Szechuan's Dumpling

This place is excellent. I had the vegetable dumplings and crispy fried tofu, both were amazing. All the food is cooked to perfection, staff is very friendly, and prices are good too. I ate dine-in and the interior feels very nice. They have a very wide range of dishes of all tastes and origins in China. Highly recommend!

My friend originally from Hangzhou China recommended me this place for very authentic Hangzhou cuisine. Me and my husband came in on a Friday night and it’s 80% full at around 6:30. We ordered the chestnut chicken, sweet and sour pork, beef scallion wraps for appetizer and the scallion pork liver. I am a fan of this cuisine which has a sweet tone generally and I particularly LOVE the chestnut chicken as they were very tender and juicy, seared perfectly with the multi-layer favors of sauce. and I wish we had came in with more ppl and got to try the other dishes!!! Overall all we ordered were delicious and the portions were bigger than expected. Awesome customer service and cozy dining environment. Prices are very reasonable and we will definitely come back again!

We were craving authentic Chinese food and we are so happy that we discovered this place. We had the soup dumplings and they were amazing! The fried spicy chicken is a must try as well. We also ordered the steamed Won Ton in hot sauce and since I am pregnant the ladies were kind enough to reduce the hot chili oil for my Won Ton dish. The service has been incredible and we even ordered the Sun Dry Vegetable with Ribs for at home, which were cooked so tender, and is a great dish for a weekday dinner. Looking forward to trying all their specials! We had a great experience and are so grateful 🍀❤🙏

Lovely people and service. Even on a very busy night, they were very kind and accommodating. Amazing food, it’s a family favorite! Mini pork juicy bun is a must.

This time, I had the Stir-Fried Rice Cakes, Sweet Rice Balls, and Duck Stew with Dried Bamboo Shoots. The Stir-Fried Rice Cakes were perfectly chewy, with a deliciously savory sauce that kept me coming back for more. The Sweet Rice Balls were sweet and comforting, with a rich, aromatic flavor that made them a perfect dessert. But the star of the meal was definitely the Duck Stew with Dried Bamboo Shoots—tender, flavorful, and the bamboo shoots added a delightful crunch. If you're looking for authentic Hangzhou cuisine, this place is a must-try!

Honestly sad what this place has become. We ordered General Tsao’s, Lo Mein and a crab Rangoon. We were greeted with “you ready?”. General Tsaos breading was soggy, crab Rangoon was like warm and doughy, lo mein was decent. The place was ice cold too, it was so uncomfortable to eat we didn’t even take our jackets off. One lady came up to us and said, “it’s so cold out, would you like some tea” we happily said yes, only for it to never come. Terrible food, terrible service, and even worse atmosphere.

The English name is misleading, the cuisine served in this restaurant is from Hangzhou, which the Chinese name of the restaurant correctly reflects it. So anyone looking for Szechuan food is going to be a little bit disappointed, but not by much. The reason is because authentic Hangzhou cuisine is definitely worth a try. We ordered the most famous “Dong Po” meat, or deep steamed pork belly marinated in special sweet/savory sauce. It has been one of my favorite food since childhood (I’m from the region). The taste was decent, more nostalgic than anything else tasting something thousands of miles away. However, it was a little disappointing that the meat was pre-cooked and heated when customers order it. The legit way of cooking it is obviously make it to order, but can’t ask for too much in a Hangzhou restaurant in Boston. Stirred fried sticky rice cake was delicious, mixed with bamboo shoots, very authentic. Overall, I would recommend this restaurant to anyone fancy trying some Hangzhou cuisine.

What a place for some dumplings! I got the shrimp and veg steamed dumplings with a bowl of spicy beef noodle soup. Will come back!

Sweet and sour everything!! So good! This place never disappoints! We came for dinner on a Sunday night and it wasn't too busy. They have a lot of seating for small and big groups. I always like to order their hot pot of tea which was perfect that night because it was pretty cold outside. They have a huge menu which is always overwhelming but everything we have tried so far has been very good. This time we got the veggie dish that came with tofu, twice cooked pork, fried rice and sweet and sour chicken. Everything came out nice and hot and we quickly dove in! We wanted to finish everything but we left half of our food so we could have leftovers. I really liked the pork that night. It was very flavorful and the meat was nice and tender. The chicken was also very good and nice and tangy. The service is always really great. They really like to top off your tea pot with hot water even before you have a chance to finish it. Our waitress was very nice and attentive. We had a really great meal and next time we will order some dumplings!!

