Steve H.

Eight of pickleball friends decide to have lunch together. The local friends recommend Hot Dumplings which specializes in buns and dumplings. The service is just okay. One person handles everything, it can be very frustrating to wait. The vibe is bright, modern, and clean restaurant. We went family style, so each of us share all the dishes. We have flavored beef noodle soup - better than average. It's flavorful and good noodles. Pan fried pork bun, both bun and meat inside tastes good. Fried beef noodles, good flavors and noodles. Combo fried rice - pretty good. Fish fillet with pickled cabbage & chili - solid standard soup. Spicy beef short rib - tasty. The highlights are specialty local Chinese dishes like dry fried lotus roots! Sichuan chicken with chili oil ; both are super yummy!! This is a Chinese restaurant, and not a fast food. So the check can add up quickly. Good for ordering regional authentic Chinese dishes.

Lorelei H.

Overview: Friendly staff - very attentive Yummy food Two people ate for 70 dollars +tax and tip, but we had very big appetites. We got five dumpling dishes and the sesame balls The serving sizes were good for the price, and all the regular dumplings we had were delicious and juicy. The pork and chive dumplings were my personal favorite, but a one or two of them were very heavy on the chives. I loved it. My partner really enjoyed the beef and onion dumplings The juicy pork dumplings were amazing! I saved them till the end. Usually, steamed buns are my favorite dish at dumpling places, but the ones here weren't very fluffy. They were more starchy. The filling was very similar to the filling in the pork dumplings.

Minh T.

Small mom and pop place opened for the last year. We ordered 4 dishes between the 3 of us. Two dumplings dishes and two veggies dishes but also two white rice bowls. The restaurant was almost empty on a Friday around noon, but the parking lot was packed! I'd say that's my only complaint and unfortunately this issue is the parking lot will kill them cuz it's very small. You can't really do anything about the parking at this point. The food was great. Dumplings were super juicy. The veggie dishes were good to balance the dumplings. The service was tentative since not that many people were there. I'd go again if I was in the area.

Sylvie C.

I'm so glad I tried out Hot Dumplings recently. This is my most favorite dumpling restaurant in Orange County. I loved every single items I have had the opportunity to try out. The Wuhan Siumai has a nice black pepper taste with soft steamed texture of rice and fragrant mushrooms. I normally abhor having mushrooms but this is one of the rare exceptions. The spicy chicken cold appetizer was one of the best I have had since I left Beijing. The chicken was cooked just right and the accompanying sauce had a wonderful Sichuan pepper having the mouth numbing effect. I liked the crispy peanuts they threw in for contrasting textures so everything doesn't taste mushy. 10/10. I could probably eat this every day of my life with the cucumber salad and be a very happy human. I am really picky with boiled dumplings as I'm accustomed to making my own at home. I seldom ever find ones I like eating from a restaurant setting but the shrimp and chive dumplings here was one of the exceptions to that rule. Every piece bursted in flavors of fresh chives and shrimp flavors perfectly pairing with the black vinegar. Loved every bit of it and can't wait to have some again in the future. Not pictured from the visit are the pan fried pork buns. They were basically gone in seconds. I had no chance to let my phone eat first. It had a nice crispy texture outside with fluffy inside + juicy pork filling. Absolutely enjoyed every morsels of what I had. The inside of the restaurant is spacious and well lit. The service is prompt and attentive. I like coming during late lunch times during the week for peace and quiet. Can't wait to bring my mom with me the next time as I can't imagine her not enjoying what I discovered here.

Manny P.

Awesome authentic food, and equally awesome authentic staff! Very friendly and proactive providing service from making sure we have water all the time, clearing plates as we finish, being prompt when we ask for extra napkins, sharing plates, condiments, etc. It's fast and quality service. They also keep the place clean all the time. If they see a mess/trash on the floor, they see it and clean it right away, instead of most places they pretend they don't see it or think it's beneath them and not their job. LOL! We ordered pork soup dumpling, green beans, and beef noodle soup. All equally great and the Real deal. The string beans were still crispy the next day as opposed to other places where it becomes soggy. This is Must Try place, if you want an awesome authentic experience and great tasting food, and excellent service at good prices. We will be back. Thanks!

Kelly N.

Craving dumplings, I found this spot on Yelp and decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't crowded on a Friday night. The service was attentive and the restaurant was very clean. We ordered several dishes to share. Our absolute favorite was the Spicy Tripe--it was perfectly seasoned, genuinely spicy, and incredibly flavorful. The Shrimp and Chicken with Chive pan-fried dumplings were also quite tasty, though a few pieces were a bit burnt. We also enjoyed the Signature Flavored Beef Noodle Soup, which was delicious but a little on the oily side. The one dish that missed the mark for us was the Pork & Shrimp Wonton in Chili Sauce. The sauce lacked a real spicy kick, and the wonton wrappers were too thick for our liking. Overall, a mixed but mostly positive experience. I'll definitely be back for the tripe!

