Zhonghua Traditional Snacks

Sadly, my favourite Cambridge dumplings place plummeted in hygiene ratings (not going to name it), so I needed to find a new haunt. Zhonghua was such a pleasant discovery - 5 star hygiene rating, great and authentic tasting food, very reasonable prices, near one of my favourite shopping areas in the city, what's there not to like. The older male staff member is great, always very friendly and attentive. The decor is a bit tired, but I'm here to eat, not to look at the walls.

The tofu and Chinese chive dumplings were amazing. Really brilliant. Slightly weird that they charged to fry them. The green tea cake was really nice too. Soft, fluffy and sweet.

my favourite place in Cambridge for food. So many dumpling flavours and they hand make them all. Usually i find Chinese restaurants very limiting for vegetarians, but they have so many dedicated vegetarian options. I’ve been to noodles plus and this place is miles better. Soup is amazing too and the cucumber salad.

The starter is very good , and the dumplings in the soup are so nice.

North China cuisine. Friendly service. Absolutely delicious food. Cold beef dish and seaweed - a must. Top it off with some dumplings or better still dumpling soup. Many varieties available. Don't expect rice of prawn crackers here!

My favourite Chinese spot in town! The tender beef noodle soup is my go-to, but the dumplings are equally amazing.

What a lovely place this is, the food was delicious and arrived quickly, service was friendly and I also enjoyed the cozy atmosphere. Will definitely return, there are many more things to sample on the menu!

A very authentic place! I went there to have some warm soup and I have to say that it was delicious. The bowl was very big and we payed around £10 per person. I asked the waiter about some plates and he very enthusiast explaining them and recommending us. Perfect for a cheap and warm soup in the cold winter of Cambridge.

The food in Zhonghua is really good and tasty - They do prefer cash over card payments due to fees but this is an excellent place to stop off in Cambridge if your there as its super good value! :) x

Ordered the following for takeaway: marinated five spice beef, dumplings with pork and Chinese chives and the noodles with braised beef in soup. Everything tasted great and was made fresh, my only complaint is that they packaged the soup and the noodles in the same container, so by the time I got home with my order the noodles were soggy and falling apart, but hey I still finished it haha. Note to self and for those that read my review, ask for the noodles and soup to be in separate packaging if ordering takeaway or delivery, and reheat it at home

Visited Zhonghua's snacks based on the high reviews and a recent article listing this as one of the top cheap eats in Cambridge. I was not disappointed! We ordered the BBQ pork bun and the minced pork bun to start. They were good but nothing different from others I've tried. Could have had a little more filling though. We also shared the 5spice beef, wonton soup and pork and paprika dumplings which we ordered in broth. The 5spice beef was good but I didn't realize it was a cold dish. Still tender and very flavorful though! The wonton soup was good and the dumplings.... Oh the dumplings....perfection! Mmmmm! The wrapper or whatever you call it was so fresh and a little doughy. You can tell they were freshly made. Then having them served in the broth almost made them like soup dumplings (xiaolongbao)! Ahhh I want to go back and just order 50 dumplings with some of them fried, some of them steamed and some of them in broth. They even have like 25 different flavors you can order, and if they are all as good as the pork and paprika...Mmmmm. If I lived in Cambridge I would go back right now. Eat the dumplings, the rest are ok...but eat the dumplings. Nom nom.

For City Centre Cambridge this Chinese eatery is pretty legit. 3.5 stars on the Beef Noodle Soup, 4 stars on the dumplings.

Being an American in Cambridge has it's disadvantages. One is being poor compared to the average Englishman/woman. The other is not knowing where to go for good food since there aren't much Yelpers out here. If you fit into one of these, then I'm here to help. This is hands-down best Chinese in Cambridge. Had the best wonton of my life here for only £5. Also ordered the braised tender beef in soup (£5) and the steamed bread w BBQ pork filling (£1.50). Open every day except Tuesday till 9p. Would definitely recommend this place to anyone and everyone. Unless you are made out of noodles. In that case, you will be slurped!

