Tianjin Dumpling House

Chopsticks up for my favorite dumplings in all of NYC!
Situated in the basement of the Golden Shopping Mall, Tianjin Dumpling House has been the benchmark that all other dumplings are compared to (looking at you fusion dumpling places). I’ve been coming to Tianjin for years when they were cheaper and well less known. It hasn’t changed much except for a slight price increase and more people but the dumplings are still excellent!
I can understand if you’re hygiene conscious (cough cough) and are hesitant to eat such a place but honestly it is what is. It ain’t going to change for you so either take it or leave. The atmosphere of the whole Golden Shopping Mall is like a little piece of Asia to me and it’s so fascinating.
Tianjin is no frills and the food stands out. From my personal favorite lamb and green squash to the simple and succulent pork and dill, you can’t go wrong with any of the dumpling varieties here (especially if you’re putting that delicious garlic sauce). Plus you can buy them frozen and make them at home!
Legit dumplings in Flushing ya’ll. Happy eating and remember: Don’t deny, satisfy!

This place is phenomenal. The best kind of dumplings I’ve had in NYC, hands down. Sometimes I prefer a pan fried or steamed or soup dumpling elsewhere, but the reason this spot holds a special place in my heart is because of their wonderful fillings. They have a number of choices from a menu, like beef with turnip, pork with chives, lamb with green squash, and so on. But if you’re feeling adventurous and know your fillings, you can mix and match from their ingredients menu. For your protein, you can choose from egg, lamb, beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, squid, or chinese sausage. There are plenty of vegetables to choose from to mince into the meat.
I generally go for the lamb with squash or the beef with turnip, and pair it with a side of their divine garlic sauce. This alone is enough to satisfy me. 12 quality dumplings for $ 5 is an absolute steal.
Tianjin Dumpling House is located a few blocks away from the Main St — Flushing 7 train stop, it’s very convenient to drop by when I’m in the area looking for a quick bite.
I will admit that the spot it’s located in, the Golden Shopping Mall, is a real miss in cleanliness and hygiene. It feels like the stalls were just cobbled together at strange angles, haphazardly throwing seats wherever possible. You have to take a step into Tianjin’s kitchen to throw away the plastic plates and napkins. If you want a clean, sit down experience, I suggest you take a visit to Dumpling Galaxy, Tianjin’s younger, bigger, cleaner restaurant a few blocks away at the Arcadia Mall. But you’ll get less bang for the buck, getting 6 dumplings for $ 6. It’s the trade-​off you choose: do you prefer a good ambience, or a cheap price? At least you will have the peace of mind knowing dumpling quality is the same.

Yup, it’s literally next door to the old/​first xian’s famous food. It’s in the basement of the mall. The address on Unilocal will take you somewhere else, but it’s nothing that google maps cannot fix.
I was here a few days ago.
Got a dozen lamb and squash dumplings for $ 6!!! Those were so juicy. They were pretty delicate too. Make sure to eat them with some hot chili oil. Grab a bunch of napkins because you will need them!
They also offer the dumplings to go. «Fresh frozen-​» it says on the menu. lol There are options for side dishes such as bamboo shoots, duck heads and etc — sold by the box or pound.
The seating is awkward, but that’s to be expected. Might not look the cleanest but this place makes some authentic dumplings. You don’t come here for the ambiance. You are not coming here for the service either. There are no frills here. It definitely helps if you know mandarin — which I don’t — so the ladies at the counter can understand you faster and they might not peer pressure you to get a soda.
They are pretty straight forward: come to the counter, order — then pay and sit. Those poor ladies are indeed fed up with people that stop there to ask where Xian’s is and I can’t blame them. Haha

Tianjin Dumpling House offers pretty good dumplings at a pretty reasonable price. They distinguish themselves by offering a variety of interesting dumpling options in addition to the standard pork & veggies. Being in the basement of Golden Mall, its obviously not a classy place to eat, but it’s great for takeout, or for a quick meal or snack.
I went for takeout and opted for two of the more exotic choices: the lamb and squash ($ 6 for 12), and the seabass ($ 7 for 12). I also got an order of the pumpkin tang yuan for dessert (these are glutinous rice balls filled with slightly sweet black sesame paste). The lamb had a very strong lamb flavor which can be good or bad depending on your preference. The seabass had a very soft texture and a distinct (but not overpowering) taste of fish. I’d recommend trying them at least once to see if you like them, but I don’t think they are for everyone. The tang yuan were decent, but I thought it should have had more filling and less skin.
All in all it’s a great place to try some unique dumplings. I don’t live in New York, but even if I did I don’t think I would come here very frequently. It is worth coming once to try their unique flavors, though. And I could see myself eating here once in a while if I happened to be nearby.

