China Star Dim Sum Lounge

Good food with plenty of options at fair prices and generous portions. I really enjoyed my cocktail, Saketini. I was really excited to try the Peking Duck, but it was fine, not a standout. A bit on the dry side for my taste. The Singaporean noodles and chicken lo mein were both flavorful, and the sesame beef is a must try. Egg rolls were solid too. The only dish I didn’t care for was the egg foo young, but that’s more personal taste than quality. It’s a good sign when you see lots of Asian diners, and that was definitely the case here. The only downside was the presence of small black flies in the dining area, it got a bit tiring swatting them away from our food, though it might just be seasonal. We would come back. Overall, a nice spot for tasty and satisfying Chinese food with great value.

Great experience! An opportunity to try and share food that you wouldn't typically order. Great flavors! The calamari batter had a delicious unexpected kick. My favorite? Not sure, I'm going to have to go back again.

This is my family's go-to place for authentic Chinese food outside of Boston. You know you're in a good Chinese restaurant when there are a lot of Asians eating there. Dim Sum sizes are bigger than what you get in Boston, and cheaper too. If it's not too busy, then as soon as you sit down, the carts will swarm your table; perfect if you're hungry! It's best to go on the weekends so you can get the special weekend-only dim sum, or try to time it so you arrive when it's busy so the food is turning over with fresh dishes. Our favorite dishes are: shiu mai, steamed shrimp dumplings, shrimp rice noodle roll, chicken feet, steamed tripe, fried crab claw, egg tart, chinese broccoli, fried tofu skin roll with shrimp, sticky rice in lotus leaf, and fried stuffed dumpling, ox organ stew (weekend only), and crispy skin pork (weekend only). For dinner, food comes out really quickly too. This is family style food; big plates to share and a lot of variety. Our favorite dishes include: eight delight fried noodles, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, ginger scallion lobster, salt and pepper squid, mayonnaise walnut shrimp, flavored chicken, beef and bitter melon, braised beef brisket hot pot, and garlic green beans. It can also be noisy with tables being cleared quickly and sometimes the staff talk loudly at one another, so I wouldn't call this a romantic place. Come for the delicious food.

Whenever we come here, during dim sum or not, we always have good food served fast. Today we got crispy pork, stir fried udon, Chinese broccoli in garlic sauce and, salt and pepper squid.

Usually the food and service is great but this time the beef fried was under cooked, General Goa's chicken was so spicy couldn't really taste the flavors. Waitress was very pushy and wanted us to order the lobster, which I do not eat. Dim Sum was great but wasn't given the opportunity to explore all that was on the cart.

This is my first time eating here. The food came quickly and there was a selection like other dim sum restaurants. The wonton skin was too thick and the portions were generous. The fried taro it wasn't tasty at all. They put too much ammonia in it, so it was inedible. I took it home but had to throw it away.

The food here is good.However atmosphere is overly crowed and wait staffs are always rushing you to wrap things up so they can free the table for new customers. I especially cringed when they always grab your dimsum and stick their GLOVED fingers into the bowl touching the food with the dirty gloves to pass it onto your table. The hostess also pressured me into tipping more than the $20 I left. Tipping is a voluntary gesture of appreciation, and shouldn't be forced onto customers, it is not legal by Labor Laws. Hopefully management can improve their service quality, as we are not coming back,if we have same experience next visit.

The only Cantonese restaurant in the Boston suburbs that captures true Chinatown flavors. Their salt-and-pepper soft-shell crab, geoduck clams, and beef brisket hot pot are all incredibly authentic.

Overcooked & overpriced dim sum. My go-to is the chicken feet but I couldn't eat them here. I ordered the chicken feet with black bean sauce and when I tasted it it tasted like char sui! Red and super sweet. No, thank you! I also love tripe but neither flavors here did it for me (honeycomb in black bean sauce and another in vinegar). The tripe was greasy and left an awful mouthfeel. The dumplings and Chinese broccoli were mediocre. The Star of the show was the salt & pepper shrimp, fried and flavored to perfection! Service was decent. Their sanitary department could probably use help. Decor is typical Chinese restaurant; nothing grand. It was busy with regulars from what I could see I've definitely had better dim sum elsewhere and would not recommend or return to this establishment.

