Dumpling Dojo

For $ 5 you can get a delicious mix & match assortment of dumplings for a light meal or snack for two. We picked shrimp dumplings, chicken, and vegetable. We got everything steamed.
I was a huge fan of the shrimp dumplings – they were very flavorful and shaped sort of like a wonton! The vegetable was also very noteworthy and delicious. Also, perfect dumpling sauce compliment – not too sweet nor salty.
I was really pleased with my experience at dumpling dojo. The staff was really sweet and prepared everything for us quickly. Dumpling eating can also be a messy experience, but not here. The sauce and dumplings were wrapped up really well with chopsticks for two. I would definitely return again for a quick dumpling craving.

I tried 3 pork and cabbage dumplings with the regular dipping sauce, and the (2) baowich dinner. (Not a combo, just my phrasing.) on the baowiches, which are like a spongy pita bread — it’s very soft but easily cut/​bitable without being chewy. For the filling I ordered a kung fu chicken and a pork (missed its «name», because I was just trying to get the second one and they didn’t have the beef — which is what I wanted.)
For the toppings I kept it simple for my initial journey and just ordered pickled carrots and cucumbers. With an Asian Sesame dressing on the chicken, and the ol’ standby Sriracha for the pork.
The dumplings were comparable to a steamed dumpling from a regular Chinese food place. I thought the filling tasted good and the sauce was adequately gingery.
The baowiches come crammed in a small container, and when I tried picking up the first one (chicken) the sauces had totally soaked through causing the bottom to be soggy and the «bread» started coming apart.
But the taste was definitely good. Full of flavor and only slightly dried — having been the end of the night, and I got the last of the pan of pre-​prepared chicken.
I decided to just eat the rest — including the first bite of pork baowich — with a fork. The pork one had some Thai chilis stirred in, so combined with the Sriracha, it had quite a kick. It wasn’t quite the end of the pan of the pork, but pretty close, so it too tasted a little aged.
Overall the serving size for the baowiches was perfect. The bread is probably a smaller circumference than a corn tortilla you’d make tacos with, but thicker. And they’re topped with a healthy (or not!) serving of fillings and a nice drizzle of sauce. Or it could have just turned out this way so the it could get rid of his leftovers.
Either way, I gotta say that I was pleasantly surprised by Dumpling Dojo and will definitely try it again on another visit. Hopefully not at the end of the night where it might be fresher and even more tasty.
Dropped a star for not continuing to have fresh and abundant food until you close…

For mall food, the dumplings here are not bad. I got the mix and match (12 for $ 9): 4 fried chicken and spinach, 4 fried pork and cabbage, and 4 steamed shrimp wontons. They are not super big, but still very generous with their meat filling and it’s very tasty. I preferred the chicken over the pork. The shrimp wontons are good, but can’t be compared to Full Key. The fried dumplings are a little on the oily side so it’s best to use a napkin to soak up the oil before dipping in the sauce! You can get it spicy or regular.
They also serve rice bowls and baowiches (steamed pancake wrapped with veggies and your choice of meat). I’m not a fan of their baowiches though. The meat I chose was too dry.

Good but the portions are so small. The dumplings are delicious & the dipping sauces are great. There’s a lot to choose from here and the name is awesome. The price on the menu would be reasonably if the portions were bigger. A dozen dumplings here are so tiny it barely fills you.

On other visits, the workers usually skimped on the fillings (topping the baowiches with cucumbers slice by slice or cilantro leaf by leaf…) but this time, the worker loaded us on chicken (even scooping it out and draining the sauce/​soup from the chicken before putting it on the steamed bun) and toppings. This made the baowiches much more worth the price and left me with a good impression. However, since they were filled more, it was a little harder to eat and the bun was soggy. Ah!

I tried the Dojo Bowl with bolgogi beef and mushrooms. I like that they offer brown rice and the beef was well seasoned and tender. They also had some interesting mixed Asian toppings. I had my bowl topped with seaweed salad, shredded cucumber, carrots, cilantro and Thai chilies. Glad I got the sauce on the side, as it was pretty sticky sweet, but, adding Sriracha made everything better!
I will be back for this quick and easy lunch stop at the food court area of the Montgomery Mall. Next time I will try the dumplings, which you can have as a meal or a side, depending on how many you order.

Definitely a great option if you must eat at the food court. There aren’t many veggie options here, so you may have to go elsewhere to get a salad pairing, but the meats are seasoned well and of very high quality (especially the beef) given that it’s at the Food Court. One thing to note: Get a kids’ bowl. It’s not in the menu, but big enough for adults even and will save you some moolah! Wish I had known that when I bought mine.

Got a bowl and I can say it tasted great and was excellent value. The portion is very generous and it only costs $ 7. The staff was very friendly and explained the selection and sauces very thoroughly. Food is NOT oily unlike the other selections you find at the mall. Tastes clean and is a very way to satisfy your cravings. highly recommend.