Hidden in The Golden Shopping Mall are some of Flushing’s best kept secret restaurants. One of them is Tianjin Dumpling House. The predecessor to Dumpling Galaxy, Tianjin Dumpling is the original little dumpling shop that offers customized mix and match meats, seafood and veggies to your dumpling.
These are the best dumplings for your buck. You will not be disappointed. Pick 3 ingredients from their menu and get $ ⁴⁄₁₀ or $ ⁶⁄₁₂ dumplings.

Flushing’s best kept secret restaurants:
Tianjin Dumpling House is a hidden gem inside The Golden Shopping Mall. Known for its customized dumplings, Tianjin offers an array of ingredients you can mix and match all for $ ⁴⁄₁₀ or $ ⁶⁄₁₂ dumplings.
I had no idea about Tianjin until I had a meal at their successor restaurant, Dumpling Galaxy.
Ingredients include: beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, egg, chives, pumpkin, celery, bok choy, broccoli, turnip, etc. So many choices! I’ve tried so many combinations and found my favorite is pork, shrimp, egg, and chives.
Space is a tight squeeze but well worth the wait to dine in. Your dumplings are made to your order so they are hot and steaming when they come out. Don’t forget to try their many flavored tang yuan afterwards. I’m a huge fan of their peanut and pumpkin tang yuans.

A-​MA-​ZING find in the heart of Flushing. I found that place reading the Serious Eats guide to eating Chinese food in the area and I have never had dumplings as good and flavorful as you can find in Tianjin Dumpling House. It’s hard to find the spot (basement of a small mall with many, many stalls all selling mouth-​watering food) but try your best, ask around and settle in.
The must-​try there is of course the lamb and squash dumplings, best in NY, so tasty, juicy, flavorful. YUM, I’m hungry again just typing these words. Huge portion for a small bill. Go with an empty stomach and an open mind!

Finding Tianjin Dumpling House is a bit like finding the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter. If your Chinese is mediocre at best, you’ll probably walk past this little stall in the Golden Shopping Mall basement a few times before finally realizing that you are staring at it.
I’ve been looking for this place the last few times I was in Flushing to no avail. This time I enlisted my mom’s help, and she spotted the sign immediately. Even so, we stood staring at a different stall before a woman waved us over to the right stall (if you haven’t been to Golden Shopping Mall, you won’t know how easy it is to do this given that the tiny shops practically spill into each other).
Having duly studied what to order on serious eats, I went for the lamb and chive dumplings and the pumpkin tang yuan. To be honest, I was not a huge fan of the dumplings, but maybe it’s because I’m not the target customer (I love lamb, but I’m a rather picky meat eater). I could tell, however, that the skin was perfectly thin and not old and thick like the store bought variety. Tianjin makes the dumplings from scratch.
I was more excited about the tang yuan, and it did not disappoint. Sesame enrobed in a thick coat of glutinous rice, sticky and chewy. Love. Next time, I’ll grab some frozen tang yuan to go.
While we ate sitting at the few seats in front of the shop, several people came over to shout orders over our heads. Apparently the pre-​made food is quite popular too (roasted pork and such). Makes me almost envious of those who live in or super close to Flushing.