Came here before going jewelry shopping for my son. Needed a quick bite to eat. Chicken feet were not good and we ordered two. My sister loves chicken feet and got excited. It was way too sweet! Tripe was pretty decent flavor, dumplings were fine, salt and pepper shrimp were delicious and hot! They made us the wrong Chinese broccoli; we ordered it with garlic sauce and they put oyster sauce. They did re make it for us no problem. Service was alright, never asked if we needed anything or how food taste. Typical Asian dim sum place. Went to use the bathroom, saw a worker come in with gloves to wash hands, then used the bathroom with gloves, and leave the bathroom with the same gloves on after she picked her nose. Yeah that was gross. Good thing I ate already.

This is our go-to place when we want dim sum and don't want to drive to Boston. Place is always busy on weekends but they generally sit you right away if you have a small party. The ladies with their carts will make their way to your table as soon as you are seated. There's plenty of tasty choices going around. You can also order off the picture menu which is also helpful if you don't see what you want going around. Don't forget to try the watermelon drink (didn't catch the name) - it is a sweet and refreshing drink served right from a watermelon.

The ambience it's traditional Chinese restaurant. The service was decent. The dim sum dishes were mostly on the soggy side. not just one or two dishes, but a lot of the dishes had too much water in them. the shu mai for example, the corn start/flour that's in them to bind everything together was incredibly mushy. the chicken feet were way over cooked and dried out. the turnip cake had too much water. it was almost jiggly like jello. overall, it's the worst dim sum place i have ever been to in my life so far.

We went for Dim Sum for New Years day. It was 11:15am and the place was already packed full! They had a table for us. and hot tea and waters were put down. We did not even have our jackets off and the cart ladies were decending on us with all the many dishes. I asked for a picture menu so I can pick and choose and really know what I am getting. Does anyone think the cart ladies are a bit aggressive in selling their dishes? We got several dishes, many with shrimp and pork, and beef. Dumpling & eggrolls too. The best was the roasted pork belly with the crispy skin. Service was spotty at best and we had to doan our own take away containers. The mens room was not the best of cleaniness and the floors were greasy. Price was $100 with tip for the 2 of us.

We came to this place knowing that food was not going to be super authentic or great, it was just a lot closer than going into Chinatown, Boston. So we came in with lower expectations. However, our expectations were not low enough. We ordered dim sum for take out and here are some thoughts: - flavor was by far the furthest from dim sum we have had. It was unfortunately worse than some frozen dim sum that you can get at Asian Super Markets. - Everything was greasy and flavorless. - There is a lack of wok hei in the dishes.

Feels like a Boston Chinatown dining experience, only in Lowell. Have yet to try the dim sum but for a weekend lunch, it's unparalleled. The amount of food on each plate is massive, and we have twice come with major appetites and been felled by the sheer abundance on the tables both times, dragging home another two family meals' worth of leftovers. So many good authentic seafood dishes, as well as the usual Americanized Chinese that my one picky child will eat. Snappy service, food is out quickly, excellent value for what you get in portion size but also quality of food, and just an overall fun place to eat out when you have a crowd.

Great food, services and environment. The best Dim Sum in the greater Lowell area. They also have excellent other dishes. This is our family's favorite restaurant for Chinese dinner. Highly recommended.

I tried the shrimp dumplings this Saturday and it was awful. The shrimp dumpling wrapper fall off easily and not as good as before. The rest of other dim sum seems ok but not hot enough. Service is so and so....

I had an absolutely fantastic experience at China Star. This has become our go to Dim Sum spot! The place is huge with plenty of seating the wait staff greeted me with warm smiles and were incredibly friendly and fast--my water glass was never empty, and they checked in just the right amount without hovering. The ambiance was highly energetic with food carts everywhere, from the moment you are seated you start eating ! One of the carts gets there while u are taking off ur coat, they are filling water glasses and delivering tea and you are selecting ur food immediately! This made the meal even more enjoyable. Now, the food--wow. The quality was of the highest order, the dim sum here and pea pods are first rate! Savory, carts, desert carts, fried food carts, noodles the variety is substantial. and being able to just pick and choose made it such a fun experience. Every ingredient, from the fresh veggies to the dipping sauces, was top-notch. I left feeling full, happy, and already planning my next visit. If you're a fan of authentic Dim Sum or just love amazing food, this place is a must-try. Thanks again China Star!

