Review Shifu Dumpling Express - St Kilda

I give 4 stars because the food is delicious. The lady working there is not as bad as other comments posted. Of course, the lady has no smile on her face, but she serves us promptly and gives us extra bowls quickly when we ask for them. For the food I ordered, the Shanghai Pork Dumpling is "juicy" and the fried rice is up to standard. If looking for good dumplings, it is a good place to be considered, even though the lady is so "cool" to the customers.

Despite people mentioning the lady with ‘glasses’ is rude and that the staff are also rude, my experience couldn’t be further from the truth. I saw a lot of the restaurant has good reviews and bad comments. No matter what kind of comments you get, it’s insightful. No one is perfect just do your best ，bad attitude is definitely a communication problem, but who is not making mistakes? But my family very enjoy in shifu dumpling because excellent food services and the lady is very friendly and nice.We will back again.....

Despite people mentioning the lady with ‘glasses’ is rude and that the staff are also rude, my experience couldn’t be further from the truth. The lady with glasses approached me to take my order, she even explained in detail each dish I asked about. I didn’t need to go to the counter to pay, because my food arrived quickly and it was fresh. Lovely service. Nothing to complain about.

The worst vegetarian dumplings I have ever had, and they smell bad. The prices here are definitely overrated. What's worse, the restaurant is messy. You might feel shoes sticked on the floor while walking around in the restaurant. The restroom is quite dirty as well.

This Place deserve more love! The pan fried fillet steak is soo goood! I've tried more than once and is always delicious! The chicken mushroom soup is really good too. And the lady is no rude, she just doesnt speak english that much

Had dinner here with friends. The food and service was good. But the waitress (whom was really nice) accidentally broke water on the table and ruined some of the food. I understand mistakes happen, but management didn't even consider to replace the ruined food or give us a discount.

I used to absolutely LOVE Shifu. Now don't get me wrong. I still love their dumplings. The steamed vegetarian ones are to die for. But I will not tolerate any sort of racism from anyone. The waitstaff are terrible, rude, don't want to be there. They slam dishes down in front of you. An Indian family sat behind me and my family and were literally not served while an Asian family who walked in 5 mins afterwards and got served right away. The Indian family then proceeded to walk to the counter to get served where they were told to be seated again without having their order taken. The Asian family got their food and the still no order taken for the Indian family. All the while the owner sat down eating, watching and doing nothing.

My favourite dumpling restaurant ever! I first visited Shifu when I moved to St Kilda last year, and the selection and quality of the dumplings were fantastic! The atmosphere and service are not overly polished, however I've returned back every Friday for dumplings and I've always found the staff so friendly and grateful for my custom! I would ALWAYS recommend Shifu for delish dumplings in St Kilda! I've yet to find better take-away dumplings than the ones at Shifu!

Lousy, slow, rude staff especially the lady on the counter with the eyeglass. <br/><br/>Whoever she is, she must be moved somewhere else or get fired.

The rudest waitress I have ever encountered! We left without ordering.<br/>I have eaten here many times and really like their dumplings but yesterday we left before ordering because the waitress was so incredibly rude! First off, we sat down and she put one menu on the table. We asked for another menu (there were 2 of us) and she looked at us as if we were the most disgusting people she had ever seen. She did give us another menu. While we were looking at the menus, she sat at the table behind us and started watching you-tube or something on her phone at full volume! My partner asked her to turn it down. She glared at him and did turn it down, then turned it back up and literally sneered at us. That was it, we got up and left. Will NEVER go back!

Shifu is the best Chinese food in St Kilda. Friendly staff and great location. Fresh, well priced and overall delicious. I love the dumplings, great yum cha, and the Szechuan is spot one!

