had to walk to the Vons and use the ATM inside to pull out cash, so annoying.
I’ve experienced better, but I may try this place again just for the spicy won-​tons!

Aww man, I miss this place. I’m a huge fan of Xiao Long Bao and onion cake. I use to come down here before I went to piano class. It’s really as good as it gets, classic Taiwanese food.
The place is not big at all, and it actually hides in the back of some plaza. I never had any problem finding parking. Would def recommend this place for people looking for good Taiwanese food.

Came here with several people who come here frequently. The Chinese name is actually for the «Old Master» Chinese comic book character.
CHOW MEIN
— nothing special
— wished there were more vegetables in the noodles
— quite oily
VEGETABLE DUMPLINGS (FRIED)
— nicely pan-​fried
— quite large pieces
— wish they were more juicy
VEGETABLE DUMPLINGS (STEAMED)
— decent
— not very soft and smooth
— decent amount of fillings
GREEN ONION PANCAKE
— very thin slices
— pairs well with the vegetables
ENVIRONMENT: typical run-​down looking Chinese restaurant. They also have a giant TV to keep the workers entertained. Some of the wall outlets do not work (I only know this because I was trying to charge my phone). The restrooms are also quite bad; it needs more frequent cleaning.
SERVICE: the manager is quite blunt. All our food came out relatively at the same time, which was nice. Our tea was filled enough for my table to keep satiated.
Overall, it’s a decent place to get dumplings. There are probably a lot of other places to get dumplings but it’s a decent place. The service may stray others away. Though it seems like most people who come here are usually patrons of this restaurant.

I heart Dumpling Master. Ever since my friend introduced me to this place about 4 – 5 yrs ago, this has been my go-​to place for dumplings.
Our typical order goes like this:
Xiao Long Bao: So juicy and delish!
Onion Pancake: We get like 3 orders! I dip it in a little soy sauce and chili, I think theirs is probably one of the top two best Ive had…
Pan Fried Dumplings: The insides are always perfectly cooked, still juicy and flavorful!
Spicy Dumpling: Oooh, I love the dumplings and I love their Chili Garlic sauce even more!
Sauteed Veggies: Whether you get the Snow Pea Leaves or Hollow Vegetable, they add a ton of garlic and this is probably my favorite way to get some greenery into my tummy.
Its usually not packed, the chef is funny and friendly… the lady is sometimes a little curt; but she is actually really nice, you get over being intimidated after a few trips!
They are CASH ONLY… but its usually pretty cheap, so no big deal!

Just ok

WOW… i seriously have NEVER written a review here?!?
this is one of my neighborhood go to places. when i’m craving dumplings, noodles, green onion pancake, rice dishes + don’t want to drive far + don’t want to pay a lot, this is the place.
it’s called «lau fu tzi» in chinese. it’s the main character of a famous old school chinese comic strip. the owner opened red potato (which is lau fu tzi’s best friend in the comic) last year in the same area.
it’s located in the von’s plaza near nini bakery. my confession is that over the weekend (if you count friday… lol), i visited two times. this is a good olé restaurant that is family owned. it doesn’t have your fancy smancy modern décor. personally, i’d much rather go to a place knowing that i’m paying for the food and not the expensive decorations/​paintings that up the cost.
fish dumplings (boiled) — delicious and bigger than that of places such as earthen,
luscious dumplings, etc. seems like everyone else skimps on their dumplings
these days… not here.
xiao long bao — $ 5.75 for 8… tasty deal!
beef tendon noodles — last time, we ordered a large and realized that we should’ve had
the regular size since there were other things too. heheh.
pork chop rice — good flavor. while the pork chop is not the best but it’s fine as it is.
you don’t get a huge piece. it is sliced for you.
so the last time we were there, these two ladies who ate there did not leave tip. they were going to leave the 2 dimes of change when the lady said, «if that’s all you’re going to leave, you might as well take it.» so, they did. sad cuz the waitress told us later that they only spent $ 12.
don’t forget to leave tip. even though you may not feel like you have the friendliest waitress in the world, they do work hard.
dine in or take out. many people take out at this location.

I came here with Joe S. awhile ago, and just got around to finally writing a review. This place is a-​ok. For the price, it wasn’t too bad. I thought the braised tofu with eggplant was pretty good. The pork dumplings were mediocre, DTF is much more juicy and delicious. Also, the XLB, were just average. Nothing like getting it from the frozen section or even from 99 Ranch Market. Inside, it’s pretty dingy, but service wasn’t bad.
It was my first and probably last trip here. Definitely not worth the drive out here.

The bf and I ordered to go the spicy beef soup, spicy wonton, wonton noodle soup, scallion pancake, and XLB. We wanted to try this place based on the review.
Unfortunately, everything mentioned above was either too oily and bland or didnt sit to well in the stomach. I wanted to like this place but it was a total fail.

