Dim Sum Garden

Best soup dumplings in Philly and at an amazing price! If you’re looking for Americanized Chinese food, it’s not worth coming here. Sample the xiao long bao and bring a nice bottle of wine to enjoy while you wait. The atmoshphere is not geared towards dates, but a fine place to go with good friends and family. The back room can get a bit noisy with the college crowd at times, but sitting up near the entrance is conducive to chatting amongst your party.
(Note: BYO and cash only)

Love the food here, they are always packed and the food comes out as its ready. A few must orders include the shrimp dumplings and pork noodles! They’re famous for their soup dumplings which are yummy but are so big they will fill you up quickly. Also enjoyed the wonton soup, light wontons with lots of greens and seaweed in the broth (recommend adding some spice to it).
Only reason for missing a star is because they messed our order up a bit and you’ll have a couple different servers most likely so it’s difficult to notify them. Also cash only and ATM fee in there is $ 1.75. I will definitely be back regardless!

Tried this place after walking around Chinatown. I’d rate it as solid, but nothing spectacular. We had to wait in a pretty long line to get in, and once we did it was like we were getting hustled through the meal. It’s LOUD in there, so not a great place for a first date, and also very crowded. Hard to find parking nearby, so suggest walking from a few blocks out. Our table got the general tso’s chicken, dumplings, spring rolls, and a couple of pork dishes. Everything was good, nothing amazing

Absolutely solid choice for DimSum. I like the lack of carts– easier to order what you want versus guess, and less chance over ordering. Very reasonable prices, great Service and outstanding cuisine. This is a must stop in Chinatown. Really — serious wow factor.

Always a treat to come to Dim Sum Garden!
Usually always get the fried rice and dumplings. The fried rice is pretty different than others, in my opinion. The soup dumplings and fried dumplings are absolutely to die for! Chives and pork dumpings — fantastic flavor in the soup and overall perfect in every way!
Be warned: it’s cash only!!! Happy eating!

It pains me to share this review as I know others will continue to hear about and try this amazing place. By far the best soup dumplings I have ever had!
The line can be long, don’t hesitate to sit at «the bar» though. Everything dumpling and entrée I have tried was delicious. I recommend going early, going hungry, bringing wine (BYOB), and ordering as many dumplings as you can fit. They come out hot, fresh and as ready.

The soup dumplings are fresh! You can see them make it when you past by the kitchen in the back of the restaurant. The décor and atmosphere is okay. They advertise their own t-​shirts and clothes on the walls. The dim sum section of their menu has pictures on it which makes it so much easier to just point and order. Service was good. They gave us water. We didn’t have to wait too long for the food. The food came out all at once. The restaurant can get crowded fast so go early in the morning.
Ordered the following:
Shanghai pork soup dumplings (Xiao long bao) — very yummy and satisfying
Pan fried pork soup dumplings– I was disappointed about this dish. The meat inside has no flavour when eaten by itself. I had to drown it in dumpling sauce and vinegar to please my tastebuds.
Pan fried beef potato cake– this dish is interesting and tastes ok. Its minced curry beef wrapped around by potato then pan fried. Comes in two flatten cakes
Minced meat moon cake– this only comes in one. I don’t understand why one of these costs $ 3.25. Is it the ingredients or the laborious work they put in to make it? The actual dish is a bit larger than the picture shown on the menu. It tastes like beef balls from other dim sum restaurants wrapped in pastry dough.
Overall okay experience. I would come back for the pork soup dumplings and try other dishes.

Very disappointing service if you have a large group and do not speak Chinese. There is no system of tables being seated as others can walk in after you and just speak to the hostess and get seated regardless if you were in line waiting for nearly an hour.
In addition– if you come to this establishment and have a big party and are told to only have 1 person wait inside on the ramp make sure to keep the whole group together inside. We were told to have 1 person wait on the ramp and 7 of us plus a baby waited outside but when it a large table opened up and the one person was inside they said our party is only partially there and seated someone else that just walked in. Hmmm… So what is it?

As a Chinese actually from Asia, and someone passionate about food, I think I have some authority to speak about the quality of food here. Here goes:
Decent soup dumplings, mediocre shrimp dumplings, awful service.
Soup dumplings had good flavor, but the skin was too tough
Shrimp dumplings were doughy, and the shrimp tasted processed and of chemicals.
Our food trays were practically tossed onto our plate, and our server acted like she had the most miserable job in the world. Maybe she does, but it doesn’t mean customers should be treated like crap.
Stay away.

