I've been to this establishment in the past and this is my fourth time. The place was renovated and became an eat in dining with wait service and also continues to have takeout. The place is also very nice, bright and clean. The servers have always been very nice. However, be prepared to wait a little bit as when I went, Hannah was the only one serving, cleaning, and also taking takeout orders, all while smiling. She was an absolute doll. Now to the food. I've had a pretty decent experience here with the food. One item I was not a fan of when I first visited was the noodles with peanut sauce. I however, loved my soup dumplings. Second time around I ordered the regular dumplings and those were very good. I've also ordered their fried rice, which tasted good and the portion was good for me. Another time I ordered wonton soup to go. Well packed, fresh and plentiful. Had to eat it in my car as I didn't want table service. On this visit, I ordered the UD Sampler Soup Dumplings which consisted of 6 dumplings as follows: Pork, chicken, pork & crab, pork & truffle, pork, shrimp & Spinach, and Szechuan pork. The Szechuan pork is spicy and pretty good. My favorite. I wasn't a fan of the truffle nor the shrimp spinach. The liquid was also missing. I've had their soup dumplings before, and these were more like potstickers because there was just meat inside, but there was no liquid. I ordered the shrimp stir fried noodles. It was ok. Kept tasting something that was off. Maybe the cabbage. -1 star. Desert was a peanut butter bomb, a small round, 2-3 inch tall cake the size of a little muffin. Cost $12 plus an additional $2 for tip. It tasted good but it was overpriced. I felt cheated. -.5 star for the price. Now I had an issue when ordering the dessert. Minor, but annoying and need to understand why I was not allowed to add the dessert after having placed my food order, which I had not yet paid for. I was told that I needed to order it separately if I wanted to take it to go. I don't know how different it would have been if I had ordered it as part of the meal, gotten full, then have it packed to go. No difference. Zero. So keep this in mind. -.5 star. I'm looking forward to returning and trying more dishes like the pork chops and wings as well as their beef soup. I may skip dessert. read more

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We checked out Ugly Dumpling because my girlfriend saw a TIK TOK saying it was a Din Tai Fung dupe. We ordered the pork soup dumplings, pork chop fried rice and the chicken with brocolli. We left stuffed and satisfied. Was it Din Tai Fung... no, but we enjoyed it. Prices were better and you get what you pay for. Service was quick and easy but the soup dumplings were delayed a bit. Place is cozy, people were coming in and out with to go orders. read more

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The food was beyond fresh and amazing ! I visited the restaurant with different parties two days in a row (hubby / daughter). The service both times were amazing as we had been seated and served by waitress Amanda. She is such a wonderful young lady! Her smile and help with the menu made our experience so go we even ordered to go for both evenings. The best ! There's a cute cross between franchise feel and comfy dining in the restaurant. The tables are comfortable and not too close together, but the hall by the main kitchen has booths for a more private atmosphere. read more

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Service was great. Ambiance is cool and welcoming. Cashier Amanda was a delight. I had a clear path of what I wanted as I entered but she up-sold me, which I was fine with, she was sweet and attentive. I ordered a #1 which was chicken fingers, spicy wontons, 2 spring rolls and a fountain soda. The spring rolls were as they should be, the filled the void. The spicy pork wontons were wonderful, they got the nose running and that chili oil was dynamite. The chicken fingers were weird. Clearly dark meat but the chewy texture turned me off a bit. The crunch and seasoning were good. The texture was a turn off for me honestly. I forced myself to eat a few and even dipped them in the spicy chili sauce from the wontons. Just that texture was rough for me to get past. read more

Ugly Dumpling Express - #1 combo - Chinese Near Me - Holmdel, New Jersey

This is an awesome quick place to stop for lunch or a snack. The dumplings aren't as good as some of the more authentic soup dumpling places I've tried, but I still really enjoyed it. The inside is always clean and it has never been overly crowded when I've come (I've been 4x) Our favorite are the pork truffle soup dumplings, the orange chicken and the peach black tea with no sweeteners. There is plenty of parking and shopping in the plaza to walk around before or after For my GF friends: this isn't the place for you. The menu is mostly dumplings and noodle dishes and since it's an express location there is a small menu overall. They have bubble teas and regular flavored teas which is likely GF, but I have no asked specifically read more

