Uncle Bao (Uncle Panda) Dumpling & Noodle House — Restaurant in Glendale

I was excited to try this place, having regularly made the drive from Glendale to Mekong a few times a month for my noodle and dumpling fix. I couldn't wait to give it a shot.

Upon entering, I was greeted, but the staff didn't say much. After standing awkwardly for about 30 seconds, I had to inform them that I was there to dine in. I sat down, and the table was very sticky and quite gross. I'm used to "hole in the wall" places, so that wasn't a deal-breaker for me. However, the uneven wooden top of the table made it difficult to balance my drink, nearly causing it to tip over twice.

I ordered the Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) filled with pork and veggies, along with the Dan Dan noodles—my usual go-to at any noodle spot. The Dan Dan noodles were okay, with the noodles being a bit off, and the overall bowl rated a 3 out of 10. The minced pork wasn't what I'm used to; it tasted like unseasoned regular ground pork. Despite this, I moved on to the soup dumplings.

The soup dumplings looked exactly like those I buy at Mekong or Lee Lee's market in the frozen section. I know how these dumplings are made when fresh, and these were definitely not. They were ice-cold in the middle, and to my horror, I discovered raw pork when I opened one of the partially cooked dumplings. Concerned for my safety, I went to the bathroom and threw up my entire lunch to minimize the chance of getting sick.

I showed the server the raw pork, and he apologized, taking it away. He offered a replacement, but I declined. After paying my $11 tab, I left. Writing this about an hour after the meal, I have decided never to return for several reasons:

The obvious risk of raw pork. The lack of an offer to comp my entire meal (which is usually standard in such circumstances). The unsanitary tables, raising concerns about overall hygiene at the establishment.

Considering my experience, I may contact the Arizona Department of Health Services to recommend an inspection. While I appreciate supporting family-owned local restaurants, it shouldn't come at the risk of customers' health. This place appears to be negligent in multiple aspects. If you take a look at my other reviews, you will see that I am quite generous towards those places that I feel provide a great dining experience. I have zero hope for this place and I won't go back to try them again. I am sorry @happyBaos, I wont ever cheat...

Uncle Panda too over a "hip" dessert place called Hiccups Churroholics. They didn't do much to remodel it so the atmosphere felt a little odd. They must have recently opened because the Digital menu and the left wall still had Hiccup's branding. This place has a odd atmosphere. Defiantly hip, with hits of traditional Chinese layout. Does that matter? Not really. You're there for the food, right? Let's eat!

This is a dumpling and noodle house. Not a Chinse restaurant. So, the previous comment of "what kind of Chinese place doesn't have rice with your meals", is answered as, "it's a dumpling and noodle house". You have to ask for rice.

The dumplings are definitely Chinese, not Taiwanese. The employees speak a Southern China dialect. Probably Canton China and the food shows it The soup dumplings were delicious. The pan fried dumplings are also good and presented properly (upside down). The other dumpling was boiled, rather than steamed. It doesn't really matter as the flavors are sealed inside the dumpling and it was very good, too.

We also had the house fried rice. This was a bit lacking. The rice was a bit too soft, which leads me to believe it was made with fresh rice, instead of day old rice. Day old rice is better because it's dried out a bit, and makes for better frying. Also, the wok setup they used is not hot enough so it's missing the signature 'sear' flavor.

Overall, I like it. This is the only West Valley restaurant that serves dumplings of any sort, and it's a lot better than driving out to Mesa or Chandler. I'm going to stop back by in a few days and attack the noodles. Dan Dan and Japanese...

Found this place after I followed a bunch of "food influencers" based in PHX. Quite disappointed with the hype as the food did not deliver and the word "authentic" is thrown into reviews.

What we got: *Dumplings (Pork & Cabbage filling)- this wasn't bad. The dumpling was soft and delicate but the filling was sort of tough for ground pork, which I think could have come from overmixing. Flavor is there.

Scallion Pancake: Loved this one. My kids loved it too. Not as much layers as some, but delivered well in flavor and crunch.

*Hot and Sour soup: awful. Too fragrant and heavy on the cornstarch slurry and made it very thick, and too much white pepper.

*Shu-Mai - they used yellow square wrappers and overcooked /overmixed the meat resulting in tough meat and also tough wrapper.

Last but not the least,

*XLBs (Xiao Long Bao, aka soup dumplings) : came to Uncle Panda mostly for this. The XLBs were mostly deflated and soupless. I didnt really feel the soup bursting in my mouth as what these would normally do. They were also uneven in size. They give you a metal serving spoon (what one would give for a family style plate of fried rice) that they expect you to use for them. Check my photo, I intentionally placed a fork beside it so you can see how big it is. Honestly, one of those white soup spoons they gave for the hot and sour soup would do. I had to ask for Ginger and they were not julienned thinly. They were big fat strips of ginger.

Service: with empty tables around 12noon, it was slow. But they seemed to have made everything fresh behind...