We found this place through the Eat Now app which was rated fairly high. Very misleading.<br/><br/>We ordered the Yum Cha, 3x Shiu Mai, 3x Prawn Dumpling. As well as 10x Chicken and Prawn dumplings. <br/><br/>The Shiu Mai arrived for my 2 year old and as I was cutting it open I noticed It was full of RAW chicken. Lucky I cut these up or my daughter would have been violently sick from this. We told staff who replied with “oh” and walked off with our dish. We quickly cancelled the Shiu Mai and continued with our meal.<br/><br/>There was no real apology for the RAW food and when it come to paying we ended up being $1.50 short in change. You’d think they would wave such an amount but turns out they request we pay by card.<br/><br/>Is It really so hard these days to provide good customer service? We will never go back. By the way Shifu, did you know the average unsatisfied customer tells around 10 people of their experience? Well I am not your average customer. I am going to tell 20. Shifu....more like Sh**fu.

Would recommend Shanghai pork dumplings. Other food was good too except the stuff that didn't arrive because they were out of stock and no one thought to let us know.

I’ve Been going for 5 years! Best Dumplings and even when I have other dishes I never walk out disappointed...service is excellent too and the girl is very friendly! Love this place!

No suburbs should be spared from Dumplings ..... and Yumcha.<br/><br/>Acland Street Continental cakes central has been invaded by these Chinese dumplings ..... they are not the most refined, need to up the ante, however a great addition to Acland Street gastronomy landscape. JT-28/10/2017.

Pretty good vegetarian dumplings, they taste like all the other frozen ones from every other place. Generic but tasty, but when you're in the mood for dumplings it hits that spot, I'll probably get the pan fried next time for a bit more flavour. The Chinese broccoli with with garlic sauce was way overcooked so was nearly devoid of texture.<br/>You get what you pay for I suppose.

VERY FAST delivery via menulog. It arrived in 20 minutes!! Fastest delivery ever! If you are having late night dumpling/yum cha cravings this is the place to choose. For the St.Kilda area + surrounds this place tastes pretty authentic to me & on a par with springvale/china town dumplings and yum cha. Looking forward to dining at the restaurant one day.

OMG! Dropped in here on Saturday...best Pork Bun ever! Will definitely be back. Highly recommend and very affordable prices! Quality wine on the wine list too!

Verdict: Like so many other regional cuisines, Australia dishes up some proper Chinese, and while a bit pricy, Shifu will more than satisfy a proper dumpling craving.<br/><br/>Star 1: How was the service and atmosphere?<br/><br/>While Shifu was virtually empty when I showed up around 21:00 on a Tuesday, prompt service combined with a clean and comfortable atmosphere. With televisions and a great location for people watching, Shifu is great for either smaller parties of two or full-scale large groups. Star Granted.<br/><br/>Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?<br/><br/>Having seen places like Los Angeles butcher what is typically an affordable meal in China in terms of price; I was expecting the worst in Australia, where a perpetually strengthening currency has made virtually everything expensive for foreigners. However, at the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised with the prices I paid:<br/><br/>Shanghai Pork Dumplings (11 count): $11.80<br/><br/>BBQ Pork Buns (2 count): $5.80<br/><br/>Steamed Rice: $3.00<br/><br/>At the end of the day, while $20.60 isn't by any means cheap, it really isn't bad when you're comparing it to $12-$15 for burgers and fish n chips. Additionally, I could have easily split my meal between two and been satisfied. Star Granted.<br/><br/>Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?<br/><br/>Evident that the dumplings at Shifu are made fresh to order, I was impressed by the quality of the food. The Shanghai Pork Dumplings were excellent, and the dumpling properly sealed in the pork juices that make the dish. Additionally, while a little bit in the "falling apart" stage, my Pork Buns were very good. This wasn't the best dim sum I've ever had, and I imagine I could have ventured into Melbourne's bustling China town for a real treat, but it no doubt satisfied my craving. Single Star Granted.<br/><br/>Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?<br/><br/>I'm not sure I could eat Chinese dumplings on a daily basis, but even if I could, the plethora of other slightly more affordable dining options in St. Kilda would make me think twice about returning to Shifu in the near future. No Star Granted.

