Mr Dumpling Restaurant
7250 Convoy Ct, #B,
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 576-6888
www.mrdumplingsd.com/
I tried Mr. Dumpling a while back, though I didn’t have my camera with me. My experience was extremely disappointing. I didn’t like a single dish. So I didn’t think I’d ever be back. However, I heard good things about their hot pot.
This past weekend, as I left Ranch 99, I noticed this sign for a hot pot special. All you can eat for $18! I had been craving hot pot, so it was perfect. Boyfriend and I came back later that night to check it out.
When we got there, there were very few customers. There were maybe 6 tables, and everyone was eating hot pot. After we sat down, the waitress explained the hot pot to us. The All you can eat was limited to a certain section of the menu. Basically no seafood is included. So this is what is included:
Also, you are automatically charged $1.50 for sauce, whether you want it or not. This was a bit annoying because neither Boyfriend and I even wanted to use the sauce as the food is pretty flavorful with the broths. Also there is an $8 charge for the pot and you can choose two types of broths. So it ended up being about $23.50 per person instead of $18.
There are four kinds of broth to choose from. Neither Boyfriend and I like the spicy ones normally. The heat of the hot pot and the spice can be overwhelming. So I chose the two non-spicy ones. The broths has a bunch of herbs and reminded me of the one at Little Sheep, though not as many different herbs.
The staff was really attentive. Our food came out really quickly. Halfway through the meal, I noticed that the all you can eat hot pot is supposed to come with a free seafood plate. I asked the waitress about this and she said “You didn’t get yours?” No…so then she brought out this plate. It was pretty small..
We ordered a lot of lamb and beef. The meat quality is not as great as the ones at Little Sheep, but probably on par to other hot pot offerings in San Diego.
We also ordered the lamb meatballs, which I really liked. I was surprised to see they were fresh, rather than frozen prepackaged ones.
Here’s some other stuff we ordered:
All in all, I thought the experience was alright. I didn’t like the hidden charges. The price ended up being the same as some other restaurants that I’ve eaten all you can eat hot pot at in San Diego (DeDe’s, Shanghai City, Golden City). There were some offerings that I don’t usually see at the other restaurants like lamb, lamb meatballs, different noodles. However, the other restaurants also offered seafood. I usually order seafood like fish and fish balls, so it was a little frustrating that none of the seafood was included.
Here’s the rest of the menu not included in the all you can eat:
I’m always in the mood for hot pot. =) I like Little Sheep. Can get a bit pricey if I’m super hungry though.
Hmm, I haven’t done much hot pot in LA/rowland heights. I think there is a Little Sheep there though. I like Little Sheep! Kirk would probably have a lot more knowledge.
Darn. Why is everything always better in LA! Any shabu shabu recommendations?
The menu items at Mr. Dumpling were probably some of the worst I’ve ever had at any chinese restaurant. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. Especially the dumplings!
I don’t like hidden charges either. There are a lot more herbs and medicinal items in the Little Sheep Hot pot, but the broth here is also very flavorful.
I’m not sure if Little Sheep charges a soup base in addition to their AYCE (which I think is still on Tues, but not sure).
No dumplings and no seafood. Just meat and veggies and various noodles.
Nevermind. I saw the Little Sheep mention. I could do for some hot pot now.
Have you been to Little Sheep?
lol that’s so shady about the hidden costs. damn i’m more determined than ever to finally try hot pot….do you have any favorite places in the la/rowland heights area?
Hey Kibie – I was wondering about the AYCE hot pot after seeing the sign. It sounds that the hot pot is much better then the menu items, most of which are terrible. BTW, shabu-shabu in San Diego is terrible…. save up for when you go to LA! ;o)
And I need to try hot pot! 🙂
That totally makes me irate w/ the hidden charges! But doesn’t Lil Sheep do that w/ their soup base charge or something as well? But a sauce charge? WTH is that?!
The soup base looked alright here. I agree that Lil Sheep probably has more herbs?
For the AYCE, do they offer dumplings or anything else w/ it? Or just meats and veggies?
Nice post 🙂
I’ve only done hot pot..never shabu shabu. Hee hee. I need to try shabu shabu sometime.
Hi Sandy- I don’t know if they still offer it, but I had hot pot there before. It’s one of those things that wasn’t advertised. We wanted hot pot and so we called up all the Chinese restaurants in that area and asked if they had it. It was I think $20 per person for all you can eat. But it’s been a few years..
I was not fond of the food at Mr. Dumpling at all. Seeing how no one there ordered off the menu, I think that is the consensus.
Hidden charges grrrr!
I’ve only done shabu shabu, never hot pot…
Golden City has hot pot?
That advertised price is so misleading. But those lamb meatballs looked good, even raw.
I haven’t tried Mr. Dumpling yet, mostly because I haven’t heard of anyone who has had a real positive experience there.