Dumplings are still great, particularly the pork juicy and soup ones. The sesame chicken was so chewy and hard to swallow. Will stick with Home Taste for chicken and Szechuan for dumplings going forward.

Located in Arlington, Szechuan Dumpling is also called Hangzhou Loving Poetry 醉杭州. They serve both traditional Szechuan, a better-known Chinese regional food here in the US, and Shanghai, Hangzhou Chinese cuisine a lesser-known cuisine here. If we hadn't heard from our Hangzhou friends, we probably would have missed it. Since I grew up with my mom's HZ-style cooking, I felt right at home in this place. The first page of the menu is in Chinese only, it represents HZ cuisine. The rest of the menu is bilingual. We have ordered from both. The ambiance is nice and the dining area is very clean. At dinner time it is always packed, mostly by the mainland Chinese which is a good sign of its authenticity. The service is consistently efficient and friendly. The owner ( I think) is a smart young lady who effortlessly manages the place and serves customers. She remembers repeat customers and shows her appreciation. The food we ordered was mostly delicious southern Jiangzhe style. We have tasted many of them during our consecutive 4 visits. My favorites were chestnut chicken stew, shredded pork with bean curd, Tiger pepper, eggplant ( prepared any way), Napa cabbage with shredded pork, and wide bean noodles, minced pork with vermicelli. The fermented sweet rice with mochi balls was such a comforting and delicious ending to a satisfying meal. We went back for more. Wonton HZ style, the wonton itself was very good, unlike the Cantonese style. But the broth fell flat. It could have been better if they had used homemade chicken broth. Overall this is an excellent restaurant with delicious yet very reasonably priced food. This style of cooking is a rare finding even for us hailing from the Bay Area. They also have some Sichuan dishes and Beijing dishes. We will be back whenever we are in the Boston area. Note: This review was written in September 2023.

Service was friendly and super helpful. I was eating with a vegetarian friend and they were happy to accommodate us. The food itself was absolutely delicious and some of the best Chinese food I had since living in China in the late 1990's. We had spicy garlic eggplant, ma po tofu, veggie dumplings, and I had the hot and sour soup as well (not vegetarian) and everything was spiced perfectly and tasted super fresh.

Good decent Chinese food in pleasant ambience. Food plating is simple basic. $11.50 lunch special is r priced. Good: - Sweet & sour chicken - Flounder fish fillet

The experience and atmosphere was divine and we got sat down immediately. Right away water and other drinks were offered. Only a couple of minutes in, we were asked about what food we wanted. In only a couple minutes we were served with all the food we had ordered. The food on the table was great and we were attended by AMAZING service. Overall Szechuan's Dumplings were an amazing choice of meal.

Amazing food! Their soup dumplings are small, but full of flavor. We came with a large family and tried everything from fried dumplings, soup dumplings, buns, beef soup, scallion pancakes, mapu tofu, vegetables, salt and pepper fillet, and soups. Everything tasted great! They have lots of tables of all sizes. The service is helpful and kind. They were so nice to accommodate my niece who is a vegetarian, and even gave her some vegetarian tofu soup to take home. This is a great choice for Chinese food!

AMAZING food. The wontons were out of this world and so were the meat buns. Everything was so fresh and tasty, and all at a very good value/price. 9.6/10 Very clean restaurant and the staff were so nice. Can't recommend highly enough! Also -- I don't know what's wrong with the people who left negative reviews, but they're ridiculous. The food here is excellent. I've eaten at tons of restaurants and have had a lot of authentic Chinese food. This place is legit and the negative reviewers are flat out wrong. Get a life.

