Dumpling Dojo

Who doesn’t love a great dumpling?! I’m waiting (impatiently) for the Dumpling Dojo to find a new home.
In the meantime, I had an EXCELLENT meal there when they were open on Broadway.
I ordered the Crostini which was comprised of peperonata and edamame purée. A great start to a meal! Really rich yet light.
I followed up the appetizer with a sampler platter of dumplings. It was just too hard to choose!
I tasted the following:
–Pork dumpling with ginger, granny smith apples, napa cabbage and hoisin
–Beef Dumpling with lemongrass, sweet onions and chinese chives
–Gulf shrimp — bamboo, lemon zest and black pepper
–Wild mushroom — carmelized leeks, white wine in a whole-​wheat wrapper
–BBQ pulled pork Texas style
I also tried their special mocktail which was a coconut cranberry fizz with cranberry juice, coconut syrup, and lime juice
A truly yummy experience!

Dude, as soon as I heard «Dumpling Dojo», I thought, «OMG, I hope they have some sort of neat, artsy, and subtly nerdy piece of art (whether poster, framed, muraled, table piece, w/​e) of dumplings training at, in, or around some imaginary dojo.» Alas, none could be found, or any cool art for that matter… I s’pose such is the sacrifice of a temporary — if not an all TOO temporary gig, at their current location (thx alot Bank of America! phlphlphlphl!). However, given what it was, it was nice, clean, airy, pleasant, and rather warm & welcoming.
Thanks to the CMYE of Katy H, 6 of us ended up combining 2 tables and trying out various dojo dumplings. I think all around we enjoyed what we ate – I did. People seem to ding this place because they feel dumplings/​potstickers/​gyoza are home as side orders at typical teriyaki places; perhaps as an afterthought. Are they as good as your run o’ the mill potstickers from those other usual asian lunch spots? Yes. Are they, hmm, better? To me, that is a 99% yes (they tasted just as good as the chicken/​veg[?] dumplings at IDX Tower’s Market Fresh). Perhaps a smidge better with their great flavors and ingredients.
I’d give it a solid 4.5 (which would round up to 5 stars on here) if they had a permanent location and add some cool décor. Hopefully they find a desirable permanent location, get it souped up, and re-​open! Woot! Great staff and unique shop.

Tasty food, «exactly what it says on the tin», and friendly atmosphere.
Ignore the reviews who complain about the limited selection and the «ghetto» environment. If you want a «full menu» or «fine décor», there are many other places on Capitol Hill to get that.
Dumpling Dojo is all about handmade dumplings.
And they are tasty, fresh, and fast.
Come in, sit at the bar, order a mixed assortment of dumpings, watch them get made in front of them, and then enjoy them.

Not the worst dumplings, but for the price I wanted much more in terms of both quality and quantity. I mean, COME ON! $ 2 for a dumpling? It’s *NOT* sushi, guys, it’s a DUMPLING.

Dumping dojo has an interesting story and wonderful food, its truly one of the hill’s hidden gems, and sadly a transient one for now.
Dumpling dojo opened a mere two months ago and will be closed by the end of May. They are located in a spot that Bank of America will be moving into soon which is why they are closing, and why their décor and environment seems perhaps a bit out of place. The original though was that they’d be able to stay in their current location for the summer, around 6 months, but sadly BoA seems like it’s going to be taking over sooner than expected.
The food is awesome, skip the cocktails (yes they are booze free, getting a liquor license isn’t a quick process) and skip the desert (at least for now, there are plans for desert dumplings and hand made mochi, but as of this post the deserts aren’t super exciting) but don’t skip anything else. The food is all hand made and fresh — the seaweed salad and greens with garlic are, in my opinion, the best appetizers there.
The dumplings are awesome. Yes they are a bit more expensive than the dumplings you’d order as an appetizer, but these are all hand made in house, cooked fresh, and have amazing flavors. The shrimp (which come in a spinach wrapper) are my personal favorites of their usual dumplings, but the beef with lemon grass are nothing to sneeze at and the pork are the best traditional style dumplings I’ve ever had.
They also have a new special dumpling around every week, which to my knowledge has been chicken with rosemary, curry chicken, baked potato, or mushu veggies. In the future there is talk of pulled pork. These dumplings are non traditional but amazing.
They are also vegan friendly — they always have at least one vegan dumpling (usually the mushroom in a whole wheat wrapper) and many of the appetizers are vegan as well.
Give this place a shot before they close, hopefully to move to another location on the hill sometime soon.