Came here three times in past couple months, twice for dim sum Lunch. Taste: 2/5 Service: 3/5 staff try to load your table up with too much stuff you don't want before you can order and act confused if you actually try to look through and choose something from the sticky menus. Place is not clean. Novelty: 4 stars for being the only dim sum place I have heard of around here.

I really like this place for a classic dim sum vibe because they roll the cart around. It may be a little overwhelming since there's a lot of carts moving around at once and they're asking you what you want, even if you don't necessarily know what you want. When I went with my friend who speaks Mandarin, I was able to find understand more of the options that were available on each cart. Overall, pretty good dim sum in the Merrimack valley, I would definitely keep going here for my dim sum fix

This was the worst experience I've ever had in a restaurant. One of the waitresses aggressively pushed us to order a dish which was not as good as she said. When we asked her to give us the reason why the dish was so salty and in poor quality, she was very arrogant and refused to give us a reason. Besides it seemed the boss just sat over another table but also said nothing about the food quality. I never met so terrible service in US!

Overall food was good but their chow mein was very garlicky. Pork fried rice was overcooked. Appetizers were very good and egg foo young was excellent.

I'm lucky living nearby Lowell. This place is my go to for dimsum. As a dimsum snob, I would recommend this place for everyone to try. Be here as early as possible because they're always packed especially on weekends. Hard to get a parking spot. Their dimsum always hit the spot.

First we found hair in our shrimp noodle and then found a roach in our stream chicken feet. This is gross and didn't care about finishing our foods and just paid and left. Stay away until they actually clean this place, we rather drive into Boston to get dim sum and never going to eat here again.

Alright dim sum place in the countryside. Would I drive there from Boston for dim sum. No! The basics are okay and if I am in the neighborhood, I shall come back. The pork belly was phantastic. The chicken feet not so much. Shrimp dumplings were as good as Chinatown. The lobster dumplings in contrast had a mushy skin. It's hard to judge the overall food quality so I recommend to take a close look at the passing cart to determine what looks promising.

A Truly Abhorrent Experience - Stay Far Away If I could give this place zero stars, I would. My recent visit to China Star was, without exaggeration, the worst dining experience I have ever had. We came in with a group of 20 people, expecting a decent meal and a hospitable atmosphere. Instead, we were met with disgusting food, outright hostility from the staff, and an appalling level of unprofessionalism--especially from the so-called manager, Lilly. To start, we were charged for food that we never even received. The dishes that did arrive were completely different from what we ordered--and when we pointed it out, instead of correcting the mistake, the waitresses yelled at us and berated us. Let me be clear: we were treated with complete disrespect for simply expecting the food we paid for. We spent over $600 for this atrocity of a meal. And when we tried to address the issues with the owner? All we got was a hollow apology--no attempt to fix anything, no effort to make it right. An apology doesn't undo the blatant disrespect and incompetence we endured. I cannot stress enough how despicable this establishment is. From the revolting food to the profoundly unprofessional staff, this was a disaster from start to finish. I will never step foot in this place again, and I will make sure others know to stay far away. If you value your money, your time, and basic human decency, do not eat here.

I preferred the house low Mein it was delicious. The fried calamari was a lot and crunchy . And the ordered three combo meals . They gave a lot of pork fried. Yes I recommend, they did the job not being cheap with the potions.