FYI, their Hangzhounese menu is entirely in Chinese and not translated, but contains some dishes that are really unusual to find in Boston area restaurants! Overall, the food was quite good! Quantities were on the small side, but prices were pretty reasonable. Note that the Hangzhou side of the menu ought to be on the sweeter side -- it's a distinction of this cuisine. (Though at least front of house doesn't seem to be Hangzhounese.) Their signature duck soup 笋千老鸭煲 (65$) needs to be ordered a day in advance. It was good, but tbh, I find duck soup to be a bit oily, so I'd go with something else next time. And if you're going for a spectacular centerpiece, it doesn't look that fancy... Hangzhou small wonton (10.25$) was great! They had a lot of filling and the broth was light and tasty. Sweet and sour spare ribs (16.95$) were amazing -- a definite must-order! Super tasty and a great texture. Longjing baby shrimp (18.95$) was exactly as expected, executed well. Napa cabbage with mushroom (14.50$) was ordered to fill out a vegetable, and tbh, not anything special. Fine to fill out a meal; our preferred vegetables were sold out or we'd have gotten something else. This was saucy and good with the white rice (2$/bowl) though. Fried ice cream (5.50$) is the cake/breaded type, but nice enough. Feels fancy in the nice bowls. I'll definitely be back, this may be my new staple restaurant in the area.

Called to place order for the bamboo duck soup 24 hrs in advance. Food came out super fast and were all delicious.

proud of this little spot--kind service, fast, authentic and care about customers. chinese food may not be 'trendy' but this place is quality!

The small dishes were good with small portions and not pricy. The duck soup had a whole duck but not many bamboo shoots inside and it's not seasoned enough.

Hosted 16 for lunch for a celebration and it was great! Selena was lovely to work with and her staff was attentive and kind. Everyone loved the food - highly recommend the soup dumplings and 3cup eggplant & tofu.

A severely underrated restaurant, with low prices for hefty meals and a comforting taste. We ordered the crab rangoons, 东坡肉 (东坡 pork in special sauce), 水煮鱼片 (Szechuan's Dishes fish), smoked fish, and spicy beef noodle soup. My favorite of these were the two fish dishes, each boasting impressive flavor. The dishes verge on the sweeter side but nevertheless were delicious. Definitely make sure to order the Szechuan fish when you stop by! Not only are they generous with their portions but they also take care to make each dish bursting with flavor. We came during an off time, around 5pm, slightly before their dinner rush and our dishes came out with impressive speed. It's a quintessential Chinese restaurant with beautiful wall decor and music playing quietly in the background. The staff are incredibly kind and will make you feel welcomed. Our total was $70.38 as we paid with cash (10% discount) which more than filled this family of four.

I love the duck soup although it needs to be booked one day in advance. Vary tasty esp. with bamboo shoots.

Excellent food. While visiting Arlington Heights we were in the mood for Chinese food, I will confess, after living is Asia for many years, it's very difficult for me to eat at American Chinese food restaurants. However, when we found Szechuan's Dumpling and ordered the soup dumplings, one taste brought me back to my days in Shanghai. My companions were new to real Chinese food and agreed they hadn't tasted anything as fresh and flavorful as the food we ordered. Please go there and find out for yourself.

Very fast and friendly service, fantastic dumplings and well-balanced dishes. We will definitely be coming back to explore more of the menu!

Soup was good, really good, and warm- only $3.50 which was amazing. I would get it again. The scallion pancakes were not great though- flavorless, too much flour, only $5.95 for a good amount (it was my main dish lol) but I didn't like them enough to take them home for leftovers. My friend also said the chicken wings were meh so I guess the appetizers aren't par with the quality of the soups. I don't think I'd come back juust bc the scallion pancakes were pretty disappointing and this is an easy/common Chinese appetizer.

I believe this replaced Jade Garden, which I remember being a good Chinese restaurant, but this new one is even better. Ask anyone who knows me how I feel about dumplings, and I'm sure they'll tell you how much I love them. Szechuan's delivers fantastic dumplings, which shouldn't be a surprise given the name, but they have a full menu of other Chinese food as well. The atmosphere is nice with pleasant décor and the service was very good. If you're in the area and like Chinese food, and need dumplings to be part of the order like I do, don't sleep on this one!

