Yuanbao Jiaozi — Restaurant in Burlingame

I was really excited to try Yuanbao Jiaozi because I read an article about them from SF Chronicle and saw how popular their SF location was. I'm Chinese, and I love good Chinese food, so I was pretty disappointed.

Uni dumplings - interesting concept, but barely any uni; it was a little bland for me (since I'm an uni lover) but it wasn't that expensive at least.

Marinated Beef - too dry, and too thick. Good marinated beef needs to be cooked well (I think the one I had was overcooked) and sliced thinly; if it's too thick, it's not as enjoyable because it feels more like a hunk of beef than a delicate appetizer (if you've had it sliced at the perfect thickness, you know what I mean.)

Beef, Lamb and Fish dumplings - the only flavors I could discern were salt, salt, and a hint of lamb. The wrapper to filling ratio was also off; too much wrapper on the outside.

Mushroom and Fish dumplings - also mostly salt and some mushroom. White fish has a delicate flavor to begin with. If you overpower it with too much mushroom and salt, you can't enjoy the fish.

House special beef noodle - salt. It's just a salt broth.

In general, I think the positive aspect of this place is it's rather affordable. If you're not Chinese, want some affordable homemade dumplings, this may be the place for you. But if you know what you're looking for and have similar cravings as I do, I'd say pass on this place. I know I'm being picky in my review, and that is because I know what really good dumplings can taste like.

I came during their soft opening, so I hope they're just working things out and will improve in the future.

To the owners - if you love Chinese dumplings as much as me, I know you can do better! 加油 :))

Uni dumpling...

I was craving Chinese braised beef noodles and came across this shop on Google maps. It’s fairly new restaurant, but already very popular place. When I went in around 5:40PM on Saturday the store was filling up, and by the time we were leaving there where people waiting for tables. It’s fairly a large dining area if I were to guess it seats maybe 50-75(or more?) people.

We ordered the spicy House special beef noodle, and the spare rib noodle. Also ordered the shrimp, pork chive and egg dumplings and Xiao long bao.

First off the Xiao long bao was very good. Juicy and as I would expect a Xiao long bao should be.

Next the noodles. The soup and noodles were very basic as you you would expect at any decent noodle shops. The braised beef was very good, the other meats were not as good as the braised beef. What I’m saying is that if I was to order, I’d only want the braised beef. The soup wasn’t very spicy and I ended up adding more chili oil to it.

The dumpling were as I would expect at any decent restaurant. The hardest part is to decide on which one to order.

Finally, this place doesn’t serve free tea, However they have selection of tea that you can choose from. I already forgot which tea we ordered, it was good, but I like dumpling places that give you free tea.

The restaurant was packed all with Asian people, mostly Chinese, It must be a good sign of quality of the food they serve there.

Updates menu prices added with my photos.

Friendly staff, plenty parking, I would go back when I crave noodles and dumplings as it is fairly close to my...

This place caught my eye a while ago because of its location. I've had this on my to try list and I finally got to dine here.

The wait may seem a little daunting, but their turnover rate is quick. We put our name down and waited probably 15-20 minutes for a table. You have the choice of ordering on the phone, or with the staff. We ended up ordering on the phone since we didn't see anyone come by our table.

We order a few things just to get a variety.

• Pig ear in chilli oil - a slight kick, but a nice crunch and flavor • Pickled cabbage beef soup - the meat was extremely tender, the noodles were nice and bouncy. My only gripe was the portion of cabbage was super tiny • Lamb Carrot Dumplings - not my favorite. The carrots were still a little crunchy, and I didn't think it went well with the lamb • Pork shrimp chive egg dumpling - probably my favorite dish of the meal. The filling was delicious • Napa cabbage pork potstickers - definitely not your typical potsticker. Seemed like they make one type of dumpling and either boil or pan fry. The taste was good, but was not what I was expecting.

Overall a good meal. Service is quick and food comes out hot. Staff is friendly and helpful.

If I come back, I'll definitely check out other...