Huge portions, the entries can feed more than 1 person. Each one of us in our party ordered and we had too much food, LOL

Originally gave four stars despite being yelled at on the phone and the dingy atmosphere. I am deducting two more stars after my last experience here. There was no service for our table. We did not get drinks for 20 minutes and by then our food was cold. Same story at other tables trying to flag servers down. The place is dirty. The cups were dirty, the tablecloths were dirty. The smell in here is not good, and I am VERY concerned about the carpeting since I witnessed a lot of food and drink being spilled during our sitting. Unless this carpet is getting steam cleaned every night, I don't know how pests could be kept away. In fact, I don't even want to come back because of it. Despite everything, this place still does a lot of business. I am puzzled as to why they have not renovated when they are PACKED all the time. This place needs concrete & epoxy floor, new lighting, paint, tables, and seating with no soft surfaces. This way, things can be wiped down between guests instead of dealing with dirty table cloths. There is also a language barrier that could be addressed by simply adding a paper menu to each table that can be marked to order dim sum. Then cart ladies can add additional marks if you take something from the cart. They also need a dedicated takeout window because the front of house does not have enough space with everyone in a confused line for seating and pick up. With these changes, I think this place could do even better.

I am a 74 year old Chinese man. I've had dim sum many times through the years. This restaurant is right up at the top of the list. wonderful flavor and hot tea made a wonderful brunch.-

Wow!!! Great service, food, and ambiance. My husband and I ordered American Chinese food. The batter was very light and delicious on the chicken fingers. The spare ribs were full of meat and not much fat. Crab ragoon had a nice and light coating. We also had fried rice, which wasn't too salty. Liked that. The vegetable low mien was loaded with vegetables on top with a nice flavor. Next time, we plan on trying some traditional Chinese food. Will definitely go back. Thank you China Star Restaurant in Lowell.

Horrible Service !! Just hurry up and order Mentality, no explanation that food come in one size only . Tried to give us food that we didn't order . Had to ask 3 times for silverware, No this and No that , No to Chinese Broccoli, which they had !!! Only one server who got a couple drinks was polite and we had 2 tables with 20 people! Won't he back to that place ever and won't recommend anyone to that place .

Tried out this dimsum place last weekend for brunch and super satisfied! They've brought back the ladies that push the dimsum carts right to your table which definitely makes the experience so much better! Overall their food was very good and the portions were decent as well. We got a variety of dimsum dishes including the chicken feet, spare ribs, chive dumplings, har gow, shumai, glutinous rice, shrimp Cheung fun, a duck dish and lo bok gao. All of these dishes came out warm and delicious!! The cheung fun, chicken feet and shumai was definitely my favorite. They were super flavorful and tasty!! Their service was great as well. The waitresses were all very attentive and the tables were pretty spread out and a decent distance from one another. Would definitely recommend if you're looking for dimsum in the area!

We have been to this place more than 5 times in the past year, food was decent that is why we keep coming back but today we have really bad experience. First, we got charge for 33 items (9 Kitchen specials, 17 Large Dim Sum, and 7 specials) and this is the picture of the " 33 items" they refer to. I like to take pictures of food before we eat so I show the waitress this, she said no it is correct # she had there. Anyway, It was my fault to that I didn't check the stamp paper when they put the food down and didn't check it before that"check lady" took the paper. Every time when we went there, I marked down how many plates we have because one time they triple charge us before, this time I do not have other proof beside pictures to argue with them because they kept saying it's correct, it's correct, you eat more and we took plates. 2. They brought out 1 pot of tea when we arrive, but I don't drink tea, only 1 of my mom friend having 1 cup of it and he said it wasn't taste good so we ask for 4 water, 1 water in plastic cup for kid, and I also order 1 Mai Tai for myself, and 1 soda for my mom's friend. Well, we got charge for 4 pots of tea, so I said this is I know for sure this # is not correct. it is not 4, they just add up # Now that lady cannot try to make her own way of excuse and said she will void the tea out(the check originally was $215) she return with new check after" void the tea out" the check was still $215, and I was like Hey! This is 3rd scam BS. I cannot believe what happened next, she said ok ok, she put a box in my 3rd years old daughter hand before i can say anything and she said your daughter take 1 more food. and that is the same price with 4 tea 3. I'm getting so annoyed how the scamming rat waitress try to scam and fool me so I wanted to pay and leave because I was embarrassed to invite my mom's friend to this place and told them this place was good. So, I pay and gave her $25 tips. Guess what!? That same waitress who never sever us came back demanding 15-20%tip, they never fill water for us, never give us straws when we ask, never give my daughter water. I never leave 15% tip in my life(at least I do 25-40%) but this time i don't even want to tip despite the # of dishes is way off from what we order and now she wanted more tips? I asked her " If you are not happy with $25 tips, I can cross it off and leave nothing" there is no such thing as 15% tip law in US isn't it?" she left swearing in Chinese

They serve a great dim sum, I always add a twin lobster with ginger scallions. Staff is super friendly, the food is fabulous with an amazing assortment. Really love how they treat families, very welcoming.

