Dumpling King Express

I am working the law of averages as things stand to get this place’s rating to where it should be. I don’t honestly think it’s five stars, but I think it’s four stars for what it is, and I think two stars is a bit harsh, ergo this review.
This establishment is called Dumpling King Express, not «soup dumpling» King Express. I have had the boiled and fried meat dumplings, both which are solid offerings from a place which pumps a dozen of them out to you in ten minutes for a reasonable price up to nearly midnight most nights. They are comparable in filling and dough consistency to SeaBay. I also recommend their fried eggplant with sweet chili sauce, which was admittedly a bit oily on takeaway but probably fares better if eaten in store. As a sit down meal, I’ve also tried the hand drawn noodles, which are again, a solid and tasty dish given the price and the ease of this venue. The interior is clean, and the staff were happy to fetch me chili and vinegar to go with soy on my dumplings. For a local and cheap Chinese takeaway shop, this place is pretty much perfect.

I came here because I’m addicted to the Xiao Long Bio (Shanghainese dumplings with soup inside) and didn’t feel like lining up for 30+ minutes at Din Tai Fung and paying $ 12 for 6. So this place said they have it … the price is pretty much half of DTF but there’s a reason why.
The dumpling skin is HARD … and there’s barely any soup inside. When u bite into it, its pretty much all pork inside. Which, in my opinion, is unacceptable. A proper XLB has a good balance of both, with soft textury skin on the outside.
They also have noodles, etc, but what’s the point when your main product sucks? This is not a noodle bar ‚., its a dumpling bar!