Darling

4 out of 5 stars. Great drinks at Darling! Based on the variety of cocktails available compared to food, I get the feeling that Darling is more of a cocktail lounge vs a restaurant. I really liked how the drink menu shows how the drink is served and how there is a high level description of what each drink is. I felt the food was a little heavier than I expected and would have loved some lighter options but the bao and wontons were excellent. | also felt the music was a little loud. The service was good, some of the leadership asked about our experience at the end and told us a little bit about Darling's story which was nice to hear.

New gem alert! This spot is the real deal: incredible food, creative drinks, and immaculate vibes. Honestly, "good" doesn't even begin to cover it. You can feel the passion the chefs and mixologists pour into every single dish and cocktail they serve. The decor strikes a perfect balance, creating a classy, modern atmosphere that still subtly embraces Chinese culture. Now, for the main event—the food. My absolute favorite had to be the pork ribs, which were fall-off-the-bone tender and packed with flavor. The Lo Bak Go was perfectly crispy and paired beautifully with shiitake mushrooms, while the Filet O Fish reinvents a classic by serving it inside a super fluffy bao bun. The Hong Kong Shrimp Toast is another creative must-try. Last but not least, we had their take on the famous Suan La Chow Show from Mary Chung's, and it was perfectly spicy and juicy. Every single dish was amazing, and I can’t wait to explore more of their menu. The drinks list is HUGE with plenty of quality options. I focused on the cocktails, and both were fantastic, with complex layers of flavor that kept me intrigued with every sip. I also appreciated that while the drinks are potent, they aren't watered-down like the cocktails at most mainstream bars these days. I don't say this often, but this is a place I will definitely be returning to—frequently. Great job, and welcome to Central Square!

Delicious modern dim sum food and unique drink menu. Really enjoyed the dumplings, fillet-o-fish and friend mushroom bao buns, and cucumbers that were truly a steal for only $8! Would definitely recommend the leisure suit (like a spiked mango lassi) and the french toast cocktails. Can’t wait to go back!

we enjoyed the lighting inside. it's dark but the shelves behind the bars are lit and so is your table from up top. the music was a little loud for our taste but also fit the mood. we got 6 dishes for two people and our favorites were the enoki bao, Hong you chao shou, shrimp toast, and the duck legs. we tried the two zero proof cocktails and they were both very good with fun names to boot. we'll be back to try the other cocktails and the dessert when that's ready

We were super excited to check this place out but we left a little disappointed. The drinks were really good—we got the Holy Trinity and the HK French Toast. For food we got the shrimp toast, enoki baos, chow show, chinese broccoli, fish bao, and soy sauce noodles. The shrimp toast and fish bao were our favorites. The chinese broccoli was slightly smoky but needed more flavor. The enoki baos were super crispy but were kind of dry. The chow show filling had a bit of an odd texture, but were nice in flavor. The soy sauce noodles were the most disappointing with having almost no flavor at all. Soy sauce noodles are one of my favorite things to order at dim sum and this was just not that good. Overall, great drinks but I don't think I'd come back for food.

My company had a work dinner here a couple of nights ago, and we had such a good time. The drinks were perfection, the food was so good and the meal itself was well paced. We had a group of 20, and the manager and chef worked with me to come up with a four course menu of dim sum favorites, comprising 9 dishes. We particularly loved the shrimp toasts, dumplings, ribs and broccoli. The drinks were so interesting - there is definitely something for everyone. The manager was able tor recommend some really interesting and unique spirits for folks as well over the course of the meal. Considering the size of our group, the restaurant did a great job with keeping the food and drinks coming. I can't wait to go back and sit at the bar and have some cocktails and snacks.

Precisely what Boston needed, Darling features flawlessly made cocktails and a food menu packed with bold flavors. The space was beautiful. The team’s knowledge is truly impressive.

Great food, shrimp toast was a standout. Had multiple cocktails, great variety to choose from. I loved the common trope.

Darling nails the trickiest thing to get right in a high concept bar: having terrific food AND ambitious cocktails ... and having them complement each other in a space that matches their vibe. It's a fully realized experience that shows that the team really thought through how to honor the location's culinary history (the dishes we ordered could have been made by my mother ....well, IF she was inspired by "The Bear" and modernized our family's Chinese classics, hahaha) while creating a menu of gorgeous cocktails that really work with the food, and then delivering them in a sleek yet urban environment. They preserved a really cool mural on a brick wall that they discovered when renovating - a nice touch that's right on point with the theme of the bar. Highly recommend the baos (the enoki mushroom in particular), the stir fried wheat noodles and the charred Chinese broccoli. The cocktail menu is expected to change frequently (yikes!) but the Revolver spin was luxurious and rich and the sherry/vermouth martini is a must if you're looking for something savory and bracing. The Old Fashioned variation on the menu was too syrupy (so much so that we weren't sure it was made to spec?) but when we ordered a classic Old Fashioned it was perfectly rendered. Like any brand new spot there were a few minor hiccups in service (the place was slammed by 6 pm on Sunday) but the friendly staff really hustled to make up for them - we didn't even complain but the manager proactively came over to apologize for one dish coming out late which he comped. With multiple servers working as a coordinated team it's clear that Darling is aiming for a high level of service - and judging by how much they've already accomplished it should be just a matter of time before they get there.