Food was gross and the drinks were even worse. Not to mention the tables were so dirty. Never again

Thank goodness for China Star! This restaurant serves up Chinatown style dishes without having to commute down to Boston for authentic dishes. They do have the typical American Chinese food too as variety. And they offer dim sum daily from 9am-3pm. Their extensive menu of these types of cuisines can be ordered for pickup, delivery, or while dining in. The restaurant setting is in a large function room with banquet furniture and a bar. And they have a huge private parking lot on the side of the building that extends to the back. Deep-Fried Salt and Pepper Pork Chops- Our favorite dish to order from here! It's fried until golden, seasoned with salt, garlic, chili pepper, and jalapeno. So good! Chicken & Corn Soup- This is so comforting. It kind of reminds me of egg drop soup but with chicken chunks and sweet corn. Best with chili oil! (ask for this on the side) Shrimp Noodle Rolls- These are just sheets of noodles rolled up with bouncy shrimp and doused in sweet soy sauce. Yum! Garlic Chicken Wings- They do not mess around! The wings were plump and there was on ton stuffed inside that black plastic container with the clear lid. The meat was juicy, the exterior was sticky, sweet, and garlicky! Overall Services: I've tried all three, pick up, delivery but only dine-in once before COVID-19, all fantastic service! The front desk is super friendly. When I used to drive home from work, I would call in advance for pick up and they always welcomed me with a smile. And everyone is wearing masks with the current precaution. Hopefully, people continue to support this establishment so they can stay in business for years to come!

We have enjoyed visiting this restaurant often with friends. We cannot wait to make a return visit when our friends return from their vacation.

The food is always great. The service is friendly and. The ambiance is good. The drinks are amazing and everything is affordable. I wish I can go here more often

I had pretty high hopes coming to visit China Star seeing how its rare to find an authentic Dim Sum place this far out of Boston and probably the only one in the Lowell area that's this big and with plenty of parking spots. Unfortunately the over all dining experience was only decent and it would be hard to pressed for a return visit. First the good parts as mentioned the restaurant is rather large so no problem seating a big party and the service was actually pretty good for a dim sum restaurant. The food that were available were pretty good and as about what you expected for a good dim sum restaurants. However, they were missing quite a lot of menu items when we were there 2pm which is understandable seeing how their Dim Sum carts ends at 3 but it was disappointing for sure. Prices definitely on the higher end as well it's probably the most expensive one I've visited in the Greater Boston region. I suppose in the future if I could visit earlier or call before to confirm if the things I was craving are still available I could give it another chance.

Went to dim sum with my boys this afternoon at China Star Dim Sum in Lowell and the food was fantastic. With so few places on the North Shore to eat dim sum, China Star is a welcome sight outside of Boston's Chinatown and Quincy's Asian community restaurants. I grew up eating dim sum with my father on Sundays (back then it was only available in Chinatown on weekends) before Celtics' games and have carried on this dim sum tradition with my own boys. It's a great relaxing meal that gives you an opportunity to eat and socialize with the people your with. Whether your adventurous and new to dim sum or if you've been many times China Star has dim sum for all tastes and styles. We ordered shrimp dumplings, turnip cake, steamed pork buns, spare ribs in black bean sauce, shrimp rice noodle, pork dumplings, scallop dumpling and sugared egg custard rolls for the end. The food is fresh and hot and the service is fantastic! Dim sum at. Gina Star is served in the traditional manner whereby servers walk around the restaurant pushing carts with lots of small plates and you select the dishes you wish to eat. I was so busy eating this trip that I forgot to snap some pics of the food, but we'll be back and I will update my review then. Go and try dim sum at China Star and you won't be sorry!

Best authentic Chinese restaurant in Lowell! Plus awesome drinks! Dim Sum is great also!