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We decided to come here for dinner, again. This place is no longer a fast casual. It's now a full service restaurant. We didn't expect that when we got here. We were immediately seated after arriving and ordered the following: String beans with garlic- this was nice and garlicky Cucumber Salad - Daughter thought that it was perfectly salted and crisp. It was everything a cucumber salad should be. The only downside is that the portion was small. She wished it was bigger. LOL Fried Pork chop- this was pretty good. It was all sliced and served on a platter. Spicy pork and shrimp wonton - this was pretty good, as well. Braised Beef noodle soup -It contains beef tendon and Daughter liked it a lot. Pork and crab (6 pieces) soup dumplings- this was delicious. The soup dumplings are our favorite and this didn't disappoint. Iced Green tea with lychee- I order with no sugar but it came out a little sweet because of the lychee syrup. This was pretty good. The only disappointment was that the restaurant is a little skimpy on the hot sauce condiments. There was maybe a teaspoon worth in the container. I thought maybe they didn't replenish it but I checked another table behind us and it was the same amount. Hot sauce goes hand in hand with dumplings and noodle soup and would be nice to have. There's only one waitress here but she was pretty nice and friendly and quick. They now have loyalty points for money spent. It's easier to get it applied if you order it through kiosk but we paid in cash at the register. We tried to get points for it but it never appeared in my app. The place was packed up by the time we left. When this place was Express, place was empty. It was a great idea that they turned it into a full service restaurant. Will definitely return when in the area! read more

I've had good food here in the past, and then more recently tried it again. The quality of food wasn't the same. They did not give the sauces needed for the dishes we got, so some were dry or bland. I will say the customer service was great, the staff made great suggestions on the boba to use in the honey lemonade. The restaurant is cute and in a nice location, I just wish the experience with the food was better. read more

This is one of my favorite spots to get soup dumplings. We got the pork soup dumplings, which were so good, and the green beans are SOOO tasty! The service is amazing, and our server Hannah was attentive and very sweet! The restaurant itself was very clean, as were the bathrooms. Overall, would absolutely recommend! read more

My family really enjoys the food at the Ugly dumpling. The name is adorable. We have done takeout and eat in. Located not far from Best Buy in Holmdel. Parking is easy. read more

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Never left a review anywhere until now, a couple days ago I put in an online order to pick up at 7:28pm, I arrive a couple minutes early to make sure the food is fresh. I am told it will take a little bit longer, as I go to stand in my corner to wait I look around and see basically everyone else in the restaurant also waiting. After about 20 minutes I find a seat where I wait about another 20 minutes where I asked again, where is my food? It was a simple order so it definitely shouldn't take 40 minutes in store to make. I look into the kitchen and it doesn't even seem like they started my order. After another 10 minutes I received my food, I get home and am ready to enjoy this meal but soon realized that the orange chicken is raw, every single piece was raw. read more

The service: 5 stars- super helpful when ordering and HONEST The ambiance: casual The contraptions they bring the dumplings out in: fascinating The dumplings: yummy The price: reasonable read more

Food is good but service was horrible. Ordered ahead and had to wait an extra 30 minutes. Then they didn't give us the drinks so we had to go back. Then we get home and missing two servings of spring rolls and a fried rice side. For $62!! Ridiculous. Make sure you double check your food before you leave. read more

Server seems like she hates her job and doesnt wanna be bothered by customers.. got very nasty with other customers telling them they were only doing take-out only. read more

Ugly Dumpling Express - Entire seating area other table is people waiting for take out - Chinese Near Me - Holmdel, New Jersey

Not your typical restaurant... no waiters nor waitresses. You order at the front and take a seat. The kitchen staff brings the food to you. The decor is pleasant. Clean and fresh. Not too dark and not overly bright. Love a clean toilet. Most importantly, the food was authentically Chinese and very flavorful. My lunch for my wife, 5 yr old son and myself, set me back $51. It felt like McDonald's but I felt like I need to tip. I left 15%... $7. Considering you dispose of your garbage, this may not be require tipping. What are your thoughts? read more

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The restaurant offers a self service kiosk with plenty of options. I had the recommended Chicken XLB and it was decent. I would eat here again if I'm in the area and want something quick. read more

Ugly Dumpling Express - Chicken XLB (6) - Chinese Near Me - Holmdel, New Jersey

Place is just ok. First off all the wings are amazing ! But that's about it ! Don't bother with anything else the string beans don't travel well for delivery because they get soggy, the big baos are more dough than filling and the beef soup is not my thing. There is no ambiance because this place is casual / more pick up and delivery. Service is very nice but the food is eh read more

