Restaurant Review: The Dickson Dumpling House

I’ve written a fair number of reviews up for this business on other sites to ensure they do not delete/doctor my review. They already deleted it from their google reviews page.

My partner and I entered one night – a week after we moved to Canberra – to try it for dinner. Half the tables were empty and we were left waiting over 5 minutes when staff walked past us. One staff eventually came over and ask if we’ve booked….
This is the first time we had asked for a booking and we had eaten at a lot of Dickson establishments over the week without issue.
Then he said we had to book before 7pm and when we walked into the door it was 6:15pm but clearly we weren’t going to be seated or served. So we left. We went to Tag Agra afterward and had a great meal and service and it was very professional, unlike here.
We won’t be coming back here – ever. After reading others experiences here similar to what we received and other situations that would make you cringe, we will be giving this place a huge swerve.
But what makes me more angry is THIS was our experience and I posted it and they deleted it. So how many other negative reviews have you deleted? Not only rude, but clearly dishonest. Read the other 1-2 star reviews on other sites of this place….. you’ll cringe…

We’ve been there twice and won’t be going back – last time they brought out the dumplings, said they were getting the sauce, then forgot they were getting it until we reminded them, so we had lukewarm dumplings.

They delivered my husbands main and seemingly forgot mine – he got halfway through before I could get their attention and they told me my meal was coming. 10 minutes later I told them to cancel my meal, they went to the kitchen and told me it was ready now so could I please wait a moment, then it was another 5 minutes before they brought my main out!

On the bright side, I’m now keener to try the Shanghai Dumpling cafe.

We went there a couple of weeks ago and the service was shocking. The food was pretty ordinary also. I will be saving my dumpling fixes for my trips to Sydney

The Dickson Dumpling house has , in my humbe opinion, the BEST Peking Duck in Canberra. The succulent meat and super tasty sause is just divine. At the the dumplings are a real treat too. We have been there each week since it opened. The prices are reasonable and the quality excellent. My Tips
– peking duck
– eggplant hotpot
– any of the fried dumplings with soy and chili sause – yum
PS: to those above noting service failing, there a grain of truth. There have difficulty with getting the galsses and wter bottle even after numerous requests. Best ot go with the tea (which is tasty and hydrating).

JPL aka Sugarpuff

The Shanghai Dumpling Cafe is also very good for Chinese food and also cheap – under $15 per head (and provide oolong/pu er tea, rather than jasmine). They have ‘shanghai dumplings’ which are (sort of?) xiaolongbao, but they are only little (not the big ones that you can get in China). However, they do have the soup/broth inside them. Try the cucumber and garlic (cold dish) – no one will talk to you for days, but worth it. Also the rice cake dishes (actually kind of a noodle, sticky and glutinous. Yum).

MsCheeky: I was told by a friend of the owner that they have xiaolongbao at the Shanghai Dumpling Cafe, the new place on Childers Street under Kinloch Lodge. Couldn’t see them on the menu when I went, though, so maybe not for the rest of us.

Johnboy, it’s probably a bit of an ask, but do they have shao long bao (a shanghai specialty dumpling)? They’re absolutely my favourite dumplings, and I’d make the trek from over the border to eat them.

it’s ok, busgirl. she never attacked a dumpling to which she hadn’t been introduced… ; )

astrojax said :

walked the dog past here the other day

Better not tell Dogwalker that…he might have a friggin’ fit….

I wrote the review for an audience that already knows that round-eyes do not get good service at cheap, tasty, chinese joints.

It’s not racism, it’s just that we’re hard to understand pains in the arses to them.

Low prices, good service, good food, pick any two.

If you’re unfamiliar with that trade-off then perhaps best to give it a miss.