Reading reviews for places like this is always interesting because most of the people who actually eat here on the daily don’t speak English, let alone write reviews on Unilocal.So leave it to fuccbois like myself to tell you how to eat this food that I know so very little about.
I read a couple reviews of the place that mentioned how it is «dingy,» «filthy,» «dirty,» etc.
FUCK THAT. I mean, yeah, it’s an interesting place, but once you take your First-​World-​Problem-​having-​self out of your zone of discomfort, then you realize it’s no big deal. At least, here, you can see everything happening with/​to your food, as opposed to most of these haters’ favorite restaurants where cooks probably do all types of inappropriate sexual unspeakables all over your food but you still post it on Instagram.
Anyways, I got 12 pork and cabbage dumplings for $ 4, and they were hella good so I don’t really have anything bad to say about this place.

Somewhere online I read that Tianjin’s lamb and squash dumplings were the best dumplings in all of New York, and while they were certainly very delicious, I don’t know if I’d say they were the best I’ve had in NYC. They’re suuper juicy (careful, they’ll drip on ya) and the flavor was good but not amazing. I couldn’t really taste the squash.
The price is right (I think it was $ 6 for 12?) but the location is in the Golden Mall basement, which is sort of claustrophobic and dingy. But it’s not scary/​inaccessible, so it makes for a unique urban culinary adventure.

Dumpling Galaxy’s no frills cousin.
And boy is the restaurant’s façade misleading. Located in the basement of Golden Mall, the eating area isn’t the prettiest. With about ten different stalls, including the original Xi’an Famous Foods, you have your choice of yummies but the dinginess of the basement is almost a slight turnoff. We opted for the lamb dumplings fro Tianjin, which were served piping hot. You have your choice of soy sauce, vinegar, and minced garlic to top things off and you can’t go wrong with any combination.
The dumplings were tender, easy to slice through, and juice spilled out with every bite. We were debating the black sesame «tang yuan,» and when the lady heard me trying to split an order with another couple because we just wanted a taste, she gave us a half order. They were everything we wanted, although the variety of balls needed just one more black sesame versus red bean and chocolate filled.
If you’re looking for super cheap eats, pop by and grab a plate of hot dumplings. The staff is also very friendly, which was a small surprised for an underground Flushing stall.

After having read the reviews on Unilocal,I today tried lamb dumplings at Tian Jin. They were no less than amazing! Succulent, flavorful and wow, just amazing… oh yeah, I just said that.
As others have written, this place is a bit tricky to find because it is in the basemet of the rather non-​descript (dumpy?) Golden Mall, but it has an open kitchen and although tiny, the place looks clean.
Tian Jin (store #33) is one of several little restaurants/​stalls in the basement of the mall. You sit on tiny chairs at the counter, or take your dumplings and buy something else to go with it at one of the other places that has tables!
The people working here have limited Englsh skills but know what they are selling. So if you don’t speak any Mandarin, you can point to what you want on the menu board.
For those who came here before Christmas, they have a sign posted letting you know that all prices went up on Dec 24 by $ 1/order…Merry Christmas!
It takes me almost 2 hours to get to Flushing on weekends riding the subway (thank you MTA) but it is well worth the ride!
By the way, I did not venture to look, but I would trust the reviewer who said to use a restroom elsewhere before coming to this mall!

I find that the contents of my freezer say a lot about me. Currently, this includes: two whiskey glass ice balls, a slab of bacon and a SHIT TON of dumplings from Tianjin Dumpling House. They are delicious and cheap and the best surprise ever when you come home and think to yourself that there is nothing to eat for dinner.
My favorites are the lamb with squash (duh), the pork with dill, and the pork with pickled vegetables. I buy them in bags of 50 and tote them home across three boroughs so I can eat delicious, delicious dumplings while sitting at home in my underwear.
The only downside to this place is that it is tiny and basically impossible to grab a seat if you are choosing to eat in and chances are, you will be elbowed by a Chinese grandma.

Flushing Appreciation Day, Stop 2 —
The venue: Tianjin Dumpling House
The DL: Freshly handmade dumplings customized for your palate. Aside from creating custom fillings, Tianjin also has a menu of their most popular creations. $ 5 – 7 nets you 12 pieces, depending on filing, while a few dollars more nets you a bag of frozen ones.
The must try: Lamb and squash dumplings.
The verdict: ⁵⁄₅. Personally, best dumplings I’ve came across in NY yet. The meat filings are cooked thoroughly without being overly tough or rare, while the skin has just the right amount of thickness.

