Dumpling King

Ph: 9890 3719; 572 Station St, BOX HILL 3128

Chinese, $$ -, * for Food
Open Lunch and Dinner 7 days, Closed Box day Good Fri; Licensed, BYO, Corkage $1.50 person; AE, BC, DC, MC, V

Mietta's Review
Busier for dinner than lunch this long running dumpling shop has shed most of its Asian clientele and is now a place for the rest of us. The staff have excellent English and are used to handling Australians. The dark, secure, shopfront could have come straight from the 1960s - exposed brick walls, dark stained beams pressed wood chip ceiling, Spanish lights and all. The food, particularly the dumplings, is excellent. The door is distant from the desk where the staff congregate, so the greeting can be a little slow which can leave a lot of people standing around - waiting to be seated and for take-away. Price is a little higher than competing places but the variety and quality is better.

Other published opinions

Herald Sun Extra Food, Ruth Lampard, 12-08-08 Score: ** "You wouldn't go to a place so named without giving several platefuls of dumplings a going over"

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 "Specialising in northern Chinese cuisines, Dumpling King offers dumplings of all shapes and guises, but almost always with wheat-flour wrappers."

Age A2 John Weldon 14/8/04 "While Dumpling King is a notch or two up on the ambience and location stakes compared with the other two restaurants, it is still an inexpensive dumpling house, so order as many dishes as you can manage, starting with lantern dumplings ($6). These are crescent shaped and a delicate pale green in colour thanks to the inclusion of spinach juice in the pastry. They're filled with a mixture of minced seafood, and as with many dumplings, the flavour is mild with a little ginger being the only spice to really stand out."

The Foodies' Guide 2004,Allan Campion & Michele Curtis,'As you'd expect,the dumplings are what most people come for.Most are made with pork and ginger,chilli or cabbage.We're always drawn towards the pan-fried Beijing dumplings with pickled vegetables but also love the lion's head meatballs and tea-smoked poultry such as duck or chicken.'

AGFG 2004, score 13/20, wide selection of vegetarain dishes, two course for $25 or less

The Age Good Food Guide 2003. Score 13/20.

The Age, 02.05.00, author unknown "Simple but impressive, opened up the world of shanghai cooking for a whole new audience. it is unpretentious often challenging and of course the dumplings are terrific."

The Age, 01.06.99, John Lethlean "They're always trying new things here, alarming considering the work they already have, keeping food-mad customers happy with the regular menu."