Joy Dumpling

Great food, the staff was super nice. The XLB is authentic and really good value.

2/21/2020 - Came for the soft opening. Food was enjoyable and wait staff was quite friendly. A lot of food items were out, which is understandable as they are working things out. Still a bit disappointed that a food item would be okay to order and they would come back to us 10 minutes later and inform us we can’t have the food because it is out. Then we would later see the food item being served to another 30 minutes later! I understand that this is their process of working through things so my review will not be based on those things till my return visit when they are open open.

My reason for a one ⭐️ deduction from 4 is this: One waitress recommended one noodle saying it was chow Mein a dry noodle but it was chow ma mein which is a soup noodle. Another waitress came and dropped off the dish and we pointed this out politely, she got defensive and explained that it was what was said on the menu but it was not clear to us as our Chinese isn’t too strong and her colleague had told us it was a dry noodle. No worries, I like chow ma mein too but didn’t appreciate that they were not accommodating or willing to apologize for their lack of clarity.

Overall food is pretty tasty albeit a bit $$ for what you get. Soup Dumplings (xlb’s) are pretty solid But they were mostly stuck together and often broken when picking up even when we were careful. I tried two different types and their fillings were not bad. The regular and the crab were both good but a bit disappointed by no potstickers to try. Anyways, their A Tsai was good and we enjoyed their green pancakes and beef rolls too. Parking is ample but just have to watch what time with quite a few restaurants in area and many people who cannot park their cars well.

I give 3 stars till an update because of the noodle incident and also because they were constantly unclear as to what they had and did not have. Food was decent and would equate to 4 stars but feel that 5 will require a bit of work on improving their service and other things. Definitely an option but as it advertises “joy dumpling” you’d hope their dumplings will be better.

Xiaolongbao (XLB) is delicious. Loved the Dongpo Pork (braised pork) Taiwanese style. Yilan scallion pancakes also wonderful. Highly recommended restaurant, but make sure you order their specialties to enjoy this restaurant. Restaurant just opened mid February 2020, hope it stays around a long time. Remember they are closed on Tuesdays.

Try the bittermelon covered with salted egg.