I'm sorry, but one of the worst Dims I've ever. I had 2 differently flavours, because I love dims, they both were over cooked, and the flavour...far away from a good one...<br/>I'll never go back.

I felt like dumplings & wasn't feeling up to going to Chinatown to my favourite so I went here because it's local and ordered 2 X 10 pan fried dumpling take away. The wait wasn't long maybe 10 minutes. I got home & we opened the containers to see very small & thick dough dumplings. Not sure what kind of pastry it was but it was thick & chewy which I've not encountered anywhere before & ive had a lot of dumplings. We were really disappointed & only ate 1 each. Next time I'll stick with the usual place i go to.

The dumplings and food was delicious! Our waitress was so lovely. Many negative comments seen on the reviews, however my experience was great! I will be back:-)

Great cheap and tasty dumplings! The pan fried pork dumplings had nice thin skins and flavorful meat. The steamed pork buns were light and fluffy and the meat inside was rich and tasty. Chinese broccoli and oyster sauce was exactly as described :) <br/>Beers are only $6 and a plate of dumplings is $10. Service was friendly, the place was basic but nice and clean and well presented. <br/>Will definitely be back to try some of the yum cha dishes.

My first experience at Shifu, over three years ago, was not great. But my recent visit was a nice surprise. It was cheap, cheerful, reasonably authentic Asian. The components of the dumpling filling were still identifiable, and the char kway teow was really tasty. I hope the standard keeps up!

Not impressed. Spent $40 on takeout and it was all pretty much inedible. Total waste of money. Shallot pancakes were drenched in oil and tasted stale. Beef dumplings were gross. Noodle dish was oily and had no flavor. Very disappointed.

Food was delicious. Place was clean. Service was very friendly. Food came out really fast. Only thing is the special fried rice was a little salty. But that's the only fault. Will go there again

As far as dumplings go this place is the bomb. <br/>If you want fine dining or superior service go elsewhere ... If you want good dumplings at a fair price Shifu is for you !!

Not too bad!. We only got the pork fried dumpings..they were good! A little pricey though. And they could clean the soy sauce containers on the tables more often it was a little dirty. But we will be back again for some other food.

This place charge more for dumplings then an actual restaurant !! I'm so confused! Quality not there at all and the soup had NO flavour. Do yourself a favour and just got out to a normal yum cha, cheaper an far more delicious.

Went there on a nice warm Sunday arvo when all the restaurants there were at least half full. Walked in and saw one single person waiting for his order. That should have had been the hint. The food was bland, service was ok - don't order anything from the over priced yum cha menu! I dont usually write reviews but I have to break with tradition to warn would be diners against patronising this place...unless you are desperate for a feed. On the plus side the waitress remember all the items on the menu. You can order by numbers! Yay joy!

Dodge this place. Not authentic, expensive for what you get. How do places like this survive in a prime location is beyond me. Need improvement or they will only get tourists locals will not return when there are quality dumpling places in the area. No wonder there was only one person sitting in the restaurant when I walked in. Disappointed dumpling lover.

Bad, tasteless, terrible Chinese food. Went there for dumplings and seriously this place serves non authentic Chinese food (even though the cooks are Chinese) that is tasteless, bland and unsatisfying. Would not recommend this to anyone, unless you are desperate for Chinese food in St Kilda. And even then, you should hold back. We won't be going back. Ever. Plus bad service.

Best Won Ton Soup in Melbourne. The won ton soup has prawn won tons and is simply the best I have tasted. Love their special fried rice too. Service is fast. Recommend for a quick very tasty Asian meal.

The worst food I've ever had. Dumplings were slimy and rubbery and the prawns were off, calamari was old and dried. Most of the food was left on the table

Tiny Tables, Huge Plates of Food. We dined here on a Wednesday night and the place was empty. Ordered three dishes to share and ended up having to switch to a bigger table just to accommodate the huge plate sizes. The food was decent, they even let us take our leftovers home. It was relatively inexpensive, especially compared to many of the other Asian food fare places on Acland. The service was prompt and friendly. The bathrooms however, were a bit scary.