Decided to try this place and order online and found that I was nickel and dimed all along the way. 1 When ordering online the prices were 1 to 2 dollars more than the prices listed on their website. 2 When I went to checkout the tip was defaulted to 18% and it takes 3 steps to override this. 3 There is a 1 dollar convenience fee to place an order online. 4 So in the end an order for a single item that is listed as 9.50 on their menu actually comes to 15.01 when ordered online!!!! I figured screw this, if they are pinching pennies on the charging end then it is likely that they will do the same with the food too. Went elsewhere.

I came home to visit my parents for less than a week and we came here twice. They have a new manager, so service here has been outstanding. They check in on you and always pack fresh rice for you to go. The food is average; they do have some standout dishes, but on average nothing makes me think I NEED to go back again. Their cooking is on the sweet side, which is prevalent in all their dishes. The dishes are also on the smaller side, so order more than you normally would. I haven't tried the dumplings before even though their name has dumplings in them. Come in and give them a try!

The pork and chive dumplings were absolutely disgusting. They had some kind of drizzle pork thing and them that I have never seen before and any pork dish. Unbelievably disgusting. I will not give this restaurant. Another chance. I've been disappointed before but I'm done.

If I could give 0 stars I would - this food was disgusting. As you can see from the pictures what we got vs what it looked like on the menu is insane. It was gross pieces of boiled chicken and mushrooms in what I guess should be a sauce but was just water with a hint of garlic. The pork lo mein had no pork and no taste and almost nothing but noodles . The hot and sour had a weird flavor. The dumplings were flavorless and sloppy. We are literally ordering from somewhere else because we can not eat this food. Don't go here!

Really good place to get some Chinese food! Server are efficient and very professional, order and providing water as soon as I arrived. Food is delicious, even without lunch set it is still competitive. Definitely coming for the next time!

The Egg Drop soup was excellent, as was the Beef Lo Mein. We did not find the Sweet and Sour chicken to be very flavorful, and I did not receive the glass of Pinot Grigio I ordered. Service was frenetic and not attentive (waitress never checked in with us during the meal, by way of another example), but the food came very quickly-- one of the entrees came at the same time as the soup. Solid, and a popular restaurant; great for groups and families. Definitely not a date restaurant.

Food ranges from excellent to good. Some of their non-szechwan dishes are top-notch. Extremely friendly and attentive staff.

Szechuan's Dumplings is wonderful. The food is delicious and the staff is so friendly. Our server, Celine, provides great recommendations for new dishes every time we go and has not disappointed us! Try the scallion pancakes with beef--you won't be sorry.

Revising my previous review to a 3. Their service is still quite good, but their food is below average. Scallion Pancake (葱油饼）: Wow. This probably had 0.01 grams of scallions in the whole thing. I could see the faint outlines of the thinnest shavings of scallion inside. While it was nice and crispy, there simply was no flavor. It was bland and had no scallion taste whatsoever. It was essentially just fried dough. Blech Pork Mini Juicy Bun (小笼包）: This was probably the best dish that we got here. Buns were very soupy, thick and doughy, and the meat was really savory. Chili Chicken (香辣鸡）: This dish was pretty good, but doesn't measure up to other Szechuan places I've had. It's lacking a little in the richness of the spices and flavors used. Sauteed String Beans (干扁四季豆) : Not much to say about this, it's very standard. Pretty hard to mess this one up. Pork Rice Cake (肉炒年糕) : Pretty good, also something that's pretty easy to whip up at home. It used to be more reasonably priced, but its price has gone up in recent years.

Insanely good food...ask for the "not-white-people" menu -- there is a whole separate menu for authentic Hongzhou food. Don't trust all the low review star reviews...they are 100% all from white people who don't know what good food is.

So good! Everything arrived hot and fresh, and not greasy. --scallion pancakes, crispy and not oily --soup dumplings, 8 in the order, flavor packed pork filling and soup --salt and pepper shrimp, again perfectly fried with hits of chili heat --chili chicken with crunchy cabbage, carrots, and peanuts, balanced seasoning and tasty, spicy sauce Huge portions, reasonably priced. Super friendly and efficient service. When in the area again, will definitely return.

