The Ugly Dumpling Menu — Everything You Need to Know Before You Visit

What to Order at Ugly Dumpling

New to Ugly Dumpling? These are the dishes our regulars order first — and the ones most-recommended by first-timers looking at the menu.

Why Ugly Dumpling Stands Apart from Other Chinese Restaurants

There are thousands of Chinese restaurants on the East Coast. Here's what makes Ugly Dumpling's XLB soup dumplings and dim sum fundamentally different — and why lines form before we open.

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18-Hour Broth, Not Powder

Our XLB broth aspic is made from pork bones slow-reduced for 18 hours, then chilled into gelatin and hand-mixed into each dumpling filling. Not powder. Not shortcuts. Real bone broth, every batch, every day.

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Hand-Stretched 1mm Wrappers

Every wrapper is hand-stretched each morning to approximately 1mm — thin enough to be translucent when steamed, strong enough not to break. No machines. No pre-made sheets. Each XLB wrapper is a distinct piece of dough stretched by trained hands.

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Real Wok Hei on Every Wok Dish

Our wok stations run at commercial BTU output — the same heat level as traditional Chinese restaurant kitchens in Hong Kong and Shanghai. This is what produces wok hei: the smoky, charred quality that separates restaurant fried rice from everything you've made at home.

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8 Consistent Locations, One Standard

All 8 locations — Edison NJ, Hamden CT, Richmond VA, Fairfax VA, and more — operate under the same daily fresh prep commitment. The Classic Pork XLB you order in Hamden CT tastes the same as the one in our Edison NJ flagship. Same recipe, same technique, same standard.

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Premium Ingredients at Honest Prices

Classic Pork XLB is $11.50 for 6 pieces. During Happy Hour (Mon–Fri 3–6PM), that drops to $8.00. We use Berkshire pork, free-range chicken, and fresh Gulf shrimp — and our pricing reflects what food should cost, not what the market charges for the word "artisan."

House-Brewed Boba, Not Powder

Our milk teas are brewed with whole loose-leaf tea and paired with tapioca pearls cooked in-house daily. Brown Sugar Boba uses real Taiwanese black sugar — not caramel coloring or flavored syrup. Every drink is made to order. No pre-made concentrates.

Ugly Dumpling's Best-Selling Menu Items

Based on order frequency across all 8 locations — these are the dishes customers order first, order again, and bring friends back for.

#1 BESTSELLER

Classic Pork XLB

Berkshire pork shoulder, 18-hour broth aspic, ginger, scallion. 1mm hand-stretched wrapper. 6 pieces per order. The dish Ugly Dumpling is built around.

$11.50 · 6pc  →

🍄 HOUSE SIGNATURE

Pork & Truffle XLB

Italian black truffle oil in the filling and broth aspic. The most-photographed dish on the menu. 6 pieces. Rich, aromatic, extraordinary.

$16.10 · 6pc  →

STAFF FAVORITE

Braised Beef Noodle Soup

Six-hour braised beef shank, master stock broth, bok choy, fresh wheat noodles. The best single-bowl meal on the Ugly Dumpling menu.

$17.25 · 1 bowl  →

🦀 MOST UPGRADED

Pork & Crab XLB

Fresh blue crab folded into the Berkshire pork and broth base. Briny, rich, and noticeably more complex than the Classic. The next step up for XLB regulars.

$13.80 · 6pc  →

🍳 CROWD PLEASER

Pork Chop Fried Rice

Full marinated pork chop over wok-blistered egg fried rice. Cooked on commercial-BTU wok burners for real wok hei char. One of the most satisfying plates on the menu.

$17.25 · 1 plate  →

#1 DRINK

Brown Sugar Boba

Taiwanese black sugar tiger-striped cup with house-cooked tapioca pearls. Real black sugar, not caramel coloring. The best-selling drink at all 8 locations.

$6.50 ($4.50 Happy Hour)  →

The Ugly Dumpling menu is one of the most talked-about restaurant menus on the East Coast — and for good reason. Built around handmade Xiao Long Bao (XLB soup dumplings), traditional Chinese dim sum, wok-fired noodle dishes, and house-brewed boba teas, it represents a style of Chinese restaurant dining that most American cities have never seen done at this level. Every item is made fresh daily, from hand-stretched 1mm dumpling wrappers to 18-hour pork bone broth reductions. Nothing is pre-made. Nothing is factory-produced. And that commitment to craft is visible in every bite.