Terrible service and food. The food was over cooked, flavourless and terrible, not to mention over priced. We ended up eating a few bites and leaving most of the food behind. The service was also terrible. The restaurant owners have a lot to learn about how to create a positive dining experience. There are plenty of other great restaurants in St Kilda, so don't waste your time, money and taste buds on this place. Save your money and eat elsewhere. I would advise the people that do eat here not order any spirits from the bar as the bottles appear to be well watered down.

Great Xiao Long Baos, nice people. Been eating here at least 1-2 times a month for about a year now. <br/><br/>Great food, great staff, very decent prices.<br/><br/>I always order at least one of these dishes - sometimes a few!<br/>- Xiao Long Bao (can't remember the English name)<br/>- Salt-fried calamari<br/>- Roast duck<br/>- Hot & Sour Soup<br/>- Beef brisket noodles<br/>- Special fried rice

If you are looking for a place that provides any service then keep walking the staff here are rude and unfriendly. I don't think I have ever came across floor staff so rude in my whole life. The food isn't the best and isn't the worse. Price wise it's in the middle as well. Staff seem to think it's ok to wear thongs as well prob best you can't see the kitchen from the resturant hate to see the standards inside.... <br/>If they had better staff this place would be nice but at the moment it's horrible.

Shifu best dumplings. We love this place. Dumplings awesome. And you can get glass wine or beer. It is not 5 star nor does it pretend to be. Casual dining it is . Food always good. Our kids love it too.

BEST DUMPLINGS EVER. I can't explain to you in words how good these dumplings are. Just the normal steamed pork & veg.. amazing. You know, this is my first review of any restaurant, I don't write reviews, but after reading everyone else's I felt compelled to say this. People who have reviewed this place have such cry baby first world issues, at first it's funny, but when you think about the impact it has on a restaurant it's really not cool. Whenever I got eat at this place, it's always empty, I don't know how long they will last. Being a local, I walk past there all the time around dinner, and there's never more than 4 people in there. Can you imagine going to a dumpling place in China and saying ''you don't have any soap in your bathroom..I won't be returning''.. or ''I found this hair on the salad''.. ?? They would just yell something in chinese, probably telling you where to go, and resume making delicious dumplings, GET OVER IT. These dumplings are the freshest, juiciest, and in my opinion cleanest dumplings I have tried in Melbourne. But then again that's just my opinion, try for yourself. Don't base a decision on every day people who write reviews. That's right even myself, don't listen to me. Why are you even reading this, stop it.

Great for a quick dumpling fix!

Food was good. The main problem was that there was no soap in the bathrooms which suggests that the staff don't have clean hands. I won't be returning.

So sad, I love dumplings! but forget this place. I'm local and have tried here a few times, but no, No more ! sloppy un attentive service that does not deserve the prices asked. Food average.

Bad service, rude staff and a waste of time! It will take you shorter time to get something to eat if you dumpster dive than wait for your simplest order at shifu rest! My recommendation save your time and money and don't go there!

WORST EVER. Discusting service! staff in track pants and thongs , texting in the middle of the restuarant. Extremely in helpful and forgetful. Make sure you repeat your order atleast 3 times.<br/>Food is average.

The food is ok, nothing out of the bag, but the service is rude at best and because of that we won't be going back.

Really good food good dumpling

Amazing! Delicious!. I am usually not a fan of Chinese food and tend to avoid most Asian restaurants but I tried Shifu because it's really casual - like an upscale fast food restaurant. <br/>The food they serve is amazing - I am now a regular there and have not once had a disappointing meal. <br/>I always get their chicken and prawn dumplings, pork buns and Singapore noodles and their noodles are by far the best ones I have ever had.<br/>I have eaten a few times at Chinta Ria and Chinta Blues - and I'm not denying that their food is delicious too - but they are a full restaurant with high prices compared to Shifu and Shifu's Singapore noodles are better!<br/>I'm not even one to write reviews for anything I eat but I tell all of my friends and family that Shifu is the best so it makes me feel bad that people have had bad experiences as that's extremely rare for me!