Carrie D.

I've been to Hot Dumplings 3 times now and have tried a range of dishes here. My first impression walking in was the cleanliness of the restaurant and its fresh renovation. I tried both pan fried and steamed dumplings (xiao long bao) and shrimp & pork chili wontons. I wasn't a huge fan of the dumplings and wontons due to the thicker wrappers and the filling texture/flavor was okay for me. I wouldn't order again. However, I have a number of really solid dishes that I recommend! My ultimate favorite dishes that I keep coming back for: 1. Hot & Sour Soup (9.99): I haven't found a hot & sour soup that is both hot and sour enough for me until I came here. The flavor is authentic and the portion is also amazing. One order is enough for 4 people to each 2 bowls, I always have leftovers! 2. Eggplant w/ Hot Garlic Sauce (14.95): RIDICULOUSLY flavorful and delicious sauce. The texture of this eggplant is amazing. It's so perfectly buttery but has a slight bite to it. Not mushy at all and there is no bitterness or weird flavor like the typical eggplant. This dish could probably convince an eggplant hater to like eggplant honestly! 3. Sautéed String Beans (15.95): perfectly seasoned and perfect texture. The string beans are blistered with a crunch and the sauce is umami and garlicky. 4. Stir-Fried Chinese Broccoli w/ Garlic (14.99): just like the string beans, the texture of the Chinese broccoli was perfect and had a great bite to it. The dish is adequately salted and garlicky as well. Honorable mention would be the Wuhan Siu Mai. I didn't really know what to expect of this because I've never had anything like it before. I ordered this with the typical kind of Siu Mai in mind, but they are nothing alike. This dish has a thin wrapper with diced mushroom and (sticky?) rice, and it's HEAVILY black peppered. I've eaten this twice now not knowing how to feel the first time, but it's grown on me. I would recommend sharing because the black pepper can be overwhelming after eating 2-3. Still unique and tasty though. I would say you really can't go wrong with any vegetables, they do that very well. Sometimes the simple things are difficult to cook well, but they nailed the vegetables for sure. While the prices might seem crazy for vegetables, it's not as bad as it seems because the portions for each dish is substantial. I always have leftovers when I leave and it's a perfect meal for the next day. They are very microwave friendly since they taste just as good reheated. Once you find the dishes you like here, I can guarantee it will be made well, and with consistency. I'm glad Hot Dumpling is so local to me, you know I'll be back here.

Chloe L.

We were drawn by the Grand Opening sign and left very satisfied! Came for dinner on a Thursday, was mildly busy but no wait. There's only a couple employees but they are pretty quick. Can get loud inside. We ordered: - juicy pork dumplings: my favorite dish of our meal! Larger dumplings than what you typically see for soup dumplings, the dough and soup is really wonderfully done. Soup is on the sweeter side and smells of sesame oil, I was a big fan. - crispy pork dumpling: basically same thing as juicy pork dumpling but fried. Wish the dough was a little thinner on these but the crispy part was very nice. - beef noodle soup: my dad is usually pretty picky about this but he liked it a lot! Not too salty and the beef was very tender. I liked the texture of the noodles as well. Pretty affordable food and quick service!

Kat L.

Service was really good! The waitress was very friendly and super helpful. She cautioned us on dishes that were spicy and helped us figure out the best items to order for us. We enjoyed the green beans - full of flavor. The beef noodle soup was just the perfect bowl of comfort food.

Angela C.

Not sure how long this place has been opened but it still has a grand opening sign out front. When I walked in, I saw a few tables with their signature beef noodle so I got that to try. I must say, this is one of the very few places who use egg noodles for their beef noodles and I didn't really like it. The broth was standard, but the meat was nice and tender. I also got their beef and onion dumplings which was just alright. The shrimp, chicken and chives pan fried dumpling had a nice flavor though. Service was nice and quick, and they were good about coming by to fill up our waters. I probably only come back for their pan fried dumplings if I was in the area, but wouldn't go out of my way to come.

Betty G.

Stopped by here for a quick bite tonight. I ordered the spicy beef noodles. Beef was good and tender with some tendon. Noodles were not overcooked. The broth however was very oily. It was in fact, noodles and beef drowned in a full bowl of oil and not the normal beef broth. Mostly noodles and not much meat. Service was good and food was brought out quickly. 3.5/5