Nothing special, but pretty good for a food court. Not sure I would have ordered if I knew they were not steamed to order. I guess that wouldn’t work if they were busy, but I had high hopes.
Pork and Napa had good flavor, but served lukewarm, and as you would expect for dumplings that had been sitting in the steamer for 30+ minutes, the dough was getting tough and hard around the edges. Not egregiously, but noticeably.
Ditto for the shrimp.

It you stop by the mall, be sure to swing by the dojo for some great dumplings.
They just recently re opened this week and I’m glad I gave them a shot (they had to move because of the mall construction). I had the shrimp and also the pork dumplings with a side of rice. I liked the shrimps ok but the pork dumplings were on point. I think I could eat 6 more honestly.
What makes this place a 5 star? The service of course. Very nice family owned place and they know how to treat customers the right way. I will be back!

Definitely one of the better food court meals I’ve enjoyed. They have a great selection in a Chipolte «build your own» kind of way. (Except you are not directing the assembly.)
I’m a sucker for food in bowls and this was really good. I got the Dojo Pack 3 which gave me a selection of 3 dumplings (any 3 served steamed or fried) and my bowl with choice of protein (chicken, beef or mushroom). And it comes with mochi ice cream, which I had no idea what that was.
The bowl was very good, but could have used more sauce. I actually went up and asked for the dumpling sauce so I could pour it in the rice. They should offer up sauce without you asking or else put more in the bowl to flavor things. They also didn’t offer me the sauce with my dumplings which were clearly much better dipped.
The hot peppers were much appreciated. I asked for extra which can be shown in the picture I uploaded. It does not look like a lot of spice but trust me those peppers are VERY HOT!
The one thing that did impress me is that it was a lot of food! I saw a bowl picture from another user (Swatee G.) and the bowl looked half full so I was setting myself up for disappointment. Mine, however, was full to the rim and a solid meal. I was not offered a brown rice option which I would have taken if I had known. I also didn’t see it on the menu. Maybe you have to ask?
The dumplings were great and the mochi ice cream is actually a soft skin filled with ice cream. No idea how they make those but it was very good and helped take the heat off from all those peppers.
I will definitely try this again the next time I’m in the mall.

It’s the name that the karate kid would choose for his first restaurant and it’s just kind of endearing. There are little punching bags hanging from the ceiling to supplement the theme and the whole feel of the stand is bright and clean. But, what really caught my eye were the six dumplings for five dollars deal.
You can get them steamed or pan-​fried and the menu is very straightforward: spicy shrimp, pork and cabbage, turkey and spinach, beef and snow Pea Leaves, and edamame and vegetables. They also have little Asian tacos that are soft buns, filled with your choice of meat, topped with carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, and seaweed salad. Those little «baowiches» are 3 dollars. I’m in love with the concept of this place. Not to mention that the cashier was an absolute riot. Not only did she entertain me while my dumplings cooked in an inexplicably short amount of time; she took time to explain to me what everything was and their best sellers.
I decided to go with the spicy shrimp dumplings (the spicy sauce is served on the side). They actually gave me both the spicy and regular sauce after I inquired about it possibly being too spicy for me. The dumplings were clutch. The shrimp inside tasted fresh and was a surprisingly hearty amount. As for the sauces, I was more of a fan of the regular sauce, not because of spiciness of the other sauce, but because of flavor. I also got a «lemongrass chicken baowiche,» which ignoring the wet bottom was pretty good. They really aren’t meant to travel.
All in all, Dumpling Dojo won this guy over, with a few kicks of flavor, punches of cheap prices, and ripping good service.

This place is pretty good for food court grub! The guy at the counter was super helpful and friendly — I ended up choosing the bao bowl with brown rice, chicken and all toppings. Te rice was cooked well, the chicken was awesomely flavorful and had a little broth with it. The toppings were super fresh, yummy and crisp!
Made for an awesome lunch really! When I looked at the people next to me chowing down the greasy McDonald and Sarku Japan — I only felt happy about my healthy choice!
My only issue — I don’t think there was enough broth to make my entire bowlful f brown rice flavored. Needed a bit more!

Who knew that mall food could taste this good? I really like bao sandwhich dishes. They’ve been around in NYC and LA so why not start bringing it to our metro area? I wish that this was a trend that would start catching on around here. The food is pretty good but I’ve had better.
The pricing is a little more than what I would like to pay for this dish but when you’re one of the only game in town, beggers can’t really be choosers! The service is a bit on the slow side but at least in the long run the food was good and satisfying.

I tried each type of dumpling. They’re about the same as every other dumpling I’ve ever had… Be warned though, they’re expensive. You can get a much better meal in this food court, and for cheaper.

