Chong Dumpling House — Restaurant in Lansdale

As a few other reviews noted, this place should have more low ratings. It’s really odd. Anyway we went on a Tuesday evening at 6pm. I was hoping to love this place so I kept an open mind. There was one table of two people, and then my mom and I. Service was fast and attentive and we were sat down immediately. That is where the positives unfortunately end. Started off with water that tasted weird, almost like unfiltered Philly tap but … earthier? There wasn’t any ice, which is fine with me but atypical. At the end of the table was one salt shaker, I reached over to another table to grab some soy sauce. No dumpling sauce or chili oil bottles anywhere in the place. Time to order. This is a dumpling house so why not try the dumplings.

First up- the wonton with hot sesame sauce. It was served Luke warm, sitting in a nearly tasteless dark brown liquid drenched in watery peanut butter. Not peanut sauce, literal peanut butter. Definitely not spicy one bit. As you can see by the picture, the two “sauces” were pretty separated and looked very unappetizing. The wontons immediately fell apart and not in the good way. It was boiled far too long. My mother grew up in poverty and couldn’t muster the courage to eat more than one. The taste was like eating pasta with peanut butter. not preferable. I didn’t want to spoil my appetite with it so I waited for the next plate with hope.

Next came our Pan fried pork dumplings. I’ve had these plenty places, Im aware of this style with that little skirt underneath. It’s usually a delectable- crunchy bottom with a chewy top. These had that evaporated skirt underneath but the whole thing was incredibly tough. Far far beyond overcooked, and felt previously frozen. The dumpling sauce served with it was quite mild. Still was hoping the next plate would be good.

Hot and sour soup was next up, it was surprisingly tasty and resembled plenty of other mid tier take out spots in the area. Portion was a nice size. definitely a solid choice.

Lastly was the shumai. And sadly was let down again. They came out soaking wet and insanely hot, no warning from the server. Eh that’s alright it’s cheap. the minced pork had these grey fat sacks hanging off them like parasites. They were very bland and tasted like soggy meatballs- which is not far from the average shumai.

For a cheap place, this was very bad. My mom doesn’t really get out much but we both left saying “we’ll that was the worst food I’ve had in a long time”. If you’re into dumplings, definitely go to Trader Joe’s and just heat some up in your skillet at home. No clue how this place has been in business...

The hand made dumplings are excellent with chewy texture on the outside with a good amount of juicy meat on the inside. Also tried their spicy beef dish which was also quite good. Haven’t tried their more American style dishes like general tso. So no comment there.

The only negative is the long wait time even when there were very few customers. I guess it takes time to boil the dumplings and pan fry them. So be patient.

Ignore the negative comments on American style dishes if you are getting dumplings. The dumplings are legit good and I’ve had my share of Chinatown style dumplings.

5/5/24 update: this place really deserves a higher rating. I tried a few more dishes. General Tso chicken combination for $9 was good, but the real hero was the pork fried rice that came with the meal. It was really excellent with a smoky flavor, a sign of a good chef who knows how to handle a wok. Egg roll was so so, and not so crispy. Off menu item called Sour Cabbage beef/pork/chicken was excellent. Had it with beef. If you like slightly sour taste, then this will be...

unfortunately i wouldn’t recommend this chinese restaurant hate to give to a negative review but i want to be honest .. literally kind of a hole in a wall restaurant not a good location for a restaurant,ate here before years ago can’t remember it being this bad. transaction was smooth left and half way home found out they forgot our chicken wings ok no problem returned i know we all make mistake came back and owner gave me free can sodas def appreciate. came home ate with the family and literally the worst Chinese i ever ate & i eat Chinese and korean maybe two or 3 times week so i know. the lo mein beef we ordered tastes so bitter or maybe old had throw it up , our general tso chicken and shrimp had to spit it up. there was not enough pepper steak offered up , fried rice was ok , chicken wings was not pleasurable after paying $65 dinner thought i deserved better but lesson learned never again. hopefully restaurant read this review and does...