Shifu is a friendly place to eat in on Acland street. The kids go there regularly for the BBQ pork buns ($5.80 for 2 pieces), I like the pan fried chicken and prawn dumplings ($12.80 for 8 pieces). The stir fried chicken ($13.80) tastes good but is a bit difficult to digest with a sauce laden with sugar and gluten; the fried rice is fair ($9.80). <br/>Still a bit expensive for what is essentially good quality food court food.

Horrible. I did not like my food and neither did my friend. My chicken souo entree was especually disgusting.

Hat a waste of money this place is

Ordered food online on Sunday evening. Received a text advising me food would be delivered in an hour, 2 hours later the food arrived and was cold. Driver asked me to come out to street to find him when my house is clearly numbered.<br/>Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce was horrible. Completely overcooked and was mainly stems and no broccoli head. Very bland, didn’t eat the dish. Waste of $11.80.<br/>Rice Paper Prawn Rolls were cold and greasy.<br/>Very disappointed, won’t be ordering again

Just had this for the 2nd time to see if the 1st was a fluke, it wasn't. San choi bao was as fresh/tasty as I've ever had, chicken soup fine and dumplings delish. Pork buns also amongst the best I've had, complete with nice slices of char sui marinated pork fillet, not just mince. It's not cheap, but I've been to my fair share of dumpling houses and this one is dam decent. Advice: stick to dumplings and take out.

Don't bother!!!. What a waste of money this place is! We ordered dumplings to be delivered. The food took over an hour & a half (we live 10mins from this place) & was cold upon (finally) arriving. But the icing on the cake....no dipping sauces whatsoever!! When we called to complain they were so rude, we were basically told if we didn't like it then don't eat it!!! With so many amazing (& friendly!!) dumpling places out there, don't waste your money or your time ordering from this place.They have no idea about quality food or service!

NEVER AGAIN!!!!! DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS PLACE!!!Ordered Dumplings on the weekend for delivery spent over $100 bucks NO sauce what so ever and when we asked for it they were so rude and argumentative about it. What place in Melbourne doesn't give you sauce with your dumplings?!?!?

Wow - just as well I went there before reading the reviews. I ate there 3 days straight, as I was staying at St Kilda on holidays. <br/><br/>Both the dumplings and the service was great. I left the ordering to the waiter and he was attentive and helpful even though it was busy. <br/><br/>Remember - you're ordering dumplings - not lobster Thermidor. Will definitely go back when I'm in Melbourne.

Dumplings were hot and flavorful. Pork buns were the highlight, followed closely by the pan fried pork dumplings. Spring rolls had too much roll and not enough filling. I would happily go back here, much better than some dumpling places I have been to!

Service was bad. Staff wearing track suit pants and look very unhappy. Overpriced for poor service. Food is good!

Overpriced for a dumpling place. Singapore noodles were flavorless. Dumps were pretty good. Waiter never brought us the drinks we asked for.