I was looking forward to trying Dumpling Dojo, since I love dumplings and I liked the bare bones restaurant styling. It seemed like someplace that must really focus on food quality. Unfortunately, I was seriously disappointed. We ordered soup and salad to go with our dumplings and while the flavor of the salad was nice the quality of the lettuce was terrible, there were several slimy, rotten pieces I picked out, common with bagged lettuce which hasn’t been inspected before serving. The miso soup had an «off» taste which I find is common with boxed soup mixes. We ordered two kinds of dumplings: pork and beef with lemongrass. The pork flavor was fine, but the beef was pungent from lemongrass and garlic. There was no balance to it. The dumplings themselves were underfilled and greasy, with a too-​thick dough. The dipping sauces were a nice idea, but ultimately just added more grease. The mocktails were way overpriced, as was the food.
I can (and will) do much better in the frozen foods department at Uwajimaya.

First off, I am no stranger to Asian food. I have visited Japan many times, and have had many, many types of different dumplings abroad, and in the states.
The food at Dumpling Dojo was underwhelming for a couple different reasons.
1: Price. $ 10 for 5 medium dumplings is a little steep. There was nothing served on the side except for the sauces and a couple very small slices of Daikon. In Japan, when visiting a specialty restaurant that serves Gyoza only, you will get vegetable and starches served as well on the side. Side dishes of pickled or fresh veg, as well as rice, helps to cleanse your mouth after each dumpling, and adds a lot more ‘substance’ to the meal. Literally .50 cents worth of veg and starch would transform the Dojo’s plates from appetizers to meals.
2: Ingredients. We tried the beef & lemongrass dumplings, and the pork dumplings. The pork dumplings were passable, with the vegetable ingredients providing a adequate balance of flavor for the meat. The beef dumplings were greasy and heavy on the garlic, with no lemongrass flavor coming through the oily texture.
Once again the price vs. ingredients argument comes up. Ground beef & pork are low cost, high fat ingredients. Overall the dumplings were greasy and the taste was unbalanced. The sauces didn’t help either. Chimmuchuri is great with low fat homogeneous cuts of meat, but with ground meat it just adds oil on top of fat.
3: Time. Other reviewers have mentioned it, but it took over 35 minutes for 10 dumplings. That works out to a prep & cook time of 3 minutes per dumpling, which is way WAY too long. In other local ethnic restaurants I’ve had whole meals consisting of 5 or more separate plates delivered in under 20 minutes consistently.
If readers want an authentic dumpling, try the Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant at 12^th & south Jackson. 20 pork and veg dumplings for around $ 7.50, fried or steamed. And Fast.

I have a weak spot for dumplings. Who doesn’t? A couple of things about this place. Yes, it is a bit spendy. The prices looked more like sushi prices than the dumpling ball park. I’m talking $ 10 for an order of dumplings (5 per order)! Yikes! The menu features about 5 kind of dumpling, beef, pork, shrimp, a vegan friendly option and a dumpling of today (in this case curry chicken). I can appreciate a small place specializing in one thing and a chef trying to push the envelope of the traditional yet noble dumpling. I am hoping that perhaps prices will come down when they open up at their permanent location.