Great food, fresh shrimp & veg. Great service, authentic Chinese like Chinatown but without the drive and parking expense of Boston. Cool drinks too but I couldn't have any cause I'm driving. Full and happy. Great way to spend a Friday or any night. Love China Star Lowell, Cheers!! :-)

Ok so China Star isn't my favorite place for dim sum but it'll do... There aren't too many good options in NH so it's a pretty well known fact that you have to make the trek down to Lowell for good Asian eats. Not sure if it was because there wasn't much turnover on a rainy weekday but some of the food we got from the dim sum carts was kind of cold so that was a little off-putting. It's also pretty odd that they keep a bottle of tabasco sauce on the tables... So I usually judge a dim sum place by my dim sum staples: hargow, shumai, and shrimp rice noodle rolls. Unfortunately most of these were a little cold. Taste-wise, I wasn't getting much flavor from the hargow and I wasn't totally satisfied with the dumpling wrapper either. Texture could have been better. The shumai was pretty solid though - not the best, but good enough. The shrimp rice noodle rolls were cold and kind of sloppily put together. I was surprised by how much I liked their red bean sesame balls. Good crispy texture on the outside and it was wonderfully chewy with slightly sweet red bean paste on the inside. I don't have much of a sweet tooth so this was perfect. The egg tarts were just okay. You can find fresher tasting ones in Boston's Chinatown. Overall, China Star is ok and will satisfy a craving although it is a little pricey.

Most of the foods were way too salty. Besides the food, one time I parked at KFC to walk to the soccer field with my kids and one of the employee accused me of parking at their lot and will call the tow truck on me. He said he saw me parked at their lot. I told him if he knows which car, tow it then. I don't know what he accomplish by accusing me. Now they lost a customer forever.

I liked this place for quick food and the dim sum was pretty good, but I'm traumatized now. We ordered steam pork bun and had extra to take home, so I took the leftover for work and I opened it up and found a bug! Not sure how they could miss something this big in a mix, but now I can't even bring myself to go back there. Staff was ok, but they kept trying to get us to get more food than we needed.

I've continued to get dinner takeout here recently as well as dim sum takeout- everything has been very good. The siu mai dumplings are so good and really generously large sized ($5.75 1 order). Har Gow ($6.95). The dim sum prices on the higher end, but it at least is good quality. Great choice for the area.

Hmm it's okay. It's quick and conveniently located. The recipes may have changed since my last visit but I tasted sesame oil in almost everything I ate including steamed roast pork buns. What? And I'm very partial to steamed roast pork buns so I've had them pretty much at every dim sum place I go. Chicken feet and other things also had sesame oil. I'm not sure if they usually have it as an ingredient but I've never tasted it so obviously. Regardless, it was okay otherwise. I'm still on a hunt for my favorite dim sum place but this will scratch the itch unless the sesame oil is the new signature. The price is also decent for what you get so I think it's worth going as long as the price doesn't go up too much. Parking is also pretty convenient as they have their own lot which is great.

We order from here all the time. We live down the street and always order the C21 plate. Today, I placed a pick up order for the same plate, and when I got home I realized they left out the spare ribs and there was a lot less rice than usual. I called them up immediately and the owner answered. When I mentioned the missing spareribs and rice, he proceeded to tell me the spareribs are on the rice to the right of the plate and I should see the other apps in there as well. He told me he plated most of the plates himself so the spareribs should be there, how their rice portions are portioned out and blah blah blah. I told him there isn't spareribs on my plate, otherwise I wouldn't be calling and the rice portion is way less than normal. After some back and forth, he agreed to have the food delivered and thanked me for letting them know of their mistake so they don't repeat it in the future... seemed like they were willing to fix THEIR mistake until the delivery guy came by. He told my boyfriend he was standing right next to them when they were plating our order and he saw them put the spareribs in. Clearly insinuating we were lying about some spareribs and rice! SPARERIBS AND RICE! I get this was the delivery driver and not the owner but I'm sure the driver said this for a reason. This isn't the first time they've messed up our order but this will be the last time they get my money. My neighbors warned us that this place always messes up the orders but we thought we'd try them anyway. People make mistakes but own up to it and don't question a customers integrity. This is just bad bad service. I'll gladly spend my money elsewhere and I suggest you do the same.

