Ugly Dumpling Express — Restaurant in Ballenger Creek

I have to agree with the other reviewers, and it's not great news... the potential for 5 stars is here, but the quality is too inconsistent. First time visiting, I had the soup dumpling sampler and the orange chicken combo with spring rolls. The soup dumplings were mostly overcooked with a gelatinous consistency, and most of the soup leaked out before I could even touch them, as a result. There's many excellent soup dumpling spots around Rockville you can use as a comparison, and none of them arrive pre-leaking or overcooked. The flavor is there, but there seems to be a problem with the preparation of the soup dumplings. Surprisingly, the orange chicken was of an above average quality, with very filling portions. The accompanying egg fried rice was just okay; the flavor was bland and underwhelming, but the rice seemed fresh with plenty of egg. The spring rolls were a big miss; extremely greasy and piping hot on the outside but a luke-warm (borderline cold) runny filling on the inside. The service was friendly but it took over 15min to receive the food. I don't mind waiting that long, but what was presented to me seemed like it was mostly just reheated frozen food. Again, the flavor is mostly there, but the sloppy or lazy preparation seems to be holding this place back from being very good. Also agree with another reviewer about Panda Express; if you catch Panda on a good day, it's the same quality experience you get, here. With a little more effort and better preparation, this place could be great. You can see the mostly-deflated soup dumplings and resulting soup puddle...

I seldom leave negative reviews, but it is more than warranted here. About two months ago, my partner got salt and pepper chicken from here. He asked me to taste it and it was absolutely delicious. Tender, moist, and cooked just right (not too hard or soft). We went to see a movie at the Regal this afternoon, and when it was out I went down to Ugly Dumpling to get some of the same dish. Paid, was told it would be a 5-minute wait, and about 3 minutes later the cashier walked over to the table where I waited with the bag…the attached photo is what I received.

There is no way the food they gave me was not old and sitting out all day. It was so overcooked that it was as hard as rocks — to the point I couldn’t even chew one piece I tried for fear I’d damage a tooth. It had to be because I’d ordered it to-go and they knew it wouldn’t be opened until I was long gone. There is NO way I would have been served this if I’d have dined in. Again, this was 100% old food — it even tasted as such.

I cannot believe this is from the same place as two months ago. Over $12 for chicken and rice, and the only thing edible was the rice. And I said “edible” because the rice was undercooked. If they were out of the chicken they should have just said that, but they chose to give me whatever they had laying around. Now I’m sitting here hoping the two bites I had don’t make me sick from food poisoning. It has been a LONG time since I had...

I’m coming back and providing a more detailed update. I’m also changing my rate from the 5 stars to 3 stars. As others have mentioned there are weird consistency issues with the food here. My go to is lunch time with the orange chicken and you never knew what you would really get. It was good or great most the time.

However I need to write now because apparently the consistency issues appears to be a part of what they do as the new orange chicken is overly crispy and burnt in my opinion. It’s really put me off and after the 2nd time I called and asked and this is a new recipe they’re trying and getting customer feedback.

I’m all for trying to figure out and evolve a business, but I believe there needs to be the flavor people generally like and consistently make it every time.

Looking at my review they’ve done so many strange changes to this place in just 4 short months. At the beginning you could order take out or dine in at the kiosks. Then they made it take out only so you had to order at the counter for dine in. Then for a short amount of time for dine in you’d sit yourself and they’d come over and take your order. Now it appears to be back to how it used to be.

I do like and want to continue to support the business. I do need to branch out and try the other offerings beyond the soup dumplings and orange chicken, but I want to implore the restaurant to figure out its identity and reach some...