Dumpling Garden (Danvers) — Restaurant in Danvers

This is one of my all time favourite restaurants. I used to eat here all the time when I lived here for 2 years, but now I go to school in new york so I can only come here when I visit. I swear though, I eat here almost every day when I'm in town, because dumplings are my favourite food and I haven't found a place anywhere near me that makes it quite as good as here. My Taiwanese friend took me here a long time ago because she said it was the most authentic Asian food she's had in Massachusetts. I'm fairly well-traveled and grew up with Asian food, and I would definitely agree with her! It's hard to find good authentic Asian cuisine in America without going deep into the city. The staff is always so nice -- they gave us a free sushi roll when they were busy just to apologize for the wait time ! It was so sweet, we didn't even notice the food was taking long, so their idea of "late" isn't very late at all ! Their food is always so consistently good. They're very covid conscious and hygenic. The staff is always so so sweet, and sometimes they leave out yummy asian candies or snacks by the front door ! Their soup dumplings are to die for. My friends and I will come and order 2 plates each for ourselves. They're addictive. I highly recommend D1, juicy pork dumplings. Their har gau is also pretty good. I always get a plate of D1 and an eel and avocado maki whenever I go. That's my default order. This place is my favourite restaurant in Massachusetts ! Please please go -- and tip...

I hate having to leave this review because the food itself is fabulous. However: 3 times in a row part of my order has been left out and the phone is never answered - ever, which means the issue can't get resolved. If you do manage to inform them that something was wrong or missing their response is basically just "sorry". There is no attempt to make things right for the customer. There is no way to include instructions to an online order (for example, please include dumpling sauce with the dumplings or Allergy to cilantro) except to call the phone number....that they never answer. There is only one usable table, so the only way to get their food is online order, in which case....see above issues. Tonight's order was ordered for "ASAP" - and the resulting order confirm has it not arriving until....11am TOMORROW. But 8 phone call attempts later....NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE. So my credit card has been charged for food tonight....but I maybe might receive food tomorrow??

This makes me sad because the food is genuinely great. But paying for food I don't get, not being able to add allergy or instruction information or ever being able to reach the restaurant by phone, text, or chat is NOT. :-(

Edited to add: 12th phone call ~90min later) was finally able to reach them to cancel the order....which indeed, the system had for 11am...

most authentic Chinese food I we have had in a very long time, this is after living in Boston for 20 plus years and frequenting Chinatown for years. The juicy dumplings (soup dumplings w broth inside) with Crab and Pork are insanely delicious, the minced pork and parsley soup and wonton soup are spectacular. We had the PuPu platter which was very good, we prefer the included Springrolls instead of egg rolls which normally come w PuPus. We wanted a lighter dish so the girl recommended vegetables with garlic sauce, we added shrimp and chicken for a few extra $ it was amazing. We also had the Singapore noodles (ordered without curry) which we devoured, and the House fried rice (white in color) which was excellent. My wife covers food on TV and we have tried countless Chinese restaurants, very few deliver flavors as good as this place. I am reluctant to give any weight to reviews from people complaining about food who are angry they didn’t get fortune cookies or duck sauce, this is why they wrote the review not because of the food! Unfair to the business! This place is a hidden gem, there is no place with more authentic flavors anywhere in greater Boston. Don’t leave a bad review because you are angry they didn’t want to substitute something on a combo plate, because you didn’t know they changed ownership and didn’t realize it. It’s BETTER than Happy...