This is my favourite dumpling place. I have been dining here for years and have never had a bad experience. The staff are attentive, the service flawless and the food is fresh and of the highest quality.

Approximate cost: $25

Really nice comfortable restaurant with a good quality and well executed menu focused on dumplings and accompanying dishes.
Nothing spectacular apart from the reliable food quality and execution, which you do expect given the elevated prices.

We had lunch at Hu Tong. The service was good, abrupt at times, but we were served quickly. Good selection of dumplings including some (not many) vegetarian options. Bookings essential as they get really busy and full!

It is very difficult to get a booking, however well worth it. There are two sittings and the staff stick to the time very strictly. It is not a restaurant you can sit at for hours, you must stick to the schedule! The food is great, excellent quality chinese and prompt and efficient service.

Approximate cost: $17

This is your standard Melbourne CBD laneway restaurant in size only.
The food is very good and comes out quickly but not so quickly that you have to juggle table space.

Service is very attentive and the empty bowls were taken away promptly and replaced with the next dish.

When we finished there was no hurry up and the bill was presented only when we asked for it.

Two visits here have both been pleasant

Approximate cost: $6

My husband and I had lunch here the other day. We did a search for "best dumplings in Melbourne" on Google and they came up first, so we thought we'd try them out.

The service was fast and we managed to get a table without booking, but I can imagine that they get full quite quickly so it's probably best to book beforehand if you want to go there during busier periods. The waitress who served us was friendly enough and explained the sauces and things so that we knew what we were doing.

We ordered the Xiao Long Bao and the Szechuan-style spicy wontons because they've been recommended by so many people. Both of these dishes were quite delicious! The Xiao Long Bao are dumplings with soup inside. I'm terrible with chopsticks so it took me a while to work out how to drink the soup before eating the dumpling. It was a fun (albeit messy) process to work through. The spicy wontons were delicious; not too spicy for my tastes. My husband and I had to fight over the last one.

We also ordered a serve of prawn and vegetable dumplings. They tasted OK; a little bland, but firm and quite a good amount of prawn inside. We probably would have been happy with just the first two dishes, though.

I don't have a lot of experience with dumplings, so I don't know whether they really are the 'best' in Melbourne, but they were quite tasty and the prices are pretty good (a little over $30 for the three dishes plus drinks) and we left feeling full and satisfied so that has got to be a good sign!

Best dumplings in the city. The shao-long bao and the wantons with hot chilli sauce are to die for!
However, this place is always crowded. The best thing to do is to book before going. My tip : ask for a table at the top level. Looks nicer, less tables, less busy, less noisy, so the service is a bit better ;)
Quite expensive (specially the drinks), but it's worth it!

Approximate cost: $20/25 per person

By far one of the best dumplings in Melbourne! Like many of the reviews here i would definitely recommend the xiao long bao. I always get this just as an entree and as soon as i start digging into them i regret not just having this as my entire meal and i am often tempted to order more! Although having said that the rest of the menu is also too good to resist sampling.

Definitely recommend booking in advance (even for week nights) as walk-ins usually have to either wait a long time or get turned away.

The dumplings are AMAZING!!! The service you receive is good once you are seated but you often have to wait a long time to get a seat. You can book in advance but advance means at least a week unless you happen to be going at a less popular time of day. It's worth making the effort for though, they really are the best dumplings I have eaten in Melbourne so far!

Approximate cost: $15-$25

Great place for Xiao Long Bao and Chili Dumplings (sauce is so well balanced). The staff are rushed and can come across rude. I wanted to ask for another bowl and as soon as I looked like I needed help with something, one of the staff members did a u-turn. ??? strange... when I finally got assistance, they gave me a dirty bowl. If their dumplings were not that good, I would not consider going back... I will be back one day!