Whether you're visiting the Edison NJ flagship, the Hamden CT location, or any of the 8 East Coast restaurants — understanding the Ugly Dumpling menu before you arrive will help you order smarter, eat better, and get far more out of your visit. This guide covers every section of the menu, prices, what to order first, and how to eat XLB correctly.

Soup Dumplings (XLB) — The Heart of the Ugly Dumpling Menu

The Ugly Dumpling XLB menu is organized around seven distinct flavors of Xiao Long Bao — the soup dumpling that built the brand's reputation. Xiao Long Bao (小笼包) is a broth-filled steamed dumpling originating from Shanghai, and it is one of the most technically demanding dishes in all of Chinese cuisine. The challenge is deceptively simple: encase a meat filling and hot, rich soup inside a paper-thin skin that doesn't break during steaming or eating.

Ugly Dumpling achieves this through the broth aspic method — pork bones are reduced for 18 hours until the stock solidifies into a gelatin when chilled. That gelatin is mixed directly into the filling. When the dumpling steams, the gelatin melts back into hot, fragrant soup. The result is a dumpling that releases a mouthful of deeply savoury broth the moment you bite in.

The Classic Pork XLB ($11.50 for 6 pieces) is the benchmark — Berkshire pork shoulder, ginger, scallion, and white pepper wrapped in a 1mm hand-stretched skin with 18 pleats minimum. Beyond Classic, the XLB menu extends to Chicken XLB (free-range chicken, aromatic broth, $11.50), Szechuan Pork XLB (doubanjiang, chili oil, Szechuan peppercorn — medium-hot, $11.50), Pork & Shrimp Spinach XLB (Gulf shrimp, baby spinach, $12.65), Pork & Crab XLB (fresh blue crab, briny and rich, $13.80), and Pork & Truffle XLB — the house signature with Italian black truffle oil in both the filling and the broth aspic, $16.10. The XLB Sampler ($13.80) lets first-timers try a curated mix of flavors in one order.

Dim Sum & Buns — Traditional Cantonese Craftsmanship

The Ugly Dumpling dim sum menu covers the full range of classic Cantonese-style handmade bites — all made fresh in-house daily. Pork Dumplings, Chicken Dumplings, and Vegan Dumplings (wood ear mushroom, glass noodles, firm tofu, garlic chives) are all $9.20 for 6 pieces and available steamed or pan-fried. Crystal Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) use a translucent wheat starch wrapper that requires a completely different technique from XLB — the dough must be handled at a specific temperature to stay pliable, and each dumpling is pleated through 7 folds. At $11.50 for 6 pieces, it's one of the most technically impressive items on the menu.

Pork & Shrimp Shumai ($11.50) are open-top steamed dumplings filled with pork, shrimp, water chestnut, and tobiko — a Cantonese dim sum classic. The Pan Fried Pork Buns ($8.05 for 4 pieces) are a Shanghai street food staple: yeasted dough filled with savoury pork, pan-fried until the bottom is golden and crackling, then steamed in the same pan so the top stays pillowy. The contrast of textures — crispy base, soft top, hot soup interior — is one of the most satisfying things on the Ugly Dumpling menu. Steamed BBQ Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao) at $8.05 for 3 pieces feature cloud-soft dough filled with caramelised roast pork.

Wok, Rice & Noodles — Real Wok Hei, Every Plate

The wok section of the Ugly Dumpling menu is built around dishes that require commercial-grade heat to execute correctly. Wok hei (鑊氣) — the smoky, slightly charred quality in restaurant fried rice — is produced only at temperatures above 1,000°C, which a standard home stove cannot reach. Ugly Dumpling's wok stations run on high-output commercial burners, the same configuration used in professional Hong Kong and Shanghai kitchens. Every order off the wok station is cooked to order in under 90 seconds.

Egg Fried Rice ($9.20) uses day-old jasmine rice — never fresh, which carries too much moisture. Pork Chop Fried Rice ($17.25) places a full marinated pork chop on top of wok-blistered rice — one of the most satisfying plates on the menu. Braised Beef Noodle Soup ($17.25) is a six-hour braised beef shank served in master stock over fresh wheat noodles with bok choy — the best single-bowl meal Ugly Dumpling serves. Kung Pao Chicken ($16.10) delivers the Szechuan classic in its proper form: four-flavour balance of spicy, numbing, sour, and sweet. Noodle dishes — Sesame Noodles ($10.35) and Spicy Noodles ($10.35) — are both available vegan and are popular weekday lunch orders.