I was craving dumplings, and the Essential Dumplings of Flushing, NYC article on Serious Eats led us here.
The stall is located in the basement of Golden Mall (enter on Main street). When you get downstairs turn left and you will find Tianjin literally in front of you on the right hand side of the walkway. The booths are clearly labeled you shouldn’t have a hard time finding it.
We only had the lamb and green squash dumplings as this was one of our many stops for lunch last week. I appreciate that it was lamb, a nice change from the typical pork, and it’s the meat was not too gamey. These dumplings were hot and filling which was great on a cold winter day.
They also have sea bass fish ones that I’m curious about and hope to come back for one day. Bad news is they’ve increased their prices by $ 1 as of the end of 2014. But I think this is still a good deal for quality dumplings.

Custom dumplings at a price of $ 5 – 7 per dozen? Choose 3 of the ingredients and you’re on your way. I came here for breakfast and had them make me a dozen egg/​sausage/​chive dumplings.
Then I came back for lunch and tried Lamb/​Dill/​Bok Choy and Shrimp/​Chive/​Seaweed dumplings. Seriously, if you’re OK with the ambiance of the Golden Mall foodcourt, you won’t find a better value dumpling experience.

I giving two start not because they had something positve just because they had my favorite soy sauce and hot sauce, but besides that this spot is overrated. Got the chicken and broccoli dumplings, they were tasteless, wet and just notting special, the people are super rude and cheap with the forks and plates. I prefer walking a few steps to the place next door (Xi’an Famous Food) get some of those delicious noodles. Yum.

Shitty Spot Located In the Golden Mall Basement! I ordered a variety of dumplings & they were below average. Soggy & Mushy with a slimy outer texture. The taste was bland overall the dumplings were SHIT! «If I was U, I would not trust that Garlic Sauce»
All prices went up! The staff were just as shitty as there food … Can you believe they were being grimy with plastic forks Lmao. I fell into the hype, never again.

Another hole in the wall in Golden Mall. Please be advise to use the restrooms before entering this mall or just hold it in! No tissue in restroom and no privacy or cleanliness. This place may be hard to find. It is located in the basement. After you walk down the stairs, make a left and walk straight. You won’t miss the sign or the smell of these dumplings. Having to pick between this place or Yoz Shanghai (just upstairs), I would go for Yoz Shanghai. BUT here at Tianjin, the inside of the dumplings are so juicy and tasty. Overall, I would go for Yoz. I ordered the pork dumplings here. Probably second or third best dumplings in Flushing.
— Just something funny, I ordered take out at first and decided to dine in. After the staff saw that, they took away the take out box and gave me a plate instead. Guess take out boxes are more expensive?

I had read about Tianjin Dumpling House on Gothamist and decided I was going to make the trek out to Flushing. For those that are unaware, it’s only about 40 minutes from Times Square-​42^nd st to Main St-​Flushing on the 7 train — and that’s on a local. Once you’ve arrived at the real NYC Chinatown — Tianjin is not the easiest to find, as it is stuffed away in the Lower Level of what’s known as Golden Mall. As you descend the steps you find yourself surrounded by small eateries such as Xi’an Famous, a Bubble Tea place, and — of course — Tianjin Dumpling House.
As with any authentic Chinese eatery, they carry many types of protein, including Pig Ear, and Beef Tripe just to name a few.
Now what’s special about Tianjin, you ask?
Imagine, having the opportunity to choose three ingredients — any three ingredients on the menu — and make a dumpling set out of them. They were simply decadent.
We did:
Egg, Cilantro, and Sausage (it was recommended on Gothamist) in one, and
Lamb, Bok Choy, and Turnip in the other
(you have to order by Letter/​Number or they won’t know what you’re asking for)
They come $ ⁵⁄₁₂ dumplings (+$ 1 for fish or shrimp), and served with soy sauce and dumpling (vinegar-​based) sauce, which are out on the bar tables. It’s a small booth, and you can expect about a 15 minute wait for your food if there are others ahead of you. Would definitely come back.
***CASH ONLY***