Disgusting service, poor food. I'm speechless this place is still open - must be the backpacker trade only. We had to ask one of the zoned out staff to clear the table of the previous diner's plates etc, which he did reluctantly, but left us their half full jug of water to reuse! Then we had to ask him for menus! The food was mediocre at best. We were starving and ordered substantially. Food was served VERY slowly and when the food was left on the table, the waiter walked back inside to do other things....I had to call him back to ask him to give us something to eat with and on! He returned with some plates and forks. I had to ask again for chopsticks. The ginger prawn and chicken dumplings were ok but fried first and then steamed...I don't get that! Fried pork dumplings were served with no soy sauce or similar. As there was a well in the plate for sauce - and the picture on the menu showed it was served with sauce, I asked, logically, if it was served with sauce as it arrived with none. I was told no as the waiter walked away. Then had to ask him to come back and bring soy sauce. The vine wrapped sticky rice was edible but seriously needed a chainsaw to open. I then had to call the waiter back to ask where our salty squid was - 30 mins after ordering. We were told it was defrosting! I thought he was kidding but he said "we took it from the freezer so it needs to defrost". I cancelled that order! We also ordered char kway teow which was nice but really lacked spice and substance. But the worst was when that zombie shift left and new staff took over - OMG, never have I seen such DISGUSTING "service"! The truculent 'waiter' was sitting at the back table eating and looking up at us as we were motioning that we wanted to leave. He just sat and kept eating and watching us, in case we did a runner - which seriously - we thought of doing. I had to get up, go to his table and tell him to get me the bill. He literally threw it down on the table, and when my partner paid and thanked him - he said nothing and walked away. We made it clear to them we'd not be back EVER - and we won't. May I suggest eating ANYWHERE else on Acland St than here!

Takeaway order good. I ordered takeaway. Staff were friendly and, as a keen dumplinger, I though the dumplings were in line with the price point, and I would consider returning.

Well the first round of dumplings were cold in the middle. The rest were ok. The server was a space cadet. I don't know. Not too bad but don't wanna hit it again soon.

Nothing spectacular. Main Dishes ordinary, bland, flavorless not at all presented well. Floor staff horrible. Two of our meals were completely wrong and when indicated to waitress who was clearly stressed we were told that is what we ordered and no exchange is available unless we pay for it. No appology plain rude, as my dining experience in mainland has left a sour taste so has this one. This will not work here and I'm sure this place won't survive if this is the attitude toward customers. On a brighter note the fried dumplings are lovely and well balanced flavors though as these are the only stand out I am assuming they are not made in house. Overall we won't return and will certainly reccomend our vast network of StKilda-ites NEVER eat here.

Gluggy and starchy food, weird service. After hearings about the patron served with his bill while being carried out by ambulance, ice been avoidIng this place. Nevertheless, I felt like a quick cheap bite on Acland St. Won't do that again.

Forgettable. Oh Ok, with all the negative press and a claim by me that I would not visit again, I still decided to give it one more try & met my sister there for an evening meal. Unfortunately, I cannot claim to be converted back. The meal was quite bland & the service was so, so at best. With so many food places to choose from in this area I will eat elsewhere in the future. If you like 'safe' & 'bland' flavours this might be for you, if not there are plenty of other restaurants in this location to try.

Good place to eat, relax. Very authentic. Enjoyed our dinner there last week, good, clean, friendly place to eat.<br/><br/>Just remember, pay your bill. If you're unable to, make sure you have a half decent friend that can pay it for you rather than go to the media to complain.<br/><br/>Disregard negative comments on this page, some people have a misguided sense of entitlement.<br/><br/>My opinion is 8/10.... certainly worth a look, especially since St Kilda has the same old tired places.

Ordinary. After visiting this place last week I can only say that it reminds me very much of rural chinese food. Everything is brown, tastes bland, the plates a bit on the grotty side.<br/>Staff have very poor English. One of our number was served a dish that was not what was requested. The serving person (not a waiter by any means) refused to exchange or refund the meal. This place will not exist much longer.

ONLY eat the dumplings!

Pleasantly surprised. I was sceptical when my friend suggested we go here.<br/><br/>But I have to say, the dumplings were pretty good! Soft outers, not too gloopy, and they tastes fresh. And reasonably priced.<br/><br/>Prawn dumplings (always my test of a good dumpling place) were juicy and didn't fall apart. And the staff were really lovely, allowing us to move outside once a table was vacated. I will definitely be back again.

GREAT. This is the next sushi train good food, fast, and interesting and healthy.

The entrees were great and fairly large portions. The mains were alright - nothing that really stands out from other Chinese restaurants though. Most of the mains were on the specials board which brought them down to about $10 each which made it a cheap and filling night out.