Xin Ding Dumpling House 鑫鼎轩 - Downtown Portland — Restaurant in Portland

Instagram won. We saw it on the explore page and went to try it. Around Old Chinatown and across from the new MEET FRESH, Taiwanese desert spot, I was surprised that businesses were coming back in. I typically only went to SPYCE and the food hall after a visit to the water front and cherry blossoms two blocks away, so this was a welcomed change.

We went around 6pm on a Saturday (weekend of Rose fest) and got lucky to be seated right away, because after us, I kid not, a line went out the door to what looked like 3-4 groups on the outside and 3-4 groups on the inside. Our server came to us a few times to ask if we we knew what we wanted, but as the night went on, we saw that attention to tables became less. We learned it was our servers first time serving that evening too.

Being the first time, we went IN on the orders, so we know if we need to come back or not. Quick verdict: it’s worth coming back. I would call this a marriage of “Dough Zone” and “Din Tai Fung”. The quality is between both, leaning closer but above dough zone. The menus are pretty identical with northern Szechuan style which has more dishes that use spice and chili peppers.

We ordered everything we typically would get at the places mentioned above: pork XLB (delicious with plenty of soup if you eat it sooner. No ginger and vinegar dip though, nor did we ask), Dan Dan noodles (great flavor, prefer Dough Zone tho), their chili won tons stole the show for me, green onion pancakes were standard and tasted better with their house chili oil sauce (the best I’ve had in a long while), spicy beef noodle soup was okay (wouldn’t get it again, not bad though just have had much better), mapo tofu was one of my favs in Portland, and then a lychee cocktail and a ginger mojito cocktail.. both good.

We thought we had ordered the cumin lamb dish, but there was confusion with our server from how we talked about it, so she didn’t put it in. It was definitely okay though with how much we had ordered. The whole thing came out to $120 with tip I think.

Two unisex restrooms, large space, a back private room for bigger parties, plenty of large screen TVs with sports on, bar area seating area to the back, a window to watch pau pau work her XLB magic, and a neighborhood with a growing Asian presence despite Old Chinatown being “dead” for many many years since most of the folks had moved to NE 82nd.

Parking is tougher, parking kitty app parking on the streets, but once you find something close, you can come here then get Meet Fresh for dessert and go to SPYCE for an afterparty or get whack voodoo donuts after that.

Glad to see these more quality Chinese spots popping up around Portland. If you aren’t from or have been living in Portland for a long while, you may have a completely different...

Party of 4. Went around 8:30PM on a Sunday night. Had ample space. Took a booth. After a bit of wait for cleaning, we got our table.

Ordered Pork Xiao Long Bao Soup Dumplings, Wontons in Chilli Oil and Pork, Egg and Black Fungus Dumplings for appetizers. My favorites were the Wontons in Chilli Oil and XLB Soup Dumplings. The pork, egg and black fungus dumplings had tough luck with us on this occasion since it had a thicker shell and was a bit dry inside, but it was the heaviest and most filling. Its a different style of dumpling and we just naturally gravitated towards the soupy ones.

Ordered a Guava Cider that was pinkish in color and was pretty good. However there may have been some miscommunication among the wait staff and it arrived after the dumplings. The wait staff were quite good but there were initially some communication issues as it seemed like English was not a first language for either parties involved. But it was nothing that a bit of finger pointing(at the menu) and slow repetition could not solve.

Ordered Fish Fillet in Bean Sauce, Chongqing style hot chicken and Cumin Lamb as entrees. Got white rice on the side. All of them were delectable. The fish was perfectly cooked, soft and moist with lots of bean sauce. The Chongqing style hot chicken is a staple that we order as a baseline in all restaurants that offer it. This was definitely one of the best ones that we had. Mouth numbing Sichuan peppercorns and roasted garlic were perfect for this properly spicy yet not too hot chicken dish. The Cumin lamb is another baseline dish that we order with white rice. Reminiscent of Mongolian lamb skewers this dish was great as well. Perfect amount of cumin balanced with onions and red and green bell peppers.

All the dishes were great except pork egg and black fungus which was good. Drink was quite good as well. Ambience was good except for an occasional burst of loud music. Service was good. We were given ample to-go boxes and told that we could stay as long as we want despite the fact that they were already closing. The gentleman also politely opened the door for us and wished us good night on our way out.

Will love to come back here again and try their Ma Po Tofu and desserts since we weren't able to venture into that area of the menu on this occasion....

I had a mixed experience here. I would go back. TL;DR: Decent chinese, watch out for burn risks.

First, I like that they had a bar. The drinks we got were pretty good. But seemed a little pricey for what they were.

The menu is large, but veg options are not labeled adequately.

Onto the food: Dry Fried Green Beans -- I would say these are pretty good. Not as good as Taste of Sichuan in Beaverton, and Din Tai Fung green beans are better, but they might not be a direct comparison as they aren't 'dry fried.'

Spicy Tofu Buns - Not spicy, and in fact a little bland on their own. We tried the Dan Dan Noodle broth in the bun and that brought it into what I would call "Really Good," but then you have to order two dishes to get it.

Vegetable Steamed Dumplings - Good veg dumpling. The wrapper is a little too hearty for my preference I think, and I am not a huge fan of mushrooms and these were very mushroom-y.

Dan Dan Noodles - (Got these vegetarian) Very different than I have had before, more Ramen like as it has a broth? Never seen this before but it was still good.

Chongqing Chicken - Pretty good as well. Not as good as Taste of Sichuan. Something about the batter or coating of the chicken just seemed more bland, and not enough spice or sichuan peppercorn powder - plenty of husks in the dish, but not enough on or in the chicken.

Pan Fried Buns - These are DANGEROUS. Not in the like "oh they are so good its dangerous." I literally burned my lip on this. Again, not a little ouchy burned. It blistered and hurt for days. I would probably not order these again as they were simple okay -- lots of oil, not very crisp (just a kiss of brown on the bottom) and for the risk why would I...