Seriously, guys, this is MALL FOOD. Not Komi. Not Voltaggio’s latest bistro. FOOD COURT. MALL.
And you know what? I like it.
Look, I love dumplings and I would never head over to Dumpling Dojo because it’s the best dumplings in town… but if I’m at Montgomery Mall, and doing some shopping… you know what? This is one of the better options in the food court.
The dumplings and boawiches are cooked fresh and to order. Nothing was greasy, the food was satisfying, and you know what? I didn’t feel terrible after I ate there (not even when I went jeans shopping immediately afterwards).

One of the better choices if you’re in Westfield Montgomery Mall. They’re in the food court, right next to Mirch Masala (Indian), and while I love Mirch Masala, I wouldn’t want Indian food every day.
They seem to be gradually getting their act together. The first time I ate there, they never gave me a fork (they just put them out on the counter, and I didn’t think to pick one up because I’d expected them to pack it in the box they gave me). I had to eat my order with my fingers. The next time, about a week later, they asked if I wanted a fork or chopsticks. The next time after that, they just packed a fork in.
The one thing that annoys me is their pricing. If you are willing to order a dozen dumplings all of one kind, it’s a pretty reasonable $ 8. I’m price-​sensitive, so this is what I get though I’d rather have variety. You can order two sets of 6, each of a different kind, for $ 10, and any other mix, you end up paying $ 12 for 12 dumplings. Why, if you mix them, you not only pay $ 1 more for 6 but there is no special deal for 12 as compared to 2 orders of 6, I do not understand. It’s not as if they have more expense. It all comes out of the same place.
You get to choose steamed or pan-​fried. I’ve always ordered the pan-​fried, but if you’re calorie-​conscious, I guess you’ll go with the steamed. The frying is done while you wait, so I suppose that if you’re very time-​pressed, you’ll get the steamed as well.
As I said, it’s one of the better choices if you’re in that mall and you want a nice lunch that isn’t what you find at every other food court in creation.

Delicious! I had steamed pork dumplings and the dojo beef baowich one day, then returned for the baowich and the shrimp dumplings the next day. The pork dumplings were of course better probably due to the fact their main ingredient is pork.
The baowich is very similar to the «Vietnamese tacos» at the Cheesecake Factory, only they’re a mere $ 3 each here, and just as good if not way better.
Considering your other dumpling option in the immediate area is Panda Express, there is simply no comparison. Hell, they’re even better than my usual Chinese joint’s dumplings. (And if Panda is your usual go-​to for Chinese food, I pity you.)

Dumpling Dojo was every bit of chinese comfort food delicious-​ness that I was looking for!
The fresh dumpling skins were just the right thickness and the filling was well-​seasoned. My favorite dumplings are the pan-​friend shrimp and the turkey! I was also delighted to learn that after a mere 5 – 6 minutes i could nosh on fresh made-​to-​order dumplings, something normally only found in Hong Kong. This was a far-​cry from the frozen factory-​made variety you’ll find in other establishments.
The to– go containers fit perfectly in my car’s cup-​holder too which was a bonus for dining and dashing but I would really recommend getting the sauce on the side to maximize the dip-​ability.
I also had a char-​su bao (traditional bao filled with bbq pork) and a chick baowich (Yum-​o). The baowich was made with that same pillowy bread used for the char-​su bao only it was served like a sandwich with lemongrass chicken, carrots, seaweed salad, cilantro, and cucumbers. I asked for a side of sriracha to spice things up. The baowich had a really great flavor and I like the portions which allowed me to try a little of everything on the menu.
To round out my meal I ordered a pistachio mochi which was dee-​vine! C’mon, gummy mochi + pistachio ice cream?! what’s not to love!
All in all I really enjoyed the dumplings and baowiches and foresee a 5-​step program in my future given the number of times I’ve frequented the establishment since they’ve opened.
**Insider tip: though this is in the food court don’t expect the instant gratification of fast food as they make most items to order but I’ll gladly sacrifice a few minutes for a quality meal!

Hm. I was a tad underwhelmed with my dumplings.
I had 6 pork dumplings to go as well as 3 of the bbq pork baos. (What can I say, I enjoy the swine.)
The dumplings were just okay. The skins were a touch too thick. The pork filling was flavorful but a bit salty.
The bbq pork baos were small– the steamed bao was fluffy, however, this pork filling wasn’t as good. It just didn’t taste fresh– the pork was a bit hard and the sauce was drying up.
Perhaps it was a function of me getting them to go and not eating them right away but I am feeling very meh about what I had here. They weren’t the worst dumplings/​baos I’ve ever had but they are far from the best.
I would return as there are still several other items I have not tried– including baowiches– so I would give them another chance. It’s nice to have new options to choose from when shopping around Montgomery mall.