11 Division Street, San Francisco CA 94103(415) 525-4797
Parking: small parking lot and street parking
Hours: Lunch daily 11am-3pm, Dinner Mon-Thurs 5:30pm-10pm, Fri-Sat - 5pm-11pm or sold out
https://www.dumplingtimesf.com
Last Visited: June 22, 2017
Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$
Dumpling Time calls itself "a dumpling-and-beer house from the acclaimed restaurant team behind SF's Okane, Live sushi bar and Michelin-starred Omakase." They focus on locally sourced ingredients, unique fillings and shareable plates. Fellow foodie friend Winnie suggested we give it a try.
Large glass windows and a patio are the first thing you notice about Dumpling Time. Even though it was a week night and we arrived before 6pm, the place was already packed and a line had formed outside despite there being over 70 seats. An open kitchen allows those waiting to be seated a view of dumplings being made and colorful dough (green, purple, turquoise, orange, and yellow) was out on display. The back wall is used as a projection screen and the game was showing. A couple bright neon signs have words in both English (dumpling time) and Chinese characters which say dumpling.
The menu is small compared to that of most Chinese or Japanese restaurants, but includes dumplings, baos (buns) available both steamed or pan seared, salads such as garlic seaweed salad, gyoza (pan crisped dumplings), noodles, and dessert (sweet buns).
We sat at a communal table and put in our order.
- Shrimp Toast - This is not served on toast as what you would traditionally see. Instead, it's shrimp stuffed in fried dough (Chinese style fried dough like those served with congee). I found the presentation to be nice - each piece had a parsley leaf on top of it. However, the overall mouth feel was a bit greasy. The shrimp was nicely browned and the center pieces were a little crispier than those on the ends which seemed more laden with oil. It seemed novel, but I wouldn't get it again. $8
- Xian Dumpling - The presentation of the dumplings was definitely modern and different than what you find at most places. Pork, cabbage, and green onion fill the dumplings. A small square shaped dish holds dipping sauce, but it was so small that it made dipping quite awkward. Fennel slices, microgreens, tomato halves, and slices of spicy red peppers top the dumplings. Since the peppers had seeds in them, and there was no warning that these might be spicy, I made the error of putting one in my mouth and preventing my tastebuds from fully enjoying the dumplings. Okay. $9
- Beijing Noodles - A large bowl is filled just under halfway with noodles, ground pork, green onion, ginger, and soybean paste. I also think there was lemongrass in the dish. The sauce leans more on the dry side. While the flavors are strong and the noodles have good texture, there isn't much in the bowl and this serving may not be sufficient to fill one person. It's more like an appetizer size. Okay. $9
- Trio of Buns - Green tea and milk bun, beet and taro bun, egg yolk bun. The novelty of this dish is the colorful dough and the variety. The green tea flavor was mild and the milk custard filling was equally light. The beet bun is very pretty and the taro filling inside was the most prominent in flavor compared to the others. The egg yolk bun was just ok - nothing special. $5.50
Noise levels are very high no matter where you sit in the restaurant. We were almost yelling or asking one another to repeat much of our conversation because of the noise levels.
Service was okay, but the servers were not particularly knowledgeable. When we asked what was inside the buns, we were told by the server that it was her first day, so we had to ask someone else. This indicated the lack of training since if you're bringing the dish, you should know what's in it. If you're looking for tapas style dumplings and noodles and a different spin on presentation, you'll enjoy Dumpling time. If you're looking for a lot of food for good prices, you may want to stick to more traditional dumpling shops.
Note also that they charge the SF Mandate tax of 4%.