Absolutely disgusting, flavorless food. My standard dumpling places were closed. I order basic pork and chicken dumplings. They were stuck together, mostly dough, no distinguishing flavor. Bland and heavy. Cold sesame peanut noodles were literally gummy noodles in what tasted like jar peanut butter. The pork fried rice was equally flavorless with nearly nothing in it. Would give zero stars for this food if I could. Portions were also small for the price, but the food was so bad it didn't matter. Worst Chinese I've ordered in the Greater Boston area.

Despite the restaurant's name, the Hangzhou food catalog is decent and authentic. Probably the best around Arlington area.

I ordered the food from Uber eats. And I threw up when finding the pig's nipple on the skin of the meat they served. I could barely eat in the rest of the day and went through severe diarrhea. It was horrible. What kind of restaurants would ever serve their customers pig's nipples??? So nasty. Also I'm deeply concerned with the restaurant's food security. I highly doubt that the food is contaminated. I have been to the restaurant once, and the service is not very good. I feel discriminated because I'm a woman throughout the dining, that's why I ordered on Uber eats this time. But it still disappoint me, tho in another way. Anyways, I won't recommend this restaurant to any of my friends or family. And I myself will never ever order its food or dine in in the future. Thank you Szechuans Dumplings, you've successfully turned me to a vegetarian with your pig's nipples.

I can honestly say this is the worst Chinese food I've had a long time. Everything was super greasy and weakly flavored. The pork buns were bizarre; super thick dough and the meat inside was not proportionate to the wrapper. Boneless spare ribs were gristly. Finally the service was also mediocre, we were one of 3 tables in the restaurant and had to ask for things 2-3 times. The only reason I gave a second star is the server was kind, if forgetful.

Wonderful restaurant. Always pleasant and accommodating. The food is excellent. -Pork Mini Juicy Buns are great! Soupy, fragrant, and delicious. The dough could be a bit thinner but the overall effect is excellent. -Sautéed Green Beans - fresh, crunchy, yummy -Scallion Pancakes - perfectly cooked, authentic recipe -Chili Fish Fillet - just wonderful. Spicy, saucy, very fresh and plentiful fish. Just delicious Really good food, reasonable prices (although disappointed they reduced the number of soup dumplings from 6 to 5), friendly.

I'm super satisfied with this neighborhood spot. Our favorite dishes are the fried calamari and the rice cakes with pork and mustard greens. Not the most lively vibe but pretty good Chinese for the burbs.

Ordered over the phone, they got the order right and it was ready on time for outside pickup during these Covid times, but the guy who brought it out was RUDE, almost barking at us to maintain social distance even though we were nowhere close to being less than 6ft away. Kept saying, "Give me six feet, give me six feet!" Was it a paranoid/showy "abundance of caution" civic theater inspired by our state's governor, or does he just have a generally unpleasant demeanor? We'll never find out, because the food was bland and tasteless, even for Arlington, and prices were just sort of average for such mediocre quality. No plans on ever coming back. Guess we'll stick to the Oriental in Somerville, which remains the best cheap takeout Chinese in the area AFAIK.

Service always pretty quick and its a "pack the takeout for you" type of place.The friendly staff speaks light English but pointing at Yelp pictures of what you want easily bridges that gap and the food was so good! We ordered a bunch of stuff but among my faves were the braised pork belly (beautiful texture), pork buns (the biggest I've seen, yet light and fluffy with a subtle broth inside) the seasonal greens (like Chinese broccoli mixed with garlic, not bitter at all) and they have soup dumplings all day!

Great dumplings! Try the juicy ones. Or the Giant Steamed Pork buns, or the pork and chive pot stickers. Also, the seasonal vegetable - peapod stalks if they have them - are great. Great taste and good value.

The vegetables fried rice I ordered was so blend, no flavor. The black pepper fried shrimp was also blend, it wasn't even black pepper fried shrimp, more like battered fried shrimp. Very disappointed

The smoked fish is delicious and something you rarely find. Think hunks of savory dried fish in a thick sweet sauce, served cold. It's an amazing appetizer.