My fiancee and I went on their grand opening weekend w a reservation (definitely recommend one anytime soon as it was quite busy when we went on a Sunday evening ~545pm). Atmosphere: It is beautiful inside, very dive bar-y w sparce but tasteful decorations. However I will say the music is far too loud and maybe it was the sound system or the particular songs but periodically over the speakers it just sounded like feedback for like 10 seconds straight? It wasn't easy having a conversation with someone who was literally across a small 2 top table from me. Also it is quite dark in there; I had to angle my menu to the bar lighting or the lighting behind the table to glance at the menu and someone in the table adjacent to us lit up a good portion of our area when he whipped out the flashlight on his phone to illuminate the menu. There's a lot of bar seating and tables but they crammed a lot of 2 top tables into the space, I think it'd be much more comfortable if they removed just 1 table and gave everyone a few inches back (someone's butt will be in your face when they try to shimmy their way out if you're in the booth). Drinks: I got the gorgeous and arrogant (akin to a strawberry margarita) and it was very good, just enough alcohol in it with a clean strawberry taste) and my fiancee got the common trope (milk washed vodka, jasmine, lychee, black rice sake, and cucumber) and it was also very good, clean and cucumber-y refreshment on a hot Summer evening. There were no desserts available yet on the menu but our server recommended the Hong Kong french toast cocktail (cognac, peanut butter, condensed milk, and other stuff) which was very interesting (I often abhor cognac but this just tasted like a slightly alcoholic creamy peanut butter). Food: As an Asian American who grew up in NYC, I had a certain idea of what kind of food there would be here and the lack of menu on any sort of social media wasn't very helpful; all I could see advertised was dim sum with the chef's twist. We got the vegetarian options of the soy sauce noodles (akin to Hong Kong style chow mein but no gravy and very few veggies in it, which was disappointing, 95% noodles and 5% veggies), charred Chinese broccoli (was extremely lemon forward which is not common in Chinese dishes but the sesame seeds were a nice touch), and fried enoki bao (delicious and fried to a great crunch with no greasy aftertaste). The only meat option I got was the filet o fish bao, very gimmicky but I had to try it. Like the fried enoki, the fried fish (cod) was also fried to a great crunch with no greasy aftertaste but if you closed your eyes, it did taste like a filet o fish, though I would've hoped that the chef's would've made some sort of in house cheese sauce instead of the seemingly slice of American cheese that was put in it (both bao orders came with two baos). The food was different but I think if I did come back for any food, I'd probably get two orders each of the baos. Service: We had reservations for 6pm but the host was kind and seated us early ~540pm. Our server was extremely nice but was probably juggling at least 5 different tables so she got around to us when she could but couldn't be found when it was time for the check so when the host was bopping around I asked if he would be able to get us the bill and he said yes. Eventually our server came back and apologized for the wait and comp'd the french toast cocktail which was a nice plus. Won't knock her / my review for the service, I'm sure opening weekend is bananas. Before writing this review, I definitely knew I would be interested in returning for different cocktails but was unsure about whether or not I'd come back strictly for food. However now I find myself longing for both of those baos and would come back for those for sure.

I grabbed a drink here and really liked it! The spaces is very small so they don't have standing area or even walk up seats at the bar. I waited 45 min on a waitlist to get 3 bar seats but it was worth it! The drinks are so cute and thoughtfully crafted. I got the lychee drink and really liked it. Such a bonus that this is on inKind for dining rewards

Lovely and classy, an absolutely "darling" of a place. We came late so we only got to try the drinks. Loved the intimate interior and the sassy drink names. Bartenders were very experienced and our drinks were phenomenal. Highly rec the gorgeous and arrogant and the common trope. 10/10!!!

Upon arrival at opening, the host seated us directly next to another table of two. The tables were so close that we felt we were eating with them! They only gave us one menu for two people. They did this for everyone because the table next to us asked for a second as well. The food and drink were not great either. The noodles had no taste, the shrimp toast was soaked in oil, the cucumbers needed seasoning, the fish bao was cooked well but boring. The Common Trope (a lychee martini) tasted like bad pickle juice. Also, the menu was heavily focused on pork, offering no chicken or beef options for those wanting more protein in their meal. The restaurant finally started to fill up after about an hour, and when it did, it was very loud. I'll say that our server was very nice and attentive. The broccoli stood out over the other items.

4 out of 5 stars. Great drinks at Darling! Based on the variety of cocktails available compared to food, I get the feeling that Darling is more of a cocktail lounge vs a restaurant. I really liked how the drink menu shows how the drink is served and how there is a high level description of what each drink is. I felt the food was a little heavier than I expected and would have loved some lighter options but the bao and wontons were excellent. I also felt the music was a little loud. The service was good, some of the leadership asked about our experience at the end and told us a little bit about Darling's story which was nice to hear.

Bartender was not very forthcoming. I requested a milk punch. She said they were sold out, so it was no longer on the menu. A few minutes later she changed her mind and took some out of the fridge and poured one for me. So they had some but she was saving it for the "cool" customers, or something. I asked her about the ingredients but she seemed very evasive and vague about it. I then asked about a vodka drink that was listed as milk-washed on the menu and whether it was a milk punch. She said that it was not clarified. Later on she said that it was clarified. I asked her to make me one. She didn't make it. After a while I asked her about whether she was making it. She said she was waiting for me to finish my first drink (which I was not finishing because I wasn't too keen about the taro flavor.) After a while I asked her to change my order to the Sweep the Leg drink (which I enjoyed). I asked her what vermouth they used for that. She apparently didn't know so she made up an answer which I later found out was not accurate. Food wise, I felt the dumplings should have been more al dente, and the shrimp toast was not at all crispy like your traditional deep fried shrimp toast (and had minimal shrimp). Neither dish met my expectations, at least in their current incarnation, and I would not order them again. Ymmv.