Deng's Dumpling — Restaurant in Calgary

My wife came home from work super frantic about a dumpling place that she heard about online. We immediately jumped in the car and headed across the city from us to Deng's Dumplings.

When we arrived around 7, the line up was already 10 people out the door with more waiting in their cars all around the parking lot. This place has got a lot of buzz recently on social media (and for good reason)!

While we were waiting in line, a constant stream of juice boxes and cans of pop kept making their way out the door to us. The owner was giving these drinks out as a thank you for the business and waiting in line.

Once we got to the front of the line, we ordered pork dumplings (half steamed, half fried), siomai, wonton soup, chili oil, and a bag of frozen dumplings to take home.

One thing that needs to be prefaced is that this place has gone bonkers in the last week with more than 20-30 times the orders than what they usually have. As they are mainly distributors, their take-out business is taking a beating since they weren't set up for so much volume. With that being said, the food was all really good.

The pork dumplings have flavourful stuffing with a great balance of pork and veggie. There were no little pieces of grizzle in the pork and no tough bits of veggie either. While I feel that the dumpling skins were a little doughy, and slightly undercooked, the folks in the kitchen were doing their best to just keep the orders flowing. We came home and water fried a couple of the frozen dumplings and they were much less doughy and crisped up nicely. If the flavour of these dumplings is too mild for your taste, definitely try them with the Redwine vinegar or the chili oil (more on that later).

The siomai were delicious as well. Though they are smaller and shrimp free, the minced pork is super tender with no grizzle. I don't think these rate in my top 3 for soimai, but at $9.99, these are a fantastic value!

My personal favourite was the wonton soup. Although it isn't very salty at all, the wontons and the broth are very flavourful and delicate. The wonton filling is smooth, again without any grizzle, and has a perfect balance between meat and veggie. The broth is not overpowering and was refreshing even in the 29 degree heat.

All of these items were good on their own, but what really elevated each item was the oil. This chili oil... It went great with everything! It had kick, but wasn't very spicy. It has a very smokey and unique taste that enhances the rest of the flavors without overpowering them with spice. PLEASE BOTTLE THIS SAUCE!

Lastly, a big shout out to the family working tirelessly in the back. They were non-stop for as long as we were there all the while expressing their gratitude for everyone's business and their apologies for the line up (so humble and absolutely not necessary).

Even though these guys are on the other side of the city for us, we'll be back to stock up on more frozen dumplings once we run out (no need to line up for these...

Deng's Dumplings blew up on social media in 2022 and I waited for some of the hype to die down before going. When I finally visited, there was no one waiting so I could easily get some dumplings for my hunger.

Like all who have posted, the family is so friendly and kind. They had big smiles and asked if it was my first time. When they found out it was, they handed me a free water. The gesture is why the public rallied around them.

I was finally on the east side of the city to try Deng's Dumplings for myself. The owner is friendly and upon hearing that it was my first time, he gave me a free bottle of water. I actually could use some water as my throat was dry. What a nice guy!

I ordered the water fried pork dumplings and the steamed beef dumplings. Both were decent and the dumpling skin was acceptable to me. Personally, next time I would ask him to fry the pork dumplings a little longer to get more crisp on the one side. Also, the beef has either cumin or slight spice to it compared to the pork.

The accompanied vinegar dipping sauce was light, not as intense as I'm used to at other places. I also ordered the "Grandma's Secret Chili Oil" which has a nice flavor to it.

Overall, I would come back for the same reasons a lot of people do: 1. Awesome owner and worth supporting his small business 2. Acceptable prices 3. If I'm...

Finally had the chance to see what the hype was all about and was definitely not disappointed. Went there on a Thursday afternoon just before 1:00pm. There were two people ahead of us in line and a steady stream of additional customers arriving after us. We only waited a couple minutes in line. Looks like we had picked the perfect time to come. Their menu is small and focus on a handful of offerings. Got the 9-pce water-fried dumplings(best value) and 8-pce steamed pork siomai. Both were very tasted and perfectly seasoned. The dumplings had skin with just the right thickness and firmness, was not soggy and had a very satisfying springiness when chewed. The siomai were, again, perfectly seasoned to my liking, was moist and had satisfying firmness and texture. The chili oil was just as other reviewers described. It had nice aroma and just the right amount of heat, enabling me to douse as much as I wanted onto the siomai to enhance the flavors. The dipping sauce for the dumplings had the perfect balance of savory, tangy and tartness. It was a tasty and satisfying meal and I look forward to going back to try the dumplings in soup and wontons!

The place is almost literally a hole in the wall but keep in mind that it’s a startup of less than a month at the time of this review. All the best...