I love Dumpling Master! The owner, I assume, is a very friendly man. I used to come here with my friend way back when I was in high school. Fast forward many years later. and he still remembered my face!
Our usual order consists of the green onion pancake, spicy wonton, xiao long bao, and sometimes the hot and sour soup. This place has one of the best green onion pancakes I have had. it’s light and crispy. One day, we didn’t know what to get so the waitress suggested the spicy wonton. We have been ordering it ever since! They’re little dumplings with a seafood filling covered in a spicy sauce. I’m getting hungry just writing this review!
Don’t expect great service, but do expect good food.

It’s kinda hard finding this place. I used my GPS and still couldn’t find it because it was well hidden. So I called and asked if it’s inside the supermarket complex. The lady said no speak english.
I got a little frustrated and asked her to get me someone who could translate it to her. A customer was nice enough and actually went outside to tell me where the restaurant was. It was right next to Nini bakery.
Ordered Three Ingredients Hand Cut Noodle and XLB.
Three Ingredients Hand Cut Noodle: the soup was good but its noodle wasn’t as good as Malan. I wish Malan would combine its noodle with this soup because I didn’t like malan’s soup.
XLB: Very juicy and HUGE. Too bad the skin was too thick. It was even more noticeable because I went to DTF after eating here.
Easy parking and not so bad food. And o yeah the same lady spoke English just fine while serving me. Weird…
3.5 stars!
Dumpling Master is kinda yummylicious!

3.5 Stars
Not the cleanest place but pretty yummy dumpling. I like it much better than Malan in the same plaza. The XLB dumplings are pretty good.
I came here with Maggie C. She is a black belt in dumplings and a master. The food was decently priced. While I do like the noodle and dumpling, I much rather have XLB from JJ but número uno is Din Tai Fung.
But, I do like this place. AOK!

Ever since my sister raved about Xiao Long Bao (soup-​filled dumplings) from Din Tai Fung, I’ve been wanting to give them a try.
My boyfriend decided to take me here since they serve Xiao Long Bao and it is a lot closer than Din Tai Fung. I left all the ordering up to him…
— Xiao Long Bao
— Shrimp Fried Rice
— Scallion Pancake
— Pork Dumplings in Chili Sauce
— Beef Roll
Now, this was my first time having Xiao Long Bao, so I’m not exactly sure how it’s supposed to taste… but I really enjoyed it! It was juicy, succulent, and had great flavor. The ginger and vinegar sauce really compliments the dumplings — YUM! I’ve recently tried them again at Q Noodle House, but they weren’t as good as Dumpling Master’s. Definitely still want to try them at Din Tai Fung, but these are my favorite so far.
The Shrimp Fried Rice was just meh, I personally thought it tasted too MSG-​like. Would not recommend. I mean, they’re called the DUMPLING masters, not fried rice masters for a reason.
The Scallion Pancakes were OK. They were a little too thin for my taste and not very crispy.
The Pork Dumplings in Chili Sauce were delicious! It was my first time trying them and I’m hooked. My boyfriend definitely knows the types of food I like: P The sauce has garlic and a little kick to it — LOVE! The dumplings were also very flavorful.
I surprisingly really liked the Beef Rolls. I was a bit skeptical since it had a ton of cilantro (which I’m not a fan of), but when I took my first bite. MMMMM! The cilantro wasn’t super overpowering and putting plum sauce in it was what really sold me. Will order again!
Overall I enjoyed my first time here and would definitely go back! Even if I turn out to like Din Tai Fung’s more, Dumpling Master is closer to home and will be much more convenient for me to get my Xiao Long Bao fix.

Their Xiao Long Biao is solidly excellent!
Yes, Din Tai Fung’s famous Soup in Dumpling is a little bit better. However, for the price, the long lines, and the gas guzzling drive for me, Dumpling Master Restaurant trumps Din Tai Fung any day of the week.
Every time I take a bite of Dumpling Master’s Xiao Long Biao, I have gotten squirted with soup. Yes people! That is how juicy these little steamed dumplings are. I have even poked holes at the top with my chopsticks to prevent getting drenched on my arms when I take a bite… but still splattered in juice. But, my taste buds won’t have it any other way (especially when mixing the soy sauce, white vinegar, and their house special chili oil to dip with these moist, yummy dumplings).
Once in a while, to avoid splatter, I do try to stuff my mouth with an entire juicy Xiao Long Biao when my husband’s not looking (I’m sure you can imagine two very full, puffed up cheeks are not too attractive). On occasion, the dumpling juice still squirts out of my mouth. Sigh. Foodie issues.
If you guys don’t like the Xiao Long Biao from this place, well, then there’s more for me!

Xiao LONG Bao?
Me Love You LONG time…
Hot, meaty, oh so moist and juicy, wonderful bites of all around awesome dumplingness. You get 8 pieces for only $ 5.75! Add a scallion pancake
for only $ 2.95 and you’ve got a beautiful way to start your day!
The regular steamed pork dumplings
($ 5.75) are pretty good too but nothing spectacular. Regardless, I gobble ‘em all up like the good little pork whore that I am…
SO, if you’re in my «hood» of Hacienda Heights… swing by… and order up the Xiao Long Bao… and tell ‘em that weird Mexican kid sent you… the one who cant pronounce «Seeyao Laaoong Baawuh»… if his life depended on it.