Excellent Dumpling House

I've been eating at Excellent Dumpling for about 25 years. Tonight I was sad to discover that it has changed ownership, and no longer has the interesting menu that made this place special. There were not many choices, and the food was just OK. Fortunately there are some other good restaurants in Chinatown, but I'll miss the unique flavors of excellent dumpling and Noodle house!

This place has gone seriously downhill, and it's the saddest thing. Their one good (namesake) dish was a plate of killer fried dumplings with a savory pork and cabbage filling. They were so, well, excellent that it didn't matter that everything else on the menu was filler at best. Then, new management rolled in and decided to save money by replacing half the pork with glass noodles, carrots, and ground mystery seafood. They apparently figure that nobody would notice the difference... the only problem with this gambit is that the dumplings taste like sea dung now. Don't reward these cheapskates. Go to Vanessa's or Prosperity.

I ordered a sesame chicken/dumpling combo. I agree with AJ about the bright red mush. No dumplings arrived. After enough of the mush, I asked why my dumplings had not come and was told "the menu had changed" and what I ordered did not come with dumplings. I pointed at the description in the menu and gave a quizzical look. She said, so you want dumplings? Yes, to-go, please. I have to get back to work. She handed me a bag with ONE chicken dumpling and no sauce. Never again.

I'm a very picky meat eater, but their Sweet n Sour lunch special is amazing! Actually has vegetables in it. When's the last time you saw that at an inexpensive Chinese restaurant!?! Plus, delivery is super quick.

Some folks have complained about htis place, but my experience is that it depends on what you order here. The dumplings are great (not spectacular mind you but for the price, pretty damned good!) and as it's been mentioned by others, the scallion pancakes are awesome. I usually order the steamed shaolom pau, crab meat dumplings, and scallion pancakes. Two people eat to their hearts content for usually less than 20 bucks. Service does arrive fast so what more can I ask for?

I ordered a chicken curry lunch special with the wonton soup (50 cents extra!). not only did I not get a soup AT ALL with my order, but there about five chunks of chicken in the entire dish. the rest was a spoonful of rice and about 60 slices of onion/pepper. they should have called it the pepper curry, because there was hardly any chicken in it at all. or rice. and obviously, there was no soup. what is wrong with this place?

I got the sesame chicken. It was 90% fried batter with something that resembled chunks of fatty chicken inside. It was bathing in a bright red swimming pool of a sauce like a sweet and sour soupy syrup.