Bamboo Dumpling Bar

4.8 Average

Food  3      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  3     

Sorry guys but this place doesn't hit the mark.

Peking duck pancakes $13 (3 serves)- Terrible, no texture, just duck meat in a soggy pancake, with a tiny cucumber. My suggestion, if you're not going to include the crispy duck skin (as you should) at least add a bigger slice of cucumber, some spring onion and maybe some fried shallots to add crunch.

Pork prawn dumpling $10 (5 serves): Taste like standard store bought frozen ones.

Vegetarian gow gee $10 (5 serves): Dough was way too thick, over-powered the subtle vegetarian filling. Many previous reviews have complained about this but still you serve the same thing.

Coconut chicken and peanut skewers $9.80 (3 serves): Sounds good, but tasted terrible. Burnt, under seasoned and dry. My suggestion add a tad more and fry at a lower heat.

Conclusion: I really would not bother with this place, there's no effort with the food and the prices they charge is very over-priced considering. If you need to eat and you're around the Surry Hills area I'd suggest visiting El Loco (corner of Bellevue and Foveaux St) for $5 tacos and a Margarita.

Feb 24, 2012 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  7     

Went with some friends recently, and we went for the dumpling fix banquet. The food was pretty good, we all enjoyed it! Not the place to go for a massive meal, but if you're looking to enjoy a few drinks and what is essentially asian style tapas, then this is the place to go! Would definitely go back!

Feb 07, 2012 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  4      Service  2      Value  2     

Went to this place for my birthday dinner on a recommendation from a friend that had been to one of their sister restaurants in Potts Point.

It is a cute little place attached to a pub in Surry Hills, and by first impressions it looks nice. We went on a Monday and it was still about half full which I thought to be a good sign.

There were daily specials and we went for the salt and pepper squid, and then tried a few dumplings. The squid was a little ordinary and was very heavily fried, little more KFC than a dumpling place.

The other dumplings that we had were very rubbery on the outside, and the filling was rather solid like it had been reheated. We had to send the beef dumplings back as they were just inedible. I don't think I have ever sent a dish back in my life. When the waiter explained to the cook he just scoffed and went about his business. It was then that I figured it out.

I kept hearing a door open and close, and I realised that it was good old Chef Mick (AKA The Microwave) doing all the work. When our last dish arrived you could tell it had just been microwaved, even the plate was hot from being reheated. The only thing that was passable was the poached chicken, but it was a very small serving for $16.

Overall we were very disappointed in what we got for about $50. If you are after a dumpling place do yourself a favour and head down to something in China Town just 2 minutes away and give this place a miss.

Jan 30, 2012 

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  5     

Went for dumplings on Sunday and tried the $24 banquet. It works out to about $2.50 a dumpling which isn't great value. The serve was just filling enough for me but my partner left hungry. The food tasted nice but there just wasn’t enough. Next time I think I'll stick to yum cha.

Sep 20, 2011 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

We had the $22 banquet menu with dessert and I found it to be filling and So tasty! I will be coming back for more. The ice cream dumpling is outstanding!

Aug 15, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  2     

Way overpriced for very small servings. We ordered 3 plates of dumplings, 1 main, some rice and tea which cost us ~$80, and left us hungry.

Quite disappointed with the dumplings themselves, very ordinary tasting and not worth the 5 for ~$10 price. Soy poached chicken which cost $15 was possibly only a quarter of a chicken. Rice was very dry, and the waiters left us with teacups and no tea until we were almost done with the food.

The ambience was quite nice with oriental decorations etc but food-wise, chinatown would be a better option.

Jul 31, 2011 

6.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  5     

Quite a cool little pub but I'm not sold on Bamboo. We went on voucher deal. Service from the white dude with the goatee was excellent. Some of the dumplings were good, some just ok, same with the spring rolls but with the small serves and the luke-warmness of many dumplings it'd be hard for me to return. Nothing is fried, it's all steamed, which makes it really easy for the chef to pump out the banquets but I like to have fried and steamed dumplings together.

S & P Squid was nice but pork main was average, not enough fat on the cut. Sweet dumplings are good. Still, there were lots of 20 somethings enjoying the place on a winter Tues night.

Jul 20, 2011 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

Been here twice in the past 2 months and can't really fault it. Both times used vouchers and staff treated us like regular customers which was great. Huge variety of drinks all at a good price.

There was 4 of us last night and we went for the banquet, 3 of us don't eat pork and 1 is strictly vegetarian. They were very happy to accommodate subsitutions and didn't fuss at all about it (unlike most restaurants which either don't let you and make it seem like you're asking them to built a rocket ship).

All up had great food and drinks in a cool atmosphere for good prices. I will definately come back many times over!

Jul 20, 2011 

1 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Went there with a scoopon for $50 of food and $20 of drinks, for $29. We ordered the soup dumplings, duck pancake, sichuan chilli noodles, spring rolls, and salt and pepper squid. Firstly, the serving sizes were tiny, especially for the price. For example 4 duck pancakes that included about a 20cent sized piece of duck was $16! The noodles were chilli udon noodles with pork mince, the soup dumplings had no soup (I can get better frozen dumplings from the asian supermarket!), and the salt and pepper squid were poorly fried.

The only food that was ok was the spring rolls, but even they were mediocre. absolute rip off, we went over our $50 for the scoopon, adding another $20 to our bill. There was also only one guy doing table service, so it took about 10 mins for us to get the bill. The ambience was poor, it was so noisy that I could barely hear my friends, the seats were wooden stools with no backing (uncomfortable!) and the place was full of random people.

Jun 29, 2011 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

I just celebrated my 30th birthday at Bamboo with a banquet to rival a casino in Las Vegas. The staff were amazing, the food was delish and we were all really well looked after.

Bamboo has always been on our regular eats list because it's fun, fresh and cheap but now it's made our special celebration list too. Highly recommend the soup dumplings and the custard buns to finish. Yum!

Jun 24, 2011