This place should be called Dim Sum express. The restaurant as a whole has some really good Chinese food in taste. If you eat here you will not be disappointed. Now for the in depth review:
I’m from the San Gabriel Valley (aka Asia Central) in LA and I hold Chinese food to a very high standard. I grew up basically Asian. I was visiting philly for work and I got super excited to know there was a Chinatown right next to the convention center. This place Does Not serve dim sum with the carts, like at a traditional dim
Sum restaurant. I ordered some basic dim sum times since I was in the mood for it. The xiao lum bao (soup dumplings) were delicious and full of flavor. I got the crab and pork and was very surprised. What was missing was the sauces (vinegar, ginger, chili and spy sauce) to complete the XLB. The pork shap was ok, it was kinda hard. I loved the pork moon pie. It’s crispy, flakey and pork amazing.

People, I have moved from the Pre-​Soup Dumpling Dark Ages into the Post-​Soup Dumpling Enlightenment! Life has changed, and it all started last night at Dim Sum Garden when I gingerly picked up my first soup dumpling and experienced a union of flavors and textures like never before.
For the first-​timers like myself, here is a guide to enjoying your first soup dumpling.
Inspired by the seasoned professional at the table next to us:
1. Order the pork soup dumplings.
2. Admire the dumplings when served.
3. Carefully, using your chop sticks, secure the dumpling at its base. Use your other hand to hold your spoon under the dumpling.
4. For your first dumpling, bite off the top of the dumpling, slurp up the soup and eat the dumpling in succession. For the next 7 dumplings (because you’re definitely eating them all), pour some sauce into the dumpling before consuming.
The Chinese broccoli was a light and delicious complement to the meal. I also recommend the pork & scallion fried dumplings! And I didn’t snap a picture of the Kung Pao chicken with hand drawn noodles because I was too busy eating it by that point. Excellent.

The Shanghai dumplings are the best! The other stuff is good but not as amazing as the soup dumplings. They didn’t have carts like the big dim sum places but everything is made fresh when you order. If you want the experience of dim sum on carts, then this isn’t it.
We tried pretty much all the dumplings. The chive and pork ones are good, the shrimp one and the pan fried beef ones were not good. The beef flat noodles were yummy. We ordered multiple rounds of the shanghai dumplings (soup dumplings). The sweet red bean bun was also very good. Overall, solid place!
We were there at 11am on Sunday and there wasn’t too bad of a line. We were seated within 5 minutes. Service is fast and prices were reasonable. We ate a ton and it came out to about $ 20 per person.

Dim Sum Garden is a staple in Chinatown. Their noodle dishes are huge servings of Asian deliciousness. There is a huge variety on the menu.
Probably the most popular items on the menu are their dumplings. My favorite are the crab pork soup dumplings. Eight dumplings coming steaming hot to the table (picture below) filled with sizzling salty soup and a chunk of pork and crab meat. The dough is soft and tummy. I have like each of the noodle dishes I have tried (general tso, kung pao, vegetable). I also really like the fried crab cheese wontons (but I’ve never one I didn’t like).
Two other things to consider, this location is byo so bring alcohol if you would like but beware because it’s cash only.

Ive been here a few times. It’s clean and fresh. I like it, though the overall experience is just OK. I like the food but it does come off as a great lunch stop rather than a meal destination with friends. Has a fast-​food atmosphere, though clean, a bit loud. Dim Sum is fun via rolling carts, and that’s not the mode here. Everything is delivered to your table from the menu, and service is quick.
I love stopping here for my fast dumpling fix.

I missed you dim sum. I live in Florida now– so the closest we get to good dimsum is getting some panda express, taking a bite and then throwing the rest out because it’s panda express and why do you keep thinking that it’s going to taste good?
This place gets busy on Sunday’s, but we got a table pretty quickly– we went for it– snagging the last few orders of soup dumplings available. These were great– the flavor you expect, the right size, delicate – and very reasonably priced. Get a few orders and enjoy.
Other standouts included the eggplant with garlic sauce, salt and pepper squid, scallion pancakes– it’s all good here. BYOB if you wanna bring a bottle of scotch to wash it all down with. Or beer. Just no panda express. Get that shit out of here.

Overall, this place is really good. Obviously get the Shanghai soup dumplings aka xialongbao like my old review says.
The reason for the update is for my recent delivery. Delivery was standard, not too slow not terribly fast but it took roughly 45 minutes to receive my order I placed through grubhub.
I tried the stewed chicken noodle soup, which was really good! Highly recommended, the stewed chicken is nice and tender and has great flavor.
My issue was with the bubble tea I ordered. Although I understand this is not a bubble tea shop, I am a firm believer that if you choose to serve it on your menu, it should be good. I specifically put «cold, light ice» in the comments section and it came with ice filled to the top.
Secondly, the bubbles are not good. Not chewy, very hard. At $ 4.00 for a bubble tea, it should at least be good, and this was not good.
Save your money on the bubble tea, but the food is good.

