Times Kitchen

Cheapest dumpling and noodle shop about (their noodle neighbours are cheap too!), i come here regularly as its close to my work and the food is really nice for the price. Usually if we go in a group of 3 or 4 we spend around $ 6 to $ 8 for a really filling meal!!! that’s soooo cheap in Auckland!
Today we ordered one set of soup dumplings (comes with 9), boiled pork and chives dumplings (about 20 or 25 dumplings), pan fried egg chive flat dumplings (comes with 10), fried chives pancake (cut into 8) and a side of half and half spicy potato and seaweed salad. We walked out SOOO SO SOOOOO full and the four of us just paid $ 7 each!
The soup dumplings (小笼包 xiao long bao) are very different from what you would get in Shanghai as the skin is ALL wrong, they taste like a soupy dumpling as the skin is just like dumplings skin rather than a thin silky pastry. the taste is still good and there is still soup but BE CAREFUL they break really easily. Dip it in some chili, vinegar and soy sauce.
The dumplings are really good and so many on a plate. They are juicy and full of flavour. The skin is soft and a bit chewy. Also dip this in the sauce combo or have it plain. Warning: if you eat pork and chives, the chives will linger for a good few hours lol…
The pan fried egg and chives flat dumplings are not on the menu they give you, its written in Chinese on the extras board behind the counter (the chinese writing on the right of the board). My workmate named these the chinese steamed taco as its a egg, chive, glass noodle filling with dumpling pastry wrapped in a taco-​like style and then pan fried until its crispy. There’s a thin fried «wafer» on the edge which is deliciously crispy and comes from their pan frying with water method (i think). Can also be dipped into the sauce combo.
The chives pancake doesn’t actually have much chives in there but oh so crunchy. It’s like chinese version of roti or nan bread. They are more on the deep fried side than pan fried hence the crunchy/​crispy-​ness. Definitely try this with the sauce combo (haha pretty much you can have the sauce combo with anything… true story)
Last but not least, the spicy potato is cooked but still got a crunchy texture and lathered in chili sauce and vinegar, the seaweed also has a little chili but mainly a sweet vinegar taste. These are really enjoyable as a side dish or to nibble on while you wait for the other dishes which by the way dont take that long either.
Overall i come here ALLLLL the time because it tastes good but is still insanely cheap. I would definitely recommend this place to EVERYONE. They are nearly always busy and you have to wait for seats but very worth it! once the four of us only spent $ 4 each!!! and we walked out full. everytime i go, im still really surprised how much everything cost…