Five years after making its first foray this far south, a Seattle cult favorite has opened its newest California restaurant in Campbell.
The Dough Zone Dumpling House is now filling, steaming and frying its signature dumplings at the Pruneyard in a restaurant spot with patio seating located between Trader Joe’s and Humphry Slocombe.
Besides its wildly popular Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) and Dan Dan Noodles, Dough Zone is known for what it calls Q-Bao, dumplings filled with Berkshire-Duroc pork and a “secret recipe” aspic and first steamed then pan-fried to give the bun a crispy bottom. You have your choice of two dipping sauces — Dough Zone’s chile sauce or a spicy garlic sauce.
Established in Bellevue, Washington, in 2014, Dough Zone has grown to 16 restaurants in that state, four in Oregon and four in Texas (all in the Houston area). A Seattle magazine writer described the first location as “a modest dim sum restaurant where the xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, rival those of Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese-based dumpling chain with the hour-long waits.”
All of the California restaurants are located in the Bay Area: Besides the new one, there are locations in Cupertino, San Jose (Lundy Avenue in the north, Cherry Avenue in the south), Walnut Creek and Berkeley. The San Mateo location is listed as temporarily closed.
Details: Serves daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, until 10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 1875 S. Bascom Ave., Campbell; doughzonedumplinghouse.com.