What a fantastic little place not too far out of the way. The beef noodle soup is wonderful - tender slices of beef, rich broth that's not too salty, perfectly cooked noodles and generous portions. The dumplings are equally nice. I would definitely recommend the steamed lamb and cumin dumplings, but I have to admit I was eyeing some of the pan friend ones with envy. BBQ pork bao are worth an order; the fillings on both types of bao we tried were spot on, but the bao was a little bit dry. Cold cucumber appetizer is a bit salty. Staff is polite and service is quick. Will definitely be going back!

Great place, delicious food and very cheap! I ordered the noodles soup with braised beef and dumplings, absolutely worthy the dumplings! The only reason I don't give five stars is because the place is rather small, so just a few places to sit

This place is perfect for what you get -- filling, inexpensive snacks. We came for the dumplings (I had the shrimp, he had pork and Chinese chive) but tried a vegetarian steamed bun while we were there. Everything was excellent. It is only a short walk from the Grafton and was empty when we showed up (almost 7pm on a Sunday night), but they had a steady stream of people coming in for takeaway while we ate. The service was friendly, food was fast, and we left satisfied. Will definitely be back again.

First off this place has really good food! So this rating is not indicative of the taste of the food. This place is also very cheap for what you get. However, for whatever reason the day that a friend and I visited, the service was terrible. We arrived at around 2 PM which I understand is late for lunch. We selected an order of dumplings and 3 barbecue pork buns and we each ordered noodles. The pork buns came first and were quite good. We then waited nearly 20 minutes before our dumplings arrived (the restaurant was not busy and only one other table was dining at the same time as us). Our dumplings were great and worth the wait! However we waited nearly 45 minutes before asking about the status of our noodles. We were told they forgot about our order... They brought out my friend's noodles 10 minutes later. Nearly 20 minutes later I still didn't not receive my noodles so I asked again and they then made mine once I clarified that we did not receive what we ordered despite the fact that they wrote it on the receipt! Once I finally received my noodles I was very pleased. Good quantity and very spicy! Overall great food! Unsatisfactory service.

Just moved to England from the states. Not really knowing the area and because yelp is not big here I hope I can start a trend. Anyways just had the beef noodle soup which just rocked. The steamed bun that was great as well. I'm looking forward to coming back and trying more things here. Well done!

Craved some Chinese food, got horribly lost on the way here but definitely worth it! Cheap, good, happy. Got some seasoned cucumbers, the shrimp wonton soup, and got a tea egg to go. Perfect. Portion size a little small for a hungry girl, but still awesome. Cash only! Also, as an American from out of town, appreciated the free WiFi!

This is dumplings as good as it gets. and the small busy room with the seating areas extending directly in to the kitchen areas - where the dumplings are hand made while you eat - makes this a really fine and authentic experience. I does almost feel like stepping out of Cambridge and in to a small part of china. We had two types of dumplings (lamb and Tofu) as well as some fresh sticks of cucumber and some cold cut beef. all of the four little dishes were amazing. the five starts is not necessarily to reflect this is a top of the line restaurant as such - it reflect that this is dumplings as good as it gets and the kind of place you would want to eat them. So if dumplings is what you want and you are in Cambridge this would be my choice for sure!

Thanks to the Guardian's Tony Naylor for identifying this spot; traveling from NYC and definitely trying to avoid chain restaurants. This was a total win, affordable, excellent taste/quality, and friendly. (No bathroom, though . . . ) http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/dec/05/cambridge-top-10-budget-restaurants

It's a dumpling joint. Order a set of dumplings with a choice of chicken or hot/spicy broth. It's tasty. Wasn't big fan of their buns though. Service is quick and friendly. The place fills up really fast and opens around noon.

Delicious. Cheap. Wi fi codes posted on the wall. Had the wonton soup and a steamed pork bun, both excellent. The staff is speaking Chinese to each other, but ordering wasn't difficult. The menu is in both English and Chinese. Add chili oil fit extra kick.

Delicious dumplings and noodle dishes for reasonable prices! It's tiny so we have sometimes not made it in. They're very accommodating and we have managed to squeeze in groups of up to 10 in here. The food can sometimes take a while to come out so don't go when you're in a rush.

