Auckland, New Zealand
Galway Street & Commerce Street, Britomart
$$
+6493095529
N/A
I’ve been to Xuxu’s a few times now and always enjoy it there. Really cute place with a nice atmosphere and pretty good dumplings, my favourite are the duck dumplings.
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I've been wanting to go here for a long time, but, although it's a lovely environment, and although the cocktails were nice, the main point, dumplings, were disappointing. We had Har Gow. Wonton style dumplings, and pan fried dumplings. The latter were tasty enough, but the shrimp dumplings were frankly disappointing. Also, it would have been nice to have some vinegar as well as soy sauce and chili oil.
If you come here with the mindset of authentic Asian food, you're going to complain and I suggest you head over to a greatly rated dumpling place by Asians for Asians. If you come here for a modern, western twist on Asian cuisine, then you'll probably have no complaints. It is difficult to rate a cultural food place fairly if you walk in with the cultural expectations. One of our guests specifically said that her ancestors are probably rolling in their graves at a "banoffee dumpling" - however, we approached the menu with an open mind. The prawn and ginger dumplings were so fresh and delicious, the duck was exceptional. Both the vegetarian dumpling options had great presentation but needed a little something for a flavour punch. The chocolate steamed buns were definitely a highlight of the night and I would even go as far to say that these beauties are so underrated and steal the banoffee dumpling's thunder. The caramel in the banoffee needs more work and they probably need to be pan fried or even deep fried rather than steamed. A bit of texture contrast would actually set this dish on a higher level. The house made Mango, Cinnamon and Toasted coconut soda was BOMB AF as was the atmosphere and service of the staff. It's definitely a whole experience from the entrance to the setting to the presentation.
We tried Xuxu Dumpling Bar during the Restaurant Month which was a relatively fine deal being able to taste a good range of dishes. It has a trendy ambiance and a cozy feel, almost too cozy as we found the tables were small leaving us not much space to eat after all the foods arrive. Onto the foods - we are Asians, and we live on carb-y things like dumplings, rice, noodles. I applaud the creativity of some of the dumplings and presentation, but it's not a place to indulge in a dumpling experience. There are plenty, plenty of great dumpling specialists in Auckland alone (hint: Dominion Road). While the presentation is great at Xuxu Dumpling Bar, we also found the taste between each variety to be very similar, and they are mostly spicy (our fault for not checking this before deciding to bring young kids there), with the exception of the banoffee dumplings for dessert, which are creative, but not spectacular -- a winner for the kids though, they were hungry. All-in-all, it was worth a try but the menu did not win out heart.
Food joy! I used as much chile sauce as I would soy sauce and don't regret it. Original fillings too. Delicious.
Nice place for a drink and delicious dumplings
We tried all the dumplings on the menu, the beef ones were our favourite. Cocktails were nice, different, spicy. And to top it all, our waiter had a fantastic sense of humour! Means, we will be back and will definitely recommend Xuxu bar (pronounced Zuzu) further...
You pay more for the atmosphere than for the food. Quality and taste are really just so so.
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