I really want to like this place because I’ve heard so many great things and my friends talk so highly of it. I can’t put my finger on exactly what turned me away from it, but I had a ‘meh’ meal and experience.
Service: Hasty. Everything came out very quickly, but very sloppily. The waiters were running around to different tables even though there weren’t that many people dining. I don’t know what the extreme rush was… maybe they are just used to it. I wish they had taken a little bit more time and were careful with our order though. Our waiter didn’t get our order right and forgot two items (he put them in as soon as we reminded him).
Food: Super sloppy presentation, which I guess shouldn’t matter because its dim sum. But like my fried veggie dumplings were still sliding around in a thick layer of grease when they were served to me. Some of them were even sideways. Yuck!
What made me super sad was that they didn’t have any veggie soup dumplings! That was the main reason I even went!
I think I will go to Dim Sum Garden again one more time and order only the soup dumplings. If those are terrible, I won’t be returning.

I’ve been here many times and I always conclude that this place has the best dumplings I can get in Philadelphia! But other than the dumplings, everything else is okay or good. The pork soup dumplings are better than the crabmeat ones in my opinion. Other items we got tonight were the pork noodles, chicken curry hotpot, pan fried dumplings, and rice cakes with pork.
The curry smelled delicious very coconut-​y but was pretty bland, definitely needed something to have more taste. The rice cakes was also okay, the actual cakes were too big in size which made eating them very chewy. Other than those two misses. Everything else was very good, dumplings were on par as with every other time and the pan fried dumplings tasted even better than normal. The pork noodles are always good and an easy go to for a filler to the soup dumplings.
And as always get the soup dumplings!

Cheap and delicious. The pork soup dumplings are by far my favorite item on their menu! They’re juicy and flavorful, the best I’ve had in Chinatown. Also a BYOB! However, it must be said that the quality has diminished since their popularity has grown. I find that the soup dumpling skin is not nearly as thin as it used to be, and their other dishes are often inconsistent, too salty or too bland.
Unfortunately, the service here leaves something to be desired. I always have to remind the servers of missing entrees, and it is clear that they are drastically understaffed. The last time I tried to come here, they actually locked the door to prevent more customers from coming in! While I respect that they were not in a position to take on any more tables at that time, I also find it incredibly rude.
Until I find a comparable soup dumpling place in close proximity, I will return. But if one appears, Dim Sum Garden will definitely lose my business.

A review for Dim Sum Garden at its current location on Race St is long overdue. Having patronized Shizhou Da’s kitchen for quite a while (going back to when it was located on 11^th St), we have noticed an impeccable level of consistency in all the Dim Sum preparations. No matter how busy the restaurant or the time of the day or how inclement the weather, the food has tasted the same each time. This very quality has led us to bring many of our friends here for grub.
While the skin on the Xiao Long Bao (soup filled dumplings) here is not the most delicate of the lot, the broth is delicious; one of the best in Philly in our opinion. Both versions of XLB on the menu #1 (Pork) or #2 (Crabmeat) are very safe bets. In case you were wondering how they get the soup inside the dumplings, they make them with gelatinized broth that’s solid when cold. Steam ‘em and voila you have soup inside of a dumpling.
Moving on to other Dim Sum choices, #20 (Chicken on a Stick) or #21 (Jumbo Shrimp on a Stick) are delectable.
As far as the rest of the dumpling options go, the steamed ones are superior to the pan-​fried kind given the latter makes the dumpling skin a little more chewy and greasy. Some people like it, but we beg to differ. Try one of each kind to decide the option that suits your palate better.
In case you feel a bit more adventurous in terms of texture, #12 Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gao) might be a good candidate. These have a slightly rubbery-​sticky texture to them and happen to be among the most popular choices in Dim Sum restaurants generally speaking.
Coming to their main menu, most of their Sichuan sounding offerings are regional adaptations so we have rarely ordered Ma Po Tofu or Kung Pao Chicken but their Shanghainese soup selections are decent like #23 Mini Wonton Soup in particular.
The solid four stars is specifically for the Dim Sum portion of the menu. Do give this place a shot if you happen to visit Philly Chinatown. Chances are that you will leave content and happy.