When I first went to this quiet backstreet dumplings house,I was overjoyed about taste and price. The place is nothing to write home about but everything else made up for this. Staff welcomed me and the quickness of delivery to table was well fast. But with everything in Cambridge as they get popular the quality in every aspect goes down. I still go and enjoy but not as it was.

An institution in Cambridge with several vegan options. I can recommend the homemade vermicelli dumplings and the two cold tofu salads. Check before going as they keep somewhat odd opening times.

Handmade. Authentic. Reminiscent of home. Juicy dumplings and QQ handmade noodles. (Don't know how to translate 'QQ' from Chinese into English but the Chinese/Taiwanese folks will know what I mean...chewy but melts in your mouth at the same time.) Not going to say more because I've already written a review about this place and posted food photos on http://cambridgequirks.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/zhonghua-traditional-snacks/, but I would say it's definitely worth going to. The prices are decent too--typically 12 dumplings for 5 pounds.

I went to Cambridge for a day trip and tried this place out and was delicious! Word has definitely spread about this joint as we did have to wait approximately 15 minutes. It was bustling with people but the service was really good. I ordered the tender beef noodles, pork and chive dumplings, steamed pork bun, marinated egg and diced fried pork noodles. They were all delcious!! I walked out extremely full and couldn't eat for the rest of the day. The dishes are cheap, the service is good and the food is great. The dumplings were my favourite and would recommened them as a must have! This is the type of place I need in London. I'd be there all the time if it was close to home.

Great food and really great value for money!! Basic interior but don't let that fool you, the food is amazing!!!

Really bad service : ( Today is my first time, and it will be my last time. When I first walk in, all the staff are looking at me but I don't know whether I have to wait to be seated or I should sit myself. So I look back to the staffs but no one greeted me. Finally I sit myself Down and a lady walks slowly over and give me a menu. Just a minute after, there were three non-Asia guys walked in, she immediately direct them to sit down and gives them menu. The thing was, when I was ready to order, she looked at me and asked me to wait and took the orders from that three guys first! But, wait a second! Excuse me?! I Came First!! ???? Okay~~Don't bother! After she took my order: a boba milk tea and a beef noodle soup. She came back 5 mins and asked me what I ordered again, because she don't remember.... About 15min after that, she kept serving new customers water to drink and sending out dishes, but I get nothing. I asked her again for my milk tea and she look at me like she didn't remember I ordered anything again.... Finally, I Waited 30min to get my beef noodle soup, which only have three piece of beef, after that three guys already finished eating. Then, she realized she didn't even give me a pair of chopsticks yet. So she bought me chopsticks and the milk tea after that.... During the whole time I was in there, all the worker are talking to each other nonstop and nothing is related to their work. I overheard them talking about they just received a bad view on Yelp and possibly because one of them had a quarrel with the customer and they concluded that Asia don't write Bad view often. But, sorry, I do and I am Chinese... I didn't leave any tips for them because they don't deserve it.

Excellent homemade dumplings, and very tasty side dishes. Don't worry about the simple decor. No toilets though... They send customers to the nearby KFC!

Nice won-ton soup and a decent pork bun. Not excellent, but I'd go back

I came in on a Friday at 7pm and the place was packed. As a party of 1, I was seated right away. Perhaps it was because it was 5 degrees C outside, but they seated me before the table was cleared; as a result, I got to see piles of dirty dishes as a precursor to a meal. This was not appetizing to have such a scene imprinted in my mind and under my nose; I would have been ok with a lower priced meal except I paid £19. We ordered prawn dumplings, spicy dumplings, steamed bun with minced pork and a pot of jasmine tea. The prawn dumplings were good; spicy dumplings tasted very gamey. 10 minutes after the dumplings came out, I had to ask for the tea (which I would have preferred first). They steamed buns still had not come out, so I also had to remind them of that. There is a £1.50 charge for any debit/credit card charges less than £15. This place did not leave a great first impression, but this place was not so bad that I would refrain from giving it another shot.