As the name states, the Ugly Dumpling offers a wide variety of different dumplings to its customers. Some of the dumplings offered at the restaurant include pork, chicken, and crab. There are some mild and spicy dumplings for customers who like a little spice in their life as well. The menu is also diverse with many different Chinese dishes as well. The menu offers noodle dishes as well as some vegetarian options and gluten free options. The nice thing about the menu itself is that it states what is vegetarian and gluten free. The restaurant also offers a Chef’s Specialty menu which is held from Monday – Thursday, from 11AM to 4PM. This choice of the menu offers a variety of lunch combos for $14.95, and also offers the choice where a customer can make it a boba combo with an additional price of $3.50. 

I went to the Ugly Dumpling location in Edison with my friends. I personally ordered the orange chicken and the kurobuta pork XLB soup dumplings. The dish was sweet and had a lot of sauce. There was a crunch to each piece, however it was also soft. There was a good balance between the two. The next dish that came out was the Kurobuta Pork XLB soup dumplings. 

The dish came out with six dumplings, all steaming when I opened the dumpling steamer. I had to wait a little bit because I personally do not like eating hot, steaming food. However, my friends ate their dumplings when it first came out. The dumplings had to be eaten a certain way. The menu explains how to eat a dumpling, biting a small piece from the top at first. After waiting a while, I bit the top and ate the dumpling. The dumpling itself was steamy and hot – you could tell it was fresh. The soup was not spicy at all, however it had flavor for the mouth. 

For each dish, I will be rating on a scale from 1-10 based on flavor. 1 will be the lowest rating while 10 will be the highest rating, meaning the dish had an amazing flavor to it. I will also rate each dish on a scale from 1-5 based on the appearance of the dish. 1 will be the lowest rating while 5 will be the highest rating, meaning the dish’s appearance was amazing. 

The orange chicken exceeded my expectations. I personally had many different varieties of orange chicken from different Chinese restaurants. The flavor at Ugly Dumpling was different however. The sweetness of the chicken really brought the dish out to me. It wasn’t too sweet, however it was the perfect amount of sweetness. It was mildly spicy, however my spice tolerance is high so the spice did not really affect me at all. Overall, I give the dish a 9/10 on flavor. I do wish it was more spicy, however if you do not like spice then your ratings could differ from mine.

There was nothing particularly breathtaking about the appearance of the dish. The chicken was just plopped on a plate with the sauce all on top and around it. I would rate the appearance a ⅗ as there was nothing breathtaking about the appearance. 

I tried the kurobuta pork XLB soup dumplings next. I have never had a dumpling before, so this was my first time trying one. Overall, it was not bad for my first one. The flavor I got was generally basic and nothing crazy. The soup inside the dumpling was satisfactory as well. It was nothing spicy, nothing sweet or sour. I reminded myself of eating chicken soup as it was basic. I give the dish a 6/10 on flavor. There was nothing exciting about the flavor of the dish however it is a good dish to start off on if you haven’t tried a dumpling before. It did not taste bad whatsoever, however it was basic.

The presentation was well executed. The dumplings were served in a dumpling steamer. Each dumpling was spaced evenly out too. I rate the presentation a 4/5. There could have been more added to the presentation. 

Sophia Fernandez joined me in this tasting. She gave the tasting of the dish a 7/10 on the tasting scale. Fernandez has stated that “The chicken had a nice tanginess to it that balanced very well with the sweetness. It was also pretty crispy which made it even better to eat. I wouldn’t consider it a 10/10 because although well-balanced, the flavor could’ve been more interesting with more spices to compliment it. It definitely wasn’t bland, but at times just a bit boring.” Overall, Fernandez did not think the dish was a bad entree. Fernandez recommends it to someone who doesn’t want dumplings.

Overall, when I went to the restaurant, it was very clean and beyond my expectations. The waiters were very professional and nice. My party was seated as soon as we got in. The food was spectacular. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants to expand their food pallet or to anyone who wants some good dumplings!