All Hail the Dumpling Queen of Flower Mound

Nearly three decades ago, proprietor Lulu Du had to find a way to support her family after her husband was disabled in a bicycle accident. She managed to land a kitchen job at Jufu, a seven-star restaurant and hotel in the coastal city of Qingdao, China. (It’s now the Lalu Qingdao, and yes, China has seven-star hotels.) She apprenticed under the pastry chef there, then stayed on for 20 years, becoming a master of dumpling wrappers and noodles.

Now she cooks at a restaurant in Flower Mound called Dumpling Queen. And she is ready to prove she’s worthy of the crown.

Du moved to the Dallas area after her husband’s death six years ago to help her sister with a new baby. In 2023 she remarried, meeting former electrical engineer John Watson through mutual friends. They had a successful first date connecting over the food at the Chinese restaurant Tian Tian (which has since relocated to Austin and been replaced by Uptown Dumpling). For this interview, I spoke with Watson, as Du’s English is limited. Watson doesn’t speak much Mandarin, either—they both wear earpieces to translate the other’s language. Despite the language barrier, they’ve built a strong relationship and an exciting new business together. Du’s daughter, Ruby Sun, is also instrumental to Dumpling Queen’s success; after her mother’s hard work provided the means for Sun to earn her master’s degree in Sydney, she joined her family here and handles everything from bookkeeping to hiring to marketing.

Du spent several years working in the kitchens of Chinese restaurants around North Texas, becoming close friends with other Chinese chefs and building a community who would eventually support her in this venture. Her experiences here frustrated her since few local restaurants make dumplings and potstickers from scratch. Watson says she vented to him frequently, exclaiming, “They give me these frozen things, call them dumplings. This is sacrilege!” Her dream became to share how good Chinese food can be through a restaurant of her own.

Du is wildly successful in that goal. Her xiao long bao are perfection. The wrappers are delicate but sturdy, easy to pick up without breaking and not too doughy or chewy. The amount of soup to meat is well-balanced. Since seafood is a major staple in Qingdao, my dining partner and I chose the crab and pork version. Rich shellfish flavor comes through strongly in the broth while the pork fat adds its silkiness. Crab claw meat mixes with the ground pork, providing a succulent, meaty bite.

Pan-fried thumb buns are a Qingdao specialty, and they are the juiciest, most flavorful versions of a pan-fried bun I’ve ever had on either continent. The light wrappers hold up well to frying, and pork flavor bursts forth in every bite. Vegetable potstickers are another highlight, with soy and mushroom umami balancing out the vegetal greens. To dye the green wrappers, Du purees leafy greens and adds the juice to the dough.

Another best-seller and menu highlight is the handmade oil-drizzled noodles. Dumpling Queen serves these wide, thick noodles with a pair of scissors to cut them to manageable size. The garlic flavor, a signature of the Shandong province, is not subtle: vampires be warned! A drizzle of chili oil and a dusting of chili powder garnish the noodles. I opted to add chicken, receiving a generous portion of velveted, tender meat. Only our scallion pancake disappointed. While the pastry is extremely thin, layered, and flaky, it needs more scallion, and the wedges taste mostly like oil.

American Chinese dishes comprise half the menu. Watson explains that they want to serve something for everyone, and this menu is designed for the American taste. Flavors and textures are familiar to Americans who grew up on Panda Express, and bones are avoided. (An experimental pork ball appetizer with the bone in it was taken off the menu after a couple of weeks due to the lack of interest.) Du’s specialty is in pastries, so this portion of the menu was designed by Andy Fan, a Taiwanese chef who has been working at Chinese restaurants in North Texas for over 15 years. He and Du had worked together previously, and when he heard she was opening her own restaurant, he asked to join her.

While my focus was on the dumplings and noodles, I did try the stir-fried green beans, and Fan nails this prep, blistering the beans perfectly, not too crunchy or mushy. There’s a generous amount of garlicky sauce to sop up with steamed rice. I overheard other diners commenting positively on one of the best-sellers, the Mongolian beef. Watson says most people order the dumplings as an appetizer followed by a saucy, meaty entree, enjoying both sides of the menu equally.

I asked Watson why they decided to open their restaurant in Flower Mound, and he told me about a conversation with Jia Huang, owner of MiYa in Casa Linda Plaza. They had asked her why she chose Casa Linda, and she proudly responded, “There’s no competition!” Dumpling Queen is serving up over 150 orders per day on the weekends, proving the location is a smart choice.

When asked what they consider special about the food at Dumpling Queen, Watson passionately speaks about the high quality ingredients. They do not use food coloring or MSG. The meat is not cheap, gristly cuts. “Everything is healthy and good for you. We’re not going to cut corners on the food.”

Du and Watson have big plans for the future. They’ve applied for a liquor license, are working to enclose the patio for more seating, and want to add a big-screen TV in that section for game days or business lunch-and-learns. Du wants to add off-menu rotating specials, particularly seafood, to showcase more Qingdao cuisine.

The couple are even talking about opening another restaurant within a year or so, potentially a dim sum restaurant close enough to Dumpling Queen to let them effectively manage both. As Watson puts it, “We’re still growing and developing, still evolving, and still in the infancy of showcasing what our chefs can do.” Whatever they choose to do next, I’ll be first in line to try it.