Ugly Dumpling - Vancouver, British Columbia

Go while you can! And go for the omakase - all the food is great and you won't go wrong having the chef make some decisions for you. Reservations recommended, but some seating is available for walk ins. The staff is amazing, helpful and friendly - definitely get their sake ... recommendations if you're interested. My favourite courses are often the first "snacks" course (usually four small plates), the soup/broth, and the dumplings, of course (accompanied by the best chili oil!!). They're closing on Dec 20, get in while you can! Read more

Good! But don’t come here expecting big explosions of Asian flavours though. They serve humble dishes you’d find in an Asian (Japanese) household like what moms would make, such as pickled root vegetables, warm hearty soup, stewed meat, steamed fish, pork dumplings, etc. However, the flavours presented ... are refined, and I appreciate their farm-to-table approach where you can taste the freshness of all components in a dish. Although simplistic flavours, you could tell they source quality ingredients combined with restaurant level preparation. We thought everything was tasty, and we liked the progression of the menu. Our server was excellent and attentive as well. He told us stories of how they foraged the ginkgo nuts served in the starter, and was passionate when describing the kabocha squash cake dessert with plum preserves caramel, which was my favourite—a perfect way to end the meal! Overall I think it is an experience worthy of $60 pp given how full and satisfied we were leaving the restaurant. Would recommend! Read more

Lovely tasting menu experience. The omakase menu comes with 7 courses. Our courses started with a round of snacks which included potato salad, squash, chicken liver mousse, and kimchi and pickled veggies. We LOVED the mousse, squash, and potato salad. The mousse was super rich and smooth and lovely to ... eat with the radicchio. The squash was creamy and the potato salad had tasty bits of bonito layered throughout. The second course was a soup which we were not super fond of. The texture of the mochi was just not for us. The third course was dumplings, fourth was a refreshing radicchio salad, and the fifth course was pork katsu, which was our favorite dish. The katsu were crispy and tender and the sauce over top was rich and delicious. The sixth course was a chicken rice bowl. We each got our own bowl and by the time we were done, we were stuffed! They were really generous portions. The last course was a pumpkin creme brulee type dessert. We're sad that this restaurant will be closing in January, because overall, we had a great experience. Read more

We had the Omakase which was $60 per person for seven "courses". Four of the courses were cold dishes. Three of them being small side salads.. And one being some raw fish (at least the fish was good) For a place called Ugly Dumpling, only one of our courses consisted of eight ... pieces of dumplings, which tasted average at best. Our final savoury dish was a bowl of rice, with dry shredded braised meat. The rice itself was watery to the point that I couldn't even finish it. The final kicker... Was our dessert. Which was five cherries, covered in nuts and custard. If the chef was able to create a distinct flavor profile that complimented the cherry, that'd be fine. However, all I could taste was the nuts. Overall, the food was not worth the price tag of $60. The extra star I awarded this restaurant was for its excellent service. Read more

Small place with friendly service. It has an Asian fusion feel and the food is delicious. The steak was cooked perfectly, the halibut cheeks were juicy and tender, oysters was fresh, and dumpling is so flavourful. The menu here is always changing so we didn’t even know what to expect. There ... is a chefs choice option which I would probably try next time around. Read more