Qing Dao Bread Food 青島饅頭

So good authentic dumplings. I love it here. Love the garlic sauce. Ask for their chili oil!!  It's so good to mix it. So glad my coworker recommended this place.

Decent spot but nothing special that stood out for me. The restaurant is pretty small so it feels crammed. We got their wonton soup, pan fried dumplings and cold apps. The apps were meh - the beef was really dry and chewy but the seaweed salad was good. The dumplings were okay - nothing special. However, I did love their dank ass garlic sauce.

Decent dumpling spot. I love that their dumpling wrapper is thin which gives more fillings. Every bite of dumpling is juicy. We also ordered wonton soup and beef tendon appetizer. Beef tendon was way overcooked and it was so hard to chew. It taste like it was premade and left in fridge. Wonton soup was okay. Wonton was alittle tiny and soup was a little too much white pepper. However I did enjoy the pan fried dumplings. You can also order frozen dumplings to go!

I love their sauce!!!! The best ever. So gingerly garlicky and unique. Wonton soup was bland tho wonton itself was good. Potstickers and buns were decent.

Yelp Reviews: Quarantine Edition #20

Gimme them thicc ass dumpling skins!

This place has that dumpling house dive/hole in the wall feel you see all over China and much of SGV, but it's even more minimalist now with the Quarantimes! Whereas there was at least a table or two inside to dine in uncomfortably before, now you can't eat inside and you have to pantomime your order if you can't speak any Chinese. If you can overcome these barriers, this place is a dependable option for Northern-style Chinese dumplings.

One side of my family's ancestral roots are in Shandong Province, where the owners of Qingdao Bread Food originally hail from, so I'm used to the taciturn, stoic demeanors of Shandong people... like Tennessee, the Volunteer State, Shandong is known for bangers and brawlers. Don't be put off by the gruff folks that operate this place; they're like that no matter who you are and whether or not you speak Mandarin.

It's been a while since I've been here but I stopped by as I drove through the area because the Bibigo and Ling Ling dumplings you get at Costco just aren't doing it for me right now. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of interrupting the old uncle manning the place as he was reading his newspaper, so his terse response probably should have been expected. The following conversation happened in Mandarin:

"Hello, what are your most popular dumplings?"

He scowls, "They're all good. They all sell well."

I peer at the menu, "You mean to say that everything here sells well?"

He scrunches up his face even more, "I make these dumplings all day. I wouldn't make them if they didn't sell."

Okay then. I decided to order a bag of frozen cabbage and pork dumplings (classic) and call it a day.

Dumplings and noodles are hearty foods and there's perhaps no place that does it better than Shandong, I'm  big on thick dumpling skins and the skins here are THICC, with some slight chew... good dough work. The cabbage and pork filling is juicy and flavorful, although they might pop out if you don't keep your eye on them as they cook.

Whether as potstickers or boiled, the dumplings here are quality goods for home cooking. At about 40 dumplings for $22, it's a decent price too: word to the wise, if you're paying more than fifty cents a pop for frozen dumplings, they better have premium fillings or you sir/ma'am are getting bamboozled!

Some reviews say they take credit card now, but apparently not today: BRING CASH. If you're a veteran dumpling fiend and live out of the area, make sure you bring a cooler or other temperature insulated solution; they give you the frozen dumplings in a Ziploc bag and then wrap the bag in a bundle of Chinese newspapers... as far as I know newspaper doesn't have special insulating properties, even if it's in Chinese, so if you're driving from afar plan accordingly.

One of the first stops on a mini dumpling tour I did with a friend. Very yummy! CASH ONLY!

What I ate:
- Sole and chinese parsley dumpling: Super delicate in flavor, brightened up by the chinese parsley. This was delicious!

Pros:
- The dumplings we got were amazing. Super delicate in flavor. Curious to try other flavors
- Price is right.
- You can order frozen dumplings to take home. While I was there eating, most of the people coming in were getting frozen dumplings to go
- Boiled and pan fried dumplings. Very homestyle.
- Small parking lot

Cons:
- Super mom/pop kind of place - very few tables inside. But you're not coming in for the décor. Absolutely no frills, but you don't need them!
- CASH only!
- Not much English

Would I come again? Yes

They take credit card now!

The dumplings here are delicious. You can get them either steamed or pan fried. The pan fried versions are interesting because they put them in a pan with a bit of corn starch slurry in the bottom which crisps up and results in a bit of a dumping star; all the dumplings are stuck together by a delightfully crispy bottom crust.

My wife and I are pescatarian so we generally only get the vegetable dumplings and the sole with leeks dumplings. They are very tasty! All the dumplings are served with a saucer of garlic for topping. Let me warn you that this garlic is raw and POTENT. Seriously, if you take too much of the garlic you can get what feels like a chemical burn on your tongue. Not to mention the garlic breath!

You can also get bags of frozen dumplings here which are great by themselves and also great to throw in some instant ramen!

The employees are friendly, but their English might be a bit limited. The menu is in English and you mark off what you would like, though, so the communication might not be too much of an issue. The interior of the place is also nothing to write home about, but it does not detract from the food!

There is a parking lot in the back which is usually not super busy.

Very average restaurant in terms of taste and service, limited selection and it takes them long time to serve your food. Food tasted very plain.
I will only come here for convenience when I am in the neighborhood.

Haven't been to this little hole-in-the-wall in years but boy is this now my new favorite dumpling and noodle restaurant!

The place was empty (love it already) and the food came quickly (double love!)

We had complimentary hot tea.  An order of beef dumplings. And we had two soup noodles: one lamb soup (clear broth) and the other beef.  

The dumplings were large and numerous (12 for $9.99).

The lamb noodle soup tasted authentic and came with a huge portion of lamb!

The beef noodle soup was perfect and also came with a good amount of beef, and we even requested vegetables (A).

And the portions!! Just look. Seriously.

I've really come to rely on this place as a convenient/comfort food place! The quality of the dumplings is consistently good, the service is quick and no-nonsense. I also regularly get the frozen 50 dumplings for $20 for a quick weekday meal at home. I'm from Qingdao, China, and I really enjoy how authentic this place it. The chefs/servers speak in my dialect and details down to the raw garlic/vinegar dip that accompanies the dumplings are all very authentic.

Since switching to a pescatarian / vegetarian diet, I've been sticking with the vegetarian dumplings that are pan fried. The crunchy base goes really well with the doughy, yet not too thick skin of the dumplings. The vegetarian dumplings are filled with mushrooms, leek, and other vegetables I can't identify, but it's super soupy. Comparable to Xiaolongbaos or soup dumplings. I usually bite a small opening to let the steam run, and then dip the dumpling in the garlic vinegar dip. It's super delicious! The garlic dip is strong though and not for everyone. Raw garlic is pungent and stinging. But I won't have it any other way!

I haven't tried any of the side dishes, since that is not really the focus of the store. But if you're in the mood for really good quality dumplings, you can't go wrong with this place! Don't forget to get a bunch of frozen ones for a quick bite at home - beats instant ramen and takes about the same amount of prep time!