This is purely for the boba tea. So good and hits the spot. I tried the brown sugar boba and it was delicious. Probably a TON of sugar in it but I felt like treating myself. Place is nice inside and bigger than I thought. If I stop in again, perhaps I'll try the food! read more

Hello yelpers this is my explanation of the new UDX ugly dumping express in Holmdel. This was Cheeseburger Cheeseburger in its past life and I cant explain why they didn't last but UDX is in a good place. The concept here is like an airport restaurant in a busy strip mall. You walk in and order from a kiosk the counter people will call your name when your order is ready. There's no glamor no hospitality just fun food. What is weird is they give you your cup at the counter but you get your food from another window. Nobody explains this not even a sign describing the unusual procedure. Most people aren't aware of soup dumplings which is their signature dish but other Chinese food items are more familiar. Prices are fair so you can order several things. The portions are small and everything comes served in a to go box or bowl even the lid is there for you. Service and hospitality are non existent in fact I'm sitting in the dining room right now and watched a few people leave while waiting for a kiosk and the 2 girls behind the counter weren't even interested in asking someone to the counter for assistance. At one point they were having a fairly loud laughing session with one of the kitchen workers. It is bright and clean in here very modern and sleek. Remember this place is open only a week or two while I'm writing this. I had a noodle dish which was not bad but lacking in any wow or presentation. I ordered the fried pork bun which I enjoyed, in fact they were very good. I also had the soup dumpling combo which was okay but not great. I'm sure the thing here is their new staff and lack of management present at 7:30p on a Saturday. This is prime dining time and there's less than 10 diners in here. I expect a wait since the concept and location are super new. The other issue is they offer a combo meal on their menu and online but there was a post it note saying "NO COMBO"... WTF? I'm not warning anyone to stay away try it yourself it's good different food at fair prices. But it's fast food so get ready to eat not be welcomed or wowed. If you want to try real Chinese dumplings check out Shanghai Bun in Matawan to compare to UDX. read more

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would put zero stars if applicable. do not support this business unless u support racism. entire staff fired under new management because they aren't chinese. food is also mediocre with the new staff. they are all 14 year olds now. such a shame i used to love this place.... their pork dumplings used to be so good but now with these changes everything has gone downhill. do not spend your money here. read more

Food is average, but not as bad as reviews say. Popcorn chicken was pretty good The fried rice isn't bad. Not too much flavor, but not too oily either. Fried chicken, was supposed to be soy garlic flavor, but really not as good soy garlic fried chicken that you'd get from a Korean fried chicken restaurant. Ok, I'll admit the orange chicken was not good at all. No flavor. read more

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It's more like 2.5 stars. Why? The food was ho-hum. Had dumplings and had steamed buns. No wow factor except for the price. Too pricey. Nice place. Nice workers. Plenty of parking. But? Nice bag though. read more

Not as good as the Edison location. Way more fast food quality. Soup dumplings stuck to paper, noodles over sauced and very little chicken. Cucumber salad had huge chunks and weak dressing. Manager was very nice but could not overcome the average food read more

I love this place the food is amazing.We live everything from the rice and noodles to the soup dumplings! read more

Ugly Dumpling Express - Spicy Pork Wontons (8) - Chinese Near Me - Holmdel, New Jersey

Food is ridiculously expensive and very bland. Place is very clean, service is good. Not the best food for the price.

Last week, is the first time we tried it. No table service. You order at a kiosk. We asked about the wonton soup, what size it was, the girl at the register didnt know what a quart was?!! The wonton soup was a small bowl, and it was OK. I Ordered Spicy Chicken dumplings, they were also... OK. The sesame noodles, they were the WORST Iv'e ever had!! Horrible. Almost to the point where I got a little nausoeus. I dont know what the hell was in the bowl. It wasnt sesame sauce, tasted like cleaning solution. Overall experience....not good...just barely OK. read more