I was in Seattle visiting a friend last week and tried Dumpling Dojo.
Not your ordinary dumplings. FAR from ordinary, in fact. If you want ordinary greasy dumplings filled with ordinary ingredients that cost $ 1 each, enjoy it elsewhere and have an ordinary time. Nothing wrong with that. I’m also a fan of cheap greasiness. But head to this place for fresh, made-​from-​scratch dumplings.
I tried them all. It’s like they’re speaking a different language with these creations! CHICKEN: To my surprise, this was my favorite, and I had serious doubts. Chicken and rosemary belong on a rotisserie, people! But oh no, my fellow Unilocalers, the chicken dumpling was incredible, and amazing with the d-​e-​licious chimichurri dipping sauce (cilantro, onions, olive oil, and probably a dash of looooove…). Chef Pham opened my taste buds to something different! BEEF: Never had a beef dumpling before, so I was also pleased and surprised when flavor and juiciness oozed from each bite. PORK: I think this one could be taken off the menu, but only because you can get a pork dumpling anywhere. VEG: I’m a proud carnivore, so eh. MUSHROOM: Tasty vegan-​ness. SHRIMP: Nice spinach wrapper. The gal sitting near me at the bar said the shrimp is her favorite. I don’t like shrimp unless it’s wrapped in thick bacon sinfulness. I tried it anyway and the chimichurri sauce almost made the shrimp taste like chicken! Mmm that chimichurri sauce… I drowned my last few bites with it because I obviously became addicted.
Let’s talk dollars, folks. Sooo we have amazing sushi in Houston. A good place prices a single piece of nama sake sushi at $ 2.50. How ordinary is salmon? I don’t mind paying $ 12.50 for a 5-​piece plate of nama sake (ordinary) goodness, so I certainly don’t mind paying $ 10 for 5 handmade, super savory dumplings filled with unique collaborating ingredients. Their price for a Coke, however, is certainly questionable… Does the President deliver them himself?
To anyone who thinks offering only two sauces to «choose» from is funny: As a reminder, traditionally, only one sauce is offered, and it’s usually just soy sauce with a splash of something else, probably extra salty sweat. So having two original sauces is certainly more than a step up.
It’s nice to know there’s one place that offers an alternative to the ordinary and a chef who is obviously not afraid to experiment. Good luck to the Dojo! Hope it finds a permanent home. Wish there was a similar place in Houston.

I really enjoyed my meal here. I started with the house salad, which was the perfect individual appetizer portion of mixed greens and a light vinaigrette, and topped with a poached quail egg. The quail egg was a nice touch; it was poached perfectly, not too runny. Yum.
Even though all the dumplings looked really tasty, I went with the Shrimp. It comes in a spinach wrapper, and the filling is nice and garlicky. The Sesame-​Soy sauce I chose to go with them was the perfect accompaniment, but they really should rename that sauce Sambal-​Soy, because it’s *spicy*. Ooo-​wee! The dumplings were perfectly seared, and the serving of 5 was more than enough to leave me feeling stuffed to the gills. You can really taste the quality and love that goes into these dumplings — they’re fantastic. I was dining by myself, and since I didn’t have anyone else with me to share an assortment of dumplings, I think a «variety» option on the menu would have been cool, so I could try other types without having to buy 5 of each.
My main complaint about DD is the same one everyone else seems to have — it’s pricey. My meal, which consisted of the salad, 5 dumplings, and a coke (bottled, no refill), came out to around $ 23. With 20% tip (which I believe the service totally warranted), I spent about $ 28. That’s quite a bit more than I would usually spend on a casual Wednesday night meal by myself, and certainly a lot for dumplings (even if they’re hand-​made, not frozen, yadda yadda.)
From my understanding, this location is just a temporary «test» for the owner to determine what kind of dumplings people like; when she opens up the permanent location (hopefully in Capitol Hill), the menu will be smaller with frequently rotating selection of seasonal choices. The kitchen was much larger than she had originally wanted to have, so I suspect part of the pricing comes from having to pay a ton of rent on that giant space. As much as I liked the food I had, at this price point it’s a bit too prohibitive for me to go regularly — which is a shame, because dumplings make a perfect, quick meal. If that’s supposed to be the final price point, though, maybe the owner might look toward Bellevue instead of CapHill.
I hope the owner finds a good permanent spot on the Hill and is able to open a place that suits her vision; I can’t wait to see how Dumpling Dojo will evolve.