Omg the mini juicy buns were amazing. The crab Rangoon was also amazing. I would like to try some other stuff on the menu. The dumplings we got were good. The li menu we got we didn't care for. So much pork. Idk. No something I would get again. But I'll definitely be returning.

I was flabbergasted seeing less than 4 stars avg. on this Yelp page! As the reviewer prior to me said, Szechuan's Dumpling is officially underrated. As a longtime on-and-off Arlington resident, I've seen this restaurant location change hands & names multiple times and this is by far the most popular *and* good quality that it's gotten in roughly 20 years. In the 'burbs it's one of the best Chinese restaurants you can find outside of Chinatown now. The service is good too despite being extremely busy in the evenings (that being one of several testaments to their quality). When ordering takeout, they take care to have your order correct and ready within a surprisingly short time frame. The maître d' who I usually see working is a middle-aged, studious and respectful fellow that I am always happy to see since he runs a smooth operation. I have also been pleased with the wait-in staff's manner and speed during even the busiest times, most recently on Mother's Day evening. Now for some standouts I've had from the menu: * Salt & Pepper Fish Filet - not sure what fish it is but it's always extremely fresh & delicious, my partner and I almost always order this because it's such a joy. Eat the peppers with the fish if you like it spicier. * Eggplant with Garlic Sauce - don't miss this succulent dish if you like eggplant, the flavor can almost knock you out it's so good. * Pork Mini Juicy Bun - their name for soup dumplings, be careful not to burn your mouth when enjoying this pleasant classic. (their other dumplings are also good) In my experience, those looking for more basic Americanized fare will also be pleased by Szechuan's Dumpling's fried rice, lo mein, general tsao's chicken, scallion pancakes (I like their doughy take more than some reviewers), and so on. Every single dish I've had both takeout and eat-in at this place has been a hit or close to it (both with me -- a white dude -- and a multitude of Asian Americans). IMO some of the low reviews here relating to the food quality are dubious; the quality is consistently good if not great! I think chances are, you will also be delighted by most offerings at Szechuan's Dumpling.

Excellent and under rated Chinese food. Awesome egg rolls, dumplings, and lo mein. I'm excited to try more things on their menu.

Szechuan's Dumpling in Arlington, MA is a respected establishment in the heart of Arlington Heights, MA. The biggest challenge is parking which is all street parking available on busy Massachusetts Avenue. The dining area is small as most seem to use Szechuan's for takeout. For the big hockey game, we ordered traditional Chinese / Asian food for the boys. Pork Fried Rice, Vegetable Fried Rice, Vegetable Lo Mein, Chicken Fingers, Scallion Pancakes, Pan Fried Ravioli (dumplings) as an assortment of other Asian buns/Dumplings with pork, chicken, and venerable. The service was fast and efficient and prices as expected for the area. The only complaint is that crispy scallion pancakes just never travel well and the humidity from the stream ruins the crispiness. Would someone please invent a great was to limit the wilting? The food itself was warm, tasty and abundant. It certainly hit the spot while watching a Bruins victory in the Stanley Cup. There was also ample amounts leftover for the following day. Overall, Szechuan's Dumpling garnered 3 stars as a fast, reliable, and dependable choice for traditional Chinese styled cuisine; particularly for takeout service.

Found a piece of steel wool in my soup. The staff offered a generous 10% discount and new bowl of soup. They said they had never seen steel wool in the soup before, only in the stir fry.

Tasty takeout. The name is a little confusing and misleading, as I think that Szechuan food is not really their specialty. The Szechuan dishes we ordered tasted good, but were not prepared in the same way as in other traditional Szechuan restaurants (these dishes included the fish fillets in chili sauce and the cumin lamb). We also had the mushrooms with bok choi, a very tasty spicy noodle dish, and the shanghai style fried pork buns. Not everything tasted like we expected it would, but overall it was a very satisfying meal. I'll definitely check it out again to try their recommended dishes.

This place is a scam. I ordered and prepaid $79 online for pickup and when I went the restaurant they said they could not see my order, even though I showed them the order number. Stay away from them!

Very nice food, Authentic non-spicy Chinese food, and the boss is very friendly. If I would like some non-spicy, it's my go to.