Drinks & Boba — House-Brewed, Not Powdered

The Ugly Dumpling boba and drinks menu uses real brewed tea and house-cooked tapioca pearls — not powder, not pre-made concentrate. Brown Sugar Boba ($6.50) is the bestseller across all 8 locations — real Taiwanese black sugar creates the tiger-stripe pattern in the cup, paired with large chewy tapioca pearls cooked fresh each morning. Signature Milk Tea uses premium Earl Grey, Matcha Milk Tea uses ceremonial-grade Japanese matcha, Taro Milk Tea uses real taro powder (naturally caffeine-free and naturally purple), and the Mango Yakult Smoothie blends fresh mango with Yakult probiotic drink. All drinks are $6.50 ($4.50 during Happy Hour).

Ugly Dumpling Menu Prices — What to Expect in 2025

The Ugly Dumpling menu with prices is consistent across all 8 locations. XLB soup dumplings range from $11.50 to $16.10 for 6 pieces. Dim sum and buns range from $8.05 to $11.50 per order. Wok dishes and noodle soups range from $9.20 to $17.25. Boba drinks are $5.50–$6.50. Appetizers (Edamame, Cucumber Salad, Cream Cheese Rangoon, Spring Rolls, Soy Garlic Wings) range from $5.75 to $12.65. The average spend per person for a full meal with a drink is approximately $22–$32.

Ugly Dumpling Menu at All 8 Locations — What's the Same, What Changes

The core Ugly Dumpling menu is consistent at all 8 locations: Edison NJ (flagship), Linden NJ, Holmdel NJ (Bell Works), Parsippany NJ, Hamden CT (2100 Dixwell Ave), Richmond VA (Willow Lawn), Fairfax VA (Fair Oaks Mall), and Newark DE. The same XLB, the same dim sum, the same boba — made to the same recipe, the same morning prep standard, the same broth reduction time at every location.

Some locations carry exclusive items not available elsewhere: Holmdel Bell Works offers Kung Pao Beef and Black Pepper Beef. Linden NJ carries Chicken Kimchi Dumplings. The Edison NJ flagship has the widest selection including the full cocktail program. All 8 locations serve the same Happy Hour menu Monday–Friday 3–6PM, dine-in only. All 8 locations offer delivery via Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub.

How to Order from the Ugly Dumpling Menu — First-Timer's Sequence

If you've never visited Ugly Dumpling before, the ordering sequence matters. The Ugly Dumpling menu is designed for sharing — most tables order 2–4 items and pass everything around. Here's the ideal first-visit sequence:

1. Start with XLB immediately. Order the Classic Pork XLB ($11.50) or XLB Sampler ($13.80) the moment you sit down — they take 7–8 minutes to steam, and you want them hot the moment they arrive.
2. Add one dim sum item. Pan Fried Pork Buns ($8.05) are the most crowd-pleasing. Crystal Shrimp Har Gow ($11.50) is the most technically impressive. Order one for the table to share while XLB is steaming.
3. Add one rice or noodle base. Egg Fried Rice ($9.20) is the natural pairing for XLB — it catches the broth that spills and provides a neutral carbohydrate base. If you're ordering Kung Pao Chicken or a wok dish, it becomes the rice for those as well.
4. One cold appetizer. Cucumber Salad ($5.75) or Edamame ($5.75) serve as palate cleansers and cooling counterweights to the hot, rich XLB. Essential if you're ordering multiple XLB rounds.
5. Boba to close. Brown Sugar Boba ($6.50) — the sweetness and creaminess rounds off the savoury. Order one per person; they're finished quickly and set up a second XLB order perfectly.

During Happy Hour (Mon–Fri 3–6PM), the above order for two costs approximately $43–$48 total. Without Happy Hour, expect $55–$62 for the same table. Both represent strong value for the quality of food — Ugly Dumpling's pricing has remained flat against the general restaurant inflation trend since 2022.

Ugly Dumpling Menu — Frequently Asked Questions