Boston Chinatown Crawl - December 2025
What we ordered:
Pork Xiao Long Bao
Siu Mai
Scallion Pancake with Beef
If I were looking for a fast-casual spot with high-quality food, this would be my go-to. The XLB and siu mai were perfectly executed, and the scallion pancake filled with beef was delicious. There were so many other tempting items on the menu that I wanted to try, but we had a few more stops planned. I’ll definitely be back!
What we ordered:
Pan-fried Pork Soup Dumplings
We came to Potluck for one item only, but honestly, everything looked amazing. It’s a cafeteria-style buffet, with soups and dumplings ordered separately from the menu (not the buffet). I’d definitely come back to try more of the hot bar options. The dishes felt very authentic—much less Americanized—and I love the idea of building a rice plate with a few different selections.
What we ordered:
Steamed Pork and Leek Dumplings
This spot is located in a mini food hall with some great-looking options, but it’s the only dumpling-focused vendor. The menu is limited to a few varieties of dumplings, available either pan-fried or steamed. The coolest part is that you can also buy their dumplings frozen to take home. And most importantly—they were super delicious!
What we ordered:
Roast Duck and BBQ Pork Rice Plate
Honestly, I’m shocked I hadn’t seen or visited this spot before. It was one of my favorite finds of the day, and I preferred the BBQ pork over the duck. The rice plate comes with rice, some steamed vegetables (under the meat), and your choice of protein. The two-meat platter was around $15, which is a great value. My only note is that I wish the meat had been warmer—but I’ll absolutely be back!
What we ordered:
Strawberry Matcha
This matcha spot is also located in the same mini food hall as Dumpling King. It’s a tiny stall, but they have an impressive selection of drink options. They make all of their tea drinks with MEM Tea, a local Boston tea purveyor. This drink was honestly perfect—the matcha was high quality and not too sweet, and I loved the fresh strawberries muddled at the bottom. We added boba, which gave it a great texture. This is definitely my new go-to matcha spot in Chinatown!
What we ordered:
Matcha Mochi
This was the most incredible mochi I’ve ever had. The mochi itself was perfectly soft and chewy, and I wasn’t expecting the surprise inside—it was filled with cream and mango boba. It was the perfect way to wrap up our tour. They also had some unreal-looking cakes in the pastry display, and I already want to come back to try everything.
Honorable mentions: We also stopped at Ho Yuen Bakery for pork and curry beef pastries, and Corner Cafe Bakery for a BBQ pork bun and a pineapple bun—both worth the stop.