Trust me- the plain fried rice and the green beans are incredible. That alone can be a full meal for two! But their honey chicken is honestly hit or miss. The dumplings did not travel well for delivery so I'll have to eat in the restaurant for a fair review. They were delicious though! The flavor was great and the texture of the dough was perfect. They did deflate tho and the XLB combo we ordered wound up being kind of like a mixed broth soup lol. Can't be mad about that, it was still great. read more

this place is not good I ordered online from their website which was an easy process, it is basically hosted via DoorDash. I picked up in store, was a little early. another person was waiting as well. they brought out a bag and placed it in the pickup area - did not announce a name, no name was listed, etc. me + other person continue waiting. then finally an employee tells me it is mine. ok.. thanks. the food itself was just not good. the pork bao buns had unchewable bits in it. really low quality. the beef stir fry noodles smelled and tasted weird. the orange chicken tasted alright but looked weird. both the noodles & chicken were too expensive for the portion size. the soup dumplings were no reason to go, pretty small. we did like the scallion pancake. its been a few hours and I've had a stomach ache since I ate. I think from the grease. Would not recommend. read more

First time being at this location in hazlet it was 100/10 experience. Place was super clean staff was amazing. The manager here was amazing. Very professional.The food was delicious- I ordered pork fried rice and the cucumber salad! Would definitely come back! read more

Disappointing. The ordering was a pain. Couldn't see whole menu to make informed choices and CC was only option offered on the device. Food in my option was a little bland. The place was clean and orderly.Off my list. read more

Delicious food. Fast food with a high end vibe. All the food was so good. So fresh. Came out quickly. Staff was helpful in recommendations read more

Ugly Dumpling Express - Steamed Pork Buns (2) Scallion Pancake Ugly Dumpling's Signature XLB (5)Spicy Pork & Shrimp Wontons (8) - Chinese Near Me - Holmdel, New Jersey

Overall a solid experience. The dumplings were flavorful, the fried rice pretty good and the string beans were awesome. I like the kiosk order system and overall efficiency. Would go back for dining in or taking out. read more

I so wanted this to be good. I was warned by my Chinese friends that it wasn't gonna be, but I tried anyway. It wasn't good. I live in Marlboro and use to have occasion to go to Cherry Hill often. We would stop at Nanxiangxiaolongbao https://www.onlineorder.abcpos.com/company/nan-xiang-xiao-long-bao and order the Lucky Six Soup Dumplings for $14.00 or $2.33 a piece. Ugly is $9 for 5 or $1.80 a piece and this is not about $$$$. I would much rather pay $2.33 for quality. The shrimp in noodles from Ugly were tasteless. Nan-Xiang has a few places, but unfortunately not around here. Ugly's dumplings seem to be smaller, minimal ginger in the sauce, etc. My expectations were set by Nan-Xiang and Ugly did not live up to it. I will not return. read more

Great soup dumplings, love the combo meal options. Excellent service would 100% go again

Ambiance is really cool and modern, the food wasn't bad everything tasted pretty fresh. Survive is very slow and took them along time to get my drink. read more

ok so here's the deal with this place, it has potential. but the thing is, there is just such horrible execution of a good idea. It's a cute concept it really is but just the way that the food is served and the whole vibe of the place could be so much better. for starters, when you walk in you aren't greeted by anyone, although there is staff. Then, you order from a kiosk and wait for your bag of food to arrive on a rack. They don't even call your name as they would at similar restaurants like starbucks, jersey mikes, dunkin, etc.. I mean the lack of human interaction is a bit unpleasant but i guess if that's their whole vibe then its whatever. But also the food wasn't that exciting. If you're going to have bad service, your food has to account for it. But it really didn't. What we got wasn't bad but it wasn't good. For example the fried rice was pale and looked super plain like they just threw some scallions on top. Although it looked pretty bad, the taste wasn't horrible but sort of like it was the base for a fried rice that they expect you to cook at home. I feel bad because i feel like they could be really good but i just don't like their whole concept. read more

We ordered three or four times in two weeks when they first opened and we really enjoyed it. If you want a sit down meal or a fancy dining experience, go elsewhere. Us? Takeout and tasty dumplings is perfect and we loved their food.... until we got raw chicken in one of our orders. And I mean RAW chicken. Not a hint of white on it anywhere. Thankfully we did not get food poisoning but we won't be back for a while until they work out the issues with the kitchen. read more

site says open til 9 but kitchen closed at 830, say youre open until 8 if thats the case

Good food, quick service. The chicken wonton soup is so delicious, and the garlic soy wings were so crispy.

food was amazing. definitely coming back. Amanda took my order she was a great help. I got the orange chicken it was so good !

Some of the best food highly recommended. Service was quick easy tablet for ordering. Very clean and quiet place plenty of room to enjoy the delicious food. read more