SF’s Popular Dumpling Time Opens at Santana Row with XLB, Wings, Cocktails

San Francisco dumplings with a Michelin pedigree will debut today at Santana Row in San Jose.

It is the first Dumpling Time extension restaurant of the Omakase restaurant group, the team led by Kash Feng and Jackson Yu behind Michelin-starred Omakase and Niku Steakhouse. More Dumpling Time locations are slated to open later this year in Berkeley and San Ramon.

Here, a glass-walled “dumpling room” will allow patrons to watch executive dumpling chef Leo Leong and his cooks prepare the popular Xiao Long Bao by hand every day. Besides these soup dumplings, highlights include the Pan-Crisped Gyoza filled with Wagyu beef and black truffle or seafood (crab, scallops, shrimp); Siu Mai with Maine Lobster or Shrimp and Pork; Xi’an dumplings boiled with lamb, pork or vegetables; as well as plates of noodles, salad and spring rolls to share.

Dumpling Time Wings joins the exclusive San Jose menu. You can order them sweet and sour or hot and spicy.

The dessert brings bao in three sweet varieties: green tea and milk; Egg yolk; and beetroot and taro.

Exclusive cocktails, sake and loose teas dominate the beverage lineup. The Type A cocktail combines Haku vodka, elderflower liqueur, Thai basil and lime; the Five-O adds Chinese five-spice turbinado and Maker’s Mark bitters. Wine and beer are also available.

The Santana Row space, which once housed the Village California Bistro & Wine Bar, has been remodeled by Aya Yanagisawa’s design team. The interior seats 50 guests, with ribbed glass partitions between the interior cabins added for privacy and security during a pandemic. The bar can accommodate 14 people. Outside there are patio tables for another 60.

Later in 2022, the Omakase Group will open a Dumpling Time in Berkeley, along the Fourth Street restaurant and retail corridor, and in San Ramon at Bishop Ranch. The original restaurant is located in San Francisco at 11 Division St., with an express store at 55 Division St. and an outpost in Thrive City, 191 Warriors Way.

Details: Open every day, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. 378 Santana Row, office 1035, San José. https://dumplingtime.com