These dumplings cost $ 10 for a 5-​piece order. So, that’s $ 2 each.
If you think you’ll leave unhappy after paying $ 2 for each cooked-​to-​order taste sensation, then this isn’t the place for you.
But to my mind, the experience (especially sitting at the «dumpling bar») is more akin to eating at a good sushi bar. Except with meat instead of fish. And dumpling dough instead of rice. OK, so not exactly like sushi. But the point is that if you’re the type who pays $ 2 for a slab of high quality fish on a lump of rice, why would you complain about $ 2 for one of these lovingly prepared pockets full of goodness? If you can afford it, enjoy the food and forget the cost.
I’ll take off a star for no beer. Beer would complete the experience.

Dumpling Dojo’s products are fantastic little presents of just-​right dough and nuanced fillings. I especially liked the pork with the asian chimchurri sauce. Others favored the shrimp dumplings, encased up in bright green spinach wrapper and crisp seared on the belly. If you sit at the counter you can watch them handmake each dumpling. Also loved the crisp cooked bok choy tossed in a subtle garlic and ginger sauce.
Its new and its temporary (bank of America is going to open up there in a few months) so, to my mind, the problem is the price point. Its about $ 10 for five dumplings. Considering that all ingredients are fresh and they are handmade, that’s $ 2 per dumpling. Just doesn’t seem sustainable to me. If they sold 5 dumplings for $ 5, I don’t think these reviews would be as scathing. Good luck dumpling dojo!

These dumplings are amazing! Perfectly crispy on the outside, succulent on the inside, not too greasy. Yum! They’re the best we’ve had in Seattle. The chicken with red peppers is spectacular, and we loved the beef and pork dumplings as well. The green (cilantro, garlic, etc.) dipping sauce was delicious. We are a family of four, with two pretty picky small eaters, and we all devoured our food, and were already plotting our next visit on our walk home. My husband, a New Yorker, was particularly pleased as well that the chef hasn’t forsaken her New York culinary training and taken to calling her creations pot stickers — these are truly dumplings! We loved all our food (great seaweed salad, great noodles, yummy drinks, divine dumplings), and we had a great time sitting at the counter watching everything being made and chatting with the chef. We felt very welcome here, and we’ll definitely be back.

Dumplings did taste slightly fresher than frozen ones from Uwajimaya. But small and not filling and *expensive*. Would cost $ 30 to eat a whole dinner here, easy. And it’s just not that kinda place.

I wanted to like Dumpling Dojo, I really did. I wanted a chill place that I could go for a fast, cheap bite, like phở. This is not what Dumpling Dojo is. Dumpling Dojo is expensive, slow, and mediocre. It’s not the worst thing I have ever eaten, but it’s not good.

I’m a huge fan of fried dumplings and the ones here were delicious. We were only able to try the Wild Mushroom and Pork dumplings which were both excellent, but the other 4 varieties looked just as interesting. We’ll definitely be returning to try out the rest.
($ 20 per person)

General Review —
*7 dollar cocktails with not a single drop of booze in them.
*“Dumplings” are around 2 dollars each and are the size of a larger than normal gyoza. 10 bucks per plate of .
*2 dipping sauces to «choose» from.
*Décor is ghetto
*Food was forgettable.
Personal Review —
*Restaurant was smokey, the vent fans seemed to be broken.
*This place is trying to come off overly fancy but looks barren as hell.
*Our food (2 plates of dumplings, 10 in total) took 30 min to arrive!
*One plate of the dumplings were burnt! The chefs obviously didn’t care. Because the dumpling were served burnt side up.
*I thought it was pretty funny when the waitress ask us what dipping sauces we wanted when theres only 2.
*They also looked at us cross when we got 2 plates of dumplings. Sorry, we were thinking 10 bucks for dumplings, we must get a lot!
To put things in perspective, i was at Tilth last week and spent 100 bucks on myself for a fancy meal and walked out smiling! My friends and I left this place still very hungy.
I was really hoping for a Seattle version of NYC’s Dumpling House, but instead i got this garbage.
AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COST!