Took my entire family out to dinner and we loved the experience. Good service, drinks and food! Hostess and wait staff were lovely and hospitable. Our server gave recommendations and specials of the day. A bit pricier than most Chinese restaurant but their dishes were excellent. We really had a wonderful time!

Below mediocre. After we sat down waiter serves us few glasses of water and 2 glasses had some thing in it. Later we asked for the menu, the menu was disgusting greasy and it seem that they never wiped it or cleaned it. We ordered dim sum for lunch, the review for the food is mediocrities and disgusting. 1) chicken feet tasted like sour, it was spoiled and tasted nasty 2) hot and sour soup tasted like a spoon of vinegar with chili oil, we complained about it but instead of take it off from the bill the waitress just exchange it for to a burnt turnip cake, when we complained about it she said this "it tastes better crunchy and a bit burnt " WTF... I thought she was kidding. No, she wasn't kidding, she walked away after that words of wisdom 3) the pork in the congee tasted rancid probably was recicle meat from some unsold roast pork 4) there was a big piece of I don't know what is in the shuimai. is white, I assumed is soft bone. 5) tea pot was dirty with some tea leaves on it, it was with some tea stain on it, I think they didn't cleaned it and just reuse Overall: terribly bad... With stomach ache we flushed down $100 in the toilet

Dim sum in Lowell, where have I been all this time?! I often stay in Nashua, NH and Boston isn't really that far but after having discovered an authentic full -service dim sum place from coworkers, this really makes it so much easier for a comforting brunch without having to plan a day trip in Boston! China Star is your typical dim sum place, similarly themed, offering all of the popular dishes such as various shiu mai's, har gow, chow fun rice crepes, chicken feet, Bbq pork riblets, Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce, crispy taro dumplings, sweet tofu dessert, etc. with the hospitable, sometimes pushy, older ladies serving them in steam carts and stamping your ticket as you order. Also has a menu to order food from and with live lobster/fish tank as well for those who want a grander dining experience. The quality of the food is good, and just like any other place, food needs to rotate and sell faster for fresher/hotter food so keep that it mind! The service is up to par with every dim sum place I've been to, as soon as you sit there are carts rushing towards you and waiters bringing tea and water or anything else you may need. Definitely a place I'd always have in mind as an option for weekend brunch when in the area. Oh and can't beat this.. they got a large and FREE parking lot. Take that, Chinatown!

Honestly I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews here! The way the dim sum works is a little busy and confusing at first, but we just asked them and they were happy to explain it! I've been here for the dim sum and the regular dinner and both food and service are great! I like how open it is, and how any server walking by will help you and ask if you need anything so you don't have to flag down your specific server like at most restaurants.

Met some former work colleagues for dinner here recently. PRO- Our waiter was attentive despite it being busy. Many Asian families eating here, which I took to be a good sign, that the food was good. We ordered the usual (to share) Poo-Poo platter & some really good sizzling green beans. Someone added in an order of shrimp fried rice too. I liked all the food, but the shrimp fried rice was just ok. We didn't think we'd eat it all, but we were surprised after dinner to find very little left. Mai Tai's & Scorpion Bowls all around & were very good. And our waiter kept our water glasses topped up very well with cold ice water. CON- The shrimp fried rice was just ok. Very small shrimp in it. Lotsa rice, not so many veggies either. It was just ok. SO - If you are in the neighborhood (or in Lowell) my friends & I can recommend a stop at the China Star for dinner.

food fell off, rude workers. Waitress complained the tip wasn't enough even though it was $25 for a $200 bill

I could drive to Boston, fight and pay for parking to dine in Chinatown...or eat here less than a mile with free parking! Whenever my family is feeling dining out for chinese without going to the buffet, we come to China Star. They have the usual dishes for lunch and dinner. I always go for General's Chicken, but it's a bit thick and hard to chew here. If you come early in the morning enough, they do serve dim sum. Much more enjoyable than my usual orders. I love chicken's feet, sticky rice, shrimp, and dumplings.

Good, predictable.... Nice complement of shellfish. .... Asian comfort food. Take the family, not the girlfriend. Go for lunch, think about someplace else for dinner