Mama Lu's Dumpling House — Restaurant in Monterey Park

My favorite restaurant in the 626 area - the xiao long bao's are amazing!

I guess this restaurant doesn't have any noodle soup except for wonton noodle soup, so we were a bit disappointed. They do have more Asian dishes though. We ordered the crispy onion pancake again, xiao long bao, Shanghai style chow mein, the pan fried meat buns, and an order of the pork dumplings.

Food came out quickly and I was very happily surprised that this location of Mama Lu's had better and bigger XLB than the other location, like fellow Yelper John mentioned. It was juicier and even more flavorful! I also thought the onion pancake was better here than the other location. It was a lot thicker and had more substance and taste. We forwent the potstickers/fried dumplings as the ones from the other Mama Lu's wasn't good.

The dumplings were really good, too. There were only 8, but incredibly juicy. Mama Lu's really knows their stuff on dumplings and XLB. I'm not a fan of dumplings in general, but I really enjoyed the pork ones. The pan fried meat buns were okay, but too oily for me. Not enough bread in my opinion and I have had better. The Shanghai style chow mein was also good, but different than the other ones I have had. The noodles were more dry tasting and there were lots of other ingredients (mushroom, cabbage, onions, etc) that my picky sister did not enjoy. It wasn't too bad, though.

And because this place is newer, it is more clean with a brighter atmosphere than the other location. I wasn't a fan of the chairs though. I couldn't get comfortable and kept trying to pull it up, but because it was more heavy and more of a bench, it didn't really move anywhere. We didn't visit this location at first because we had heard it was more expensive than the old location, but we found that it wasn't true (or if it was, it was just by a few cents).

I am a big fan of this place's XLB and green onion pancake! And definitely try...

mmm i sorta have a love-hate relationship for this place. It's a quick, budget friendly, tasty lil treat that is nestled on the corner of Ynez-Garvey. It's hit - or -miss with service, sometimes you get a really awesome waiter and whoever is helping you and delivering food to your table. Or you get the dude, that really "loves" his job and it goes down hill from there.

Their soupy dumplings are good, but definitely no where on the same level as Ding Tai Fung. I'm not sure if any place is at the golden standard that Ding Tai Fung created. However, I digress this is a review of Mama Lu's and not Ding Tai Fung.

It's clean-ish in here. When I say -ish, because the floors can be a bit sticky at times, and the bathroom always smells of piss. SO that's where the hate relationship comes in The decor is cute.

We normally order way too much food. 2 ppl, total around 20/3 totals around 40/ 8 ppl around 60. So if you have more people, more orders but for some reason cheaper per person with more people. I'm not sure why.

Must order: Juicy dumplings, either one would work... but i prefer the one with crab + pork. Ginger + Vinegar + soy sauce + dumpling = BLISS Beef Wrap - however at times could be a bit greasy. It's a green onion pancake wrap with slices of beef, an some cucumbers inside. mmm nom If you have extra pickles left, it's soooo good with the wrap. Shanghai noodles or the flat doughy things - so good. whatever the sauces is + pork + veggies + flat dough... so good. Cue stomach rumble.

Others I have tried: The salt-pepper squid could use more seasoning and not nearly salty enough. I do like their hot and sour soup. Pretty standard. The beef cube (it's pictured in their menu) is yumski. But at times, the beef can get chewy and tough. The seaweed tempura fish is good. I'm not sure what it's coated with or what type of fish, but it's...

Crazy crowded, with a tons of Hangry customers always here it seems. Oh, they will not seat you down until everyone from the party is present.

I'm not totally sold here with the dumplings, I personally think there are plenty of other places that are better at it. However, the dishes here are usually around $8 and the portion size is nice for a family style dinner. That's why I keep coming back here with the family.

What's a must get here?

The Green Onion Pancakes -$2 . Crispy, light, not oily. The seaweed fish -$8. Ok, this one we always get and the last time the lady told me "not so green like the picture". Turns out, I guess they were out of the seaweed but it was still great if you like fried fish and slightly on the underdone side. Beef Chowfun drystyle-$8. Sure, SAM WHO makes this also but quite honestly, I think this place does it with more beef and onions. That, I like.

They do sell frozen dumplings by the bag here. You can kiss goodbye to your chances when you come on the weekends. The lady over the counter says the workers who makes it only does it on the weekdays. I was fortunate enough last time when I was here on a weekday and bought a couple of bags. Strangely enough the second bag they found last minute but it was stuck all together. So make sure you get a bag that doesn't look like it has been defrosted. They start at $12.50 per 50 pcs and I think goes up to around $17 with different fillings.

The starter peanuts and pickled cucumbers are great. When you ask for a refill, they will tell you $2.

Bunch of crock!

Despite these problems and like all Chinese restaurants with mediocre service, I...