Dumpling World - Clear Lake — Restaurant in Houston

Before coming here, I had gone to 3 different restaurants not realizing that they had either relocated, or were closed. I was not in a great mood coming in here. I left with a massive smile, full belly, and educated.

To start, I’ve never had soup dumplings before, but i’ve seen them in many movies and on social media before, so when i passed this place I turned around on a whim and pulled in.

Upon entering the staff was incredibly friendly and ushered me to my seat, I was given a brief rundown of the menu and brought water. I had many servers but the first one (teen) was very kind and showed me the drink menu which I had not seen, I ordered milk tea boba, soup dumplings, and braised beef stew.

Boba: Compared to bobas i’ve had at other places around town, this one was different. It seemed fresher, more homemade, and less artificial. The tea was very very good, same thing, very fresh.

Soup dumplings AMAZING: This was a first for me. I’ve never tried them. When the server brought them to me I had no clue how to eat them, and I was embarrassed to ask how to eat them. So I picked one up and threw it into my mouth while no one was looking. Burned the * out of my mouth. Immediately i asked a nearby server how to eat them. He kindly stopped everything he was doing and literally sat down at my table, made me a sauce using the various sauces at the table, and showed me how to eat them step by step in broken english. This is something i’ve never EVER experienced in a restaurant. Incredible. Sad that something so simple is so rare in our society, kindness. This spot has plenty to share.

Braised beef stew:

Not much to say on this other than the broth might have drugs in it because it was addicting. Meat was tender and well seasoned, melted in my mouth. Couldn’t finish it all so i’ll be taking it home.

12/10 to this spot. I hope this business remains prosperous for many years to come.

I left a $20 tip...

Nut allergy friendly: I didn't even ask, dumplings are good.

Time-To-Dumplings: 10-13 minutes

We came in at a slightly weird time, around 4PM. The restaurant did fill up towards 5PM. It's a lot nicer inside than it looks outside!

For four people, we shared:

Three orders of pan fried pork soup dumplings (Shen Lian Bao) (5/5): Excellently fried, nearly the entire bottom half of the dumping had a perfect brown crispy texture. Soup stayed intact and flavorful. One order of pork and shrimp Xiao Long Bao (4.5/5): Also all arrived intact. I really liked this, but they were slightly inconsistent with the amount of shrimp. The soup had a rich flavor that reminded me of a light chicken pho, pretty light but not a rich umami. One order of steamed dumplings (4/5): Pretty good, maintained some level of flavorful liquid inside somehow. One order of pan fried potstickers (3/5): Thought these were average, standard offerings.

Unfortunately, we ran into some issues closing the tab and ordering to go orders. There was some miscommunication on the availability of things to go, and we asked for two substitutes but they told us they could do the original, but the substitutes weren't cancelled so we ended up paying for more to go orders. They do not do XLB to go. Also, if you need to split a tab, it will be difficult unless you have the right waiter. Overall, a really good option if you're in the area.

Food: 4.5/5 Service: 3.5/5 Atmosphere:...

I was initially skeptical about this place when my husband suggested having dinner here tonight. However, my son mentioned that one of his friends, Josh—who is a picky eater when it comes to Asian food—loves the dumplings at Dumpling World.

Well, Josh wasn’t wrong. The dumplings are amazing! They make them in-house, with 2-3 dumpling chefs in the kitchen preparing everything from scratch, including the dough and the fillings. What I truly love about this place is that the dumpling wraps are thinly rolled and filled generously, resulting in less carbs. Everything was incredibly flavorful.

We ordered the pork and shrimp bao, which were huge, and the soup that came with it was delicious! We also tried the steamed pork dumplings, vegan mushroom and bok choy pot stickers, and pork dumplings in spicy and sour sauce. To top it off, we had stir-fried green beans with minced pork. Kudos to the chefs—everything exceeded our expectations!

The staff was friendly, especially the restaurant manager, who was outgoing and attentive. The atmosphere and the exterior of the building might not look appealing, resembling a hole in the wall, and the parking lot could use some TLC, but the food more than makes up for it.

For sure we will...