Yang's Dumplings & Lovin Lamb, Burwood

Gone are the days, where you would see or read restaurants reviews in the newspaper and the Sunday magazine. Most of my foodie research is done online, and the majority via social media. So, when I first saw the delicious photos of the Yang’s Pan-fried pork buns (Shengiian bao) on Instagram, and some further research lend me to find that they are a famous dumpling shop in Shanghai, I was eager to get in quick to try these babies out.

Yang’s Dumplings is in Burwood on Burwood Road and a stone’s throw away from the train station. So, after a tiring day working my corporate life, I jumped on the train from the city to Burwood eagerly waiting to try these pan-fried beauties. It didn’t take me long to find the shop, as it is located right next to Lovin Lamb (I will chat about then further down the blog), whose smells were lingering since we had left the station and luring us to that area.

Yang’s Dumplings has a bright pink sign, so you can’t miss it. The store itself took me by surprise, it seemed more like a takeaway shop than a famous dumpling restaurant. The interior was simple, 2 tables, a few chairs, and a counter topped with a drink fridge, condiments of soy vinegar and chilli oil in takeaway sauce containers, and of course your standard takeaway cutlery. The Menu was short and straight to the point, one menu screen dedicated to dumplings and the second to noodle soups and dumpling combos.

We choose to go for the items on the first menu as there would be a good chance we were taking these somewhere else to eat. The staff were friendly and efficient in taking our order, and we didn’t have any issues. We ordered the Pan-fried pork buns (Shengiian bao), Steam pork dumplings (Xiao Long Bao), and the Spring Onion Pancake. We were told it would take a few minutes, so we paid and decided to walk next door to order our Lamb Skewers from Lovin Lamb.

Lovin Lamb is another foodie eat that I came across on Instagram, and after finding out that the store was literally next door to Yang’s Dumplings, it would have been silly not to visit both stores at the same time. The smells and aromas from Lovin Lamb could be identified as soon as we left Burwood Station, and after a sneak peek as we walked past to get to Yang’s, we knew we had to get in, with the charcoal grills at the front of the store, giving by walkers a chance to see the action in play.

Like Yang’s Dumplings, Lovin Lamb is also a small takeaway style store, and the menu is very simple, there is only 3 options – Signature Lamb Skewers, Signature Ox-Tendon Skewers, (you can choose your spice levels or no spice) and the classic plum tea. Besides the showcase charcoal grills at the front of the store, there is only a counter to order, and a few stools for sitting. We choose to order the signature lamb skewers with mild spiciness, and it was as simple process of pay, wait a few minutes, collect and leave. The shop wasn’t busy when we ordered, so it was relatively a quick process however we have waited around 5-10 minutes during their busier times as well. What we liked about Lovin Lamb is the packaging, the skewers are put in a cardboard cup with a plastic lid, which makes it easier to hold and eat whilst you walk the streets of Burwood.

On returning to Yang’s Dumplings, we could see the dumplings had all been bagged up and ready to go. As we only live 10 minutes away, we decided to head home to feast on our dumplings and skewers.

First up, the famous Pan-fried pork buns (Shengiian bao). On opening the box, these babies looked delicious, the bottoms were pan fried to a crispy perfection. As we took a bit into the dumplings, soup started to ooze out, there is a great amount of soup in these dumplings, which was the first tick. The dumpling skin was thin, soft and slightly chewy, which took me by surprise, as I have had Pan-fried pork buns at other establishments around Sydney, and they are normally a lot thicker than the ones at Yang’s, so this was clearly a winner in our books. Lastly, the filling itself, well it was delicious, juicy and there was a generous amount. Overall the Pan-fried pork buns is clearly a winner for us, with the ratio of everything working so well together, I don’t think I will have these buns anywhere else in Sydney now.

Pan Fried Pork Buns 6 pieces ($8.80)

After having such a good experience with the Pan-fried pork buns, we moved onto the steam pork dumplings or Xiao Long Baos. After opening this container, we realised they looked like any other Xiao Long Bao we’ve had, and started to dig in. Yummm was all I heard after that, move over Din Tang Fung, I may have found my new local favourite here. The dumplings wrapper here was thin and delicate, although not as thin as Din Tang Fung, but thinner than anywhere else I’ve had. The Dumplings itself was filled with soup, and the juicy pork was flavoursome, this was also a winner for us too.

Steamed Pork Dumplings 6 pieces ($7.80)

Lucky last, we also ordered the Spring Onion Pancake. The Spring Onion Pancake at Yang’s was everything you wanted it to be, - slightly salty, crispy and flaky. It was also a good size for the price we paid. Without doubt, this was the delicious value for money menu item

Spring Onion Pancake ($3)

Moving on from our great experience with Yang’s, we also had the mild spicy signature lamb skewers from Lovin lamb to dig into. The aromas and smells of skewers were still strong by the time we got home, and yes our car smelt like spices the whole way home hehe. The skewers are not big, but there was a decent amount of lamb on them covered in spices such as cumin and chilli. The Lamb skewers had pieces of lamb meat and some little fat pieces to help retain moisture in the skewers. Boy, these were delicious, the lamb was smoky, juicy, tender and flavoursome, and there were pockets of crunchiness, from the melting fat from the charcoal grill. We couldn’t stop eating these as they were so moorish, also declared a winner in our books.

Signature Lamb Skewers ($10 for 5)

We loved both Yang’s Dumplings and Lovin Lamb, and will be back for more. Actually, we have been back about 3 times since our original visit. In regards to those that want to dine in, there isn’t any space, however you can get takeaway and move into food court area od Burwood plaza next door. Just to note there is also a Chatime two stores up from Yang’s for your all drinking needs as well. We also did notice a Yang’s Dumplings sign on a construction shopfront next to Hong Kong Bing Sutt, rumour is it will be a bigger establishment with more menu options, and we can’t wait till it opens

Yang’s Dumplings

Address: Shop 3C/127 Burwood Road, Burwood NSW

Lovin Lamb

Address: 125 Burwood Road Burwood NSW