Qing Hua Dumpling - (Maisonneuve) — Restaurant in Montreal

Walking into Qing Hua, straight ahead of you as you go down the front landing, there's a big sign above the service station that explains, on faux scroll-like paper, the history and tradition of dumplings.

I wish I'd read that sign the first time I ate here. Then I'd have known that boiling broth erupting from bitten dumplings is a total normal thing. And that you aren't really supposed take bites of dumplings. If anything I've become a gracious dumpling eater over time.

Dumplings are trendy in Montreal recently, despite having been around probably forever. I know this because out of nowhere during summer '15 every "Where are we going to eat?" discussion was settled by "Let's get dumplings!". Soon I was the one telling anyone who'd risk eating with me that probably we should have dumplings. Unless we'd already eaten dumplings say...two days in a row. 3 would be overdoing it. So you can't go wrong in early 2016 suggesting dumplings if you're responsible for lunch decisions at your office.

Oh yeah.. Qing Hua. It's hard to identify what's unique or different about this place compared the the multiple other dumpling spots in the area: The selection and flavours are the same everywhere. Menu prices are identical or within a dollar of each other. Every decor is the same shoddy thrown together pastiche of kitsch Asian emblems I suspect the owners would prefer not having at all but do it out of some expected obligation. The service in all these places is unpredictable and a toss up on any given day.

There's a chance dumplings in the 514 are a big cartel. A big yummy cartel.

I forgot to talk about Qing Hua again and we're many many words into this and you want to know whether to go or not. I can say that Qing Ha is named most frequently in those aforementioned lunch discussions, and it's packed and busy at most times, which I can't say for the other spots I've tried. Take that as you will. There's is however a chaotic feel particular to Qing Ha that I suspect is due to inefficiencies or overwhelmingness. On this last visit our super nice waiter came and introduced himself twice, like he'd forgotten we'd been there over 20 minutes. I empathize.

...eating suggestions! Share different flavours, mix fried and steamed dumplings, vegetable and meat varieties. Otherwise it gets bland to work through, i.e., it's hard to tell any of the meat varieties apart, and 15 steamed dumplings in a row gets pasty in the mouth quickly.

And don't bite into...

Avoid this restaurant. The staff there are rude and racist, and the food there were a lot worse than before.

Basically, I had an extremely disappointing and infuriating experience at this restaurant on October 30, 2024, around 8 p.m. As an Asian customer, I noticed disturbing differences in the treatment between myself and other Caucasian customers, which made me feel racially biased.

Discriminatory Service: The waitress served my food by placing it really far from me, without a word or even basic courtesy. Her expression was also very cold and indifferent. In comparison, when serving the Caucasian table beside me, she warmly introduced the dishes with a smile, and also wished them enjoy their food. When I queued to pay the bill, the waiter was polite and asked if the Caucasian customer ahead of me needed a receipt, but when my turn came, he barely even looked at me and didn’t say a word.

Rude Staff: At first I politely asked for a clean plate as the one I received was a bit dirty. My question was "the plate was a bit dirty, would you please switch a new one?" In return, the waitress literally THREW a new one onto my table without saying anything, and it was also dirty. When I mentioned it again, she rudely yelled at me, claiming it was a mark, not dirt, and SLAMMED the plate back onto the table, making a huge noise!!! This was really rude, and really surprised me.

Decline in Food Quality: I used to enjoy their dumplings a lot in the past, which were always filled generously. This time, however, they were quite shrunken and almost empty inside.

Their service and food used to be really good in the past. But when I visited this time, the staff here are not only extremely rude but also racist, and the food quality has gotten worse. I am beyond disappointed and will never be...

I came to this restaurant once before because I heard their food was good. I decided to bring my family to this restaurant and received really bad customer service. We were well aware that the restaurant will be busy over the weekend and we were okay to wait. We were seated after 30 minutes of waiting and ordered our food right away. We ordered 4 sets of dumplings and 45 mins later we only received 2 sets of dumplings. I had to approach a waitress and ask when the other 2 sets of dumplings will arrive as we ordered one set for each person. The waitress gave a blank stare and went over to a man (assuming to be the owner) who approached us and said wait 10 mins. As I was waiting, I started to notice that people who came after us had got their food. I approached the man a second time and he said we have to wait another 5 mins. By this time 15 mins had passed. I then confronted the same man and he said we will give you 1 set of dumplings for free and pay for 3 set of dumplings. I do not think that was an acceptable resolution as he was disrespectful and did not apologize or acknowledge the mistake he made. We went to his restaurant to eat as a family and we had to wait an extra half hour to get the second half of our order. I expressed that a reasonable resolution would be to charge us only for the food they brought to us on time. The man started to speaking loudly and disrespectfully in front of the whole restaurant and told us: "You can get two sets for free but don't ever come back here". In addition to that he also said we wanted free food when it was their mistake to being with. It was the worst experience I've ever had. To be honest their food was alright and the service I experienced made me lose...