Noodle And Dumpling 万香斋 — Restaurant in Hamilton

This little shop operates out of a very small store front located in the international village on King Street. Your first impression of this restaurant is likely to be negative, because it has a really basic and uninspired decor. In the winter the condensation from the heat inside fogs up the front window. Don't let any of that fool you, this place has some great soup and some of the best dumplings that you can find in Canada. The husband and wife team that run this place have an obvious passion for their handmade food.

During this visit I ordered the chicken wonton soup which was delicious and full of the fresh herbs and spices that make an authentic noodle bowl, noodles were prepared perfectly and the chicken was high quality. The star of this show was definitely the beef dumplings which were handmade and packed with flavourful beef, the juices of which literally explode in your mouth when you bite in to them. We ended up ordering three plates of these because they are so ridiculously good. The other amazing thing about this restaurant is the price; everything is very reasonable and you can order a lot of food inexpensively. Service can be a little slow during peak times, and this place can get really busy. The fact that the food is handmade in house and that only two people run this show is very impressive.

Overall, this restaurant is inside of the top ten places to eat in Hamilton. There are some things to know here though. First, the restaurant is very small, and while they do have some seats, it is difficult to find one because they are often very busy. Fortunately they do have take out. Secondly, there is no bar and the restaurant does not serve alcohol. Third and most important, everything is made by hand which means that there is only a limited amount of stock for each item. Some items will sell out within two hours (looking at you Pork Dumplings!). Other items such as Salapao (my favourite) are only available on weekends. Expect to pay between $15-20 per person here with non-alcoholic...

Read all the great reviews about this place but was honestly deceived. First of all, the atmosphere isnt very welcoming, but thats okay as long as the food is good. The dishes in the English side of the menu are very poorly explained, but yet again thats not a big issue since we asked the lady working there and she was very helpful to give extra details about the dishes. I was very excited to try out different meals on the menu, but the food came out just okay. The beef in the noodle soup was good, the toppings were fresh, and the broth was tasty. The noodles were bad. They were overcooked in some parts and in some parts they were aggregated into a sticky mass. Maybe they forgot to give them a stir when cooking but it wasnt pleasant at all. The steamed dumpling were also okay, nothing too exciting. Lacking texture and the filling was almost bland. Overall it`s not bad, the service was nice, the vibe is so so and the food is so so. Could have been much more better, but the price is low and portions...

Love this place!

The fried pork dumplings, fried pork and chive dumplings, and beef dumplings are amazing. Especially the beef dumplings omg. So juicy you'd think they were soup dumplings.

Also got the spicy tofu, brisket noodles, and braised brisket on steamed rice. All were so so good. The tofu was so flavorful and saucy. They were my husband's favourite out of everything we ordered. The brisket noodles were in a clear broth, mild spice, but still flavorful and the brisket was thinly sliced, lean, and tender. The braised brisket on rice was marinated well and tasted amazing. Wish we got to try the braised pork, but they were sold out.

All this plus two drinks equaled to $63. Very good for the amount we got.

The owner is always smiling and very friendly. They do take credit and debit.

FYI, the owner tends to skip past the "tip" option on the machine, so keep an eye out for that lol! If so, we tip in cash.

Will be...