Buywell Dumpling 百味餐馆

Average food. Meals don't come out looking like the menu pictures. (we ordered a couple of the lunch specials, one was missing side vegetables and had way too much fatty meat and oil in it)

It’s like the menu is from a completely different restaurant - images do not match what you get by a long shot - oily, low quality food. Zero flavour and well over priced.

We didn't enjoy our meal as the meat was odd. We ordered kungpao chicken, sweet and sour pork pineapple, tsingdao beer, and rice.

Chicken had a very strong meat taste and felt like it had been boiled or something. The pork also had a very strong pork flavour and was mostly odd chewy bits. The sauces were nice, however.

The service was excellent, and the restaurant had a nice feel to it. Maybe the owner can fix the meat issue, this place could be quite good.

I rarely leave reviews, but my experience here has been poor several times now. The service is always slow even when we are the only ones there. The food was great the first time, and then every other time it’s been average at best so we’ve stopped going, and will not be back.

I think the shop has changed owners since a few month ago… the? Dumplings taste different and the fried rice is definitely different. The food used to be good but today it was very so-so.

Today, we ordered the xiao long bao, chinese cabbage and pork dumplings and a fried rice. The xiao long bao wasn’t fully cooked properly. The skin was still doughy and undercooked. I asked the waiter and he just took it away without saying anything. Later on, he came back with a cup of lemon tea and said this is free for you. After about 5-10minutes, he came back with the original plate of xiao long nap and said it should be ok now. I would have preferred an apology and a NEW plate of xiao long bao but I guess it wasn’t on their agenda.

Also, their menu says the fried rice has shrimp and char siu but all we got was a few tiny shrimps and a few bits of ham. I feel cheated of my char siu.

I wouldn’t recommend this shop… you can get better elsewhere for sure. Otherwise, just buy a packet of dumplings? At the Asian grocery and boil it at home. It’s sad because the previous times the food was pretty good.

I tried this place but won't be returning. There was simply a lack of care in every aspect of this restaurant.

The food didn't match the pictures in the menu and the flavour was far from what it should have been. I think they can do simple dishes like dumplings well, but they can't seem to do anything more complicated than that.

The service was also poor. We ordered beers and were given bottles without a glass. We ordered soup but were not given bowls. When we asked for bowls, we got less bowls than the number of diners and no spoons. The soup itself tasted like water with pepper, meaning the kitchen did not properly prepare the soup base.

We received our dishes in the wrong order - rice as the very last dish when we needed it to go with all the other dishes.

I can't recommend this place, especially when there are so many better restaurants within 100m.

It is not easy to find a real Shanghai dishes style near our place. Amazing food and good service. Strong recommend. Try their dumpling also.
Sorry for the picture, we finished half then think it is worth to take photos ans share.

Had a hair stuck to the dumpling. Ordered special Fried rice with prawns. Got like 1/4 of a prawn in there.

Meanwhile in the kitchen the staff were making the spitting gagging noise spitting out phlegm. Not pleasant while trying to eat

Will not come back

Would not recommend. Service with attitude and overpriced food. Nice setting, but I guess it was quiet for a reason.

Great food. Not many vego options, but enough to be happy. Very clean and spacious setting. Will come again.

The shredded pork with steam buns was a crowd pleaser. The long beans with crispy garlic was nice. I particularly liked the crispy garlic part.
We recommended the wontons in chilli oil. Although it was spicy, it went well with our cold drinks.
Also the place was spacious and welcoming. The staff was very approachable.

Have eaten there three times and takeaway once every time excellent! I have just moved to Melbourne from Hong Kong and this little restaurant would stand up in the HK food scene easily.

If you are craving for an Asian fusion types of cuisine this is the place to go to when you pass by Hawthorne. Amazing and delish food!

The wontons, xiao long bao and kung pao chicken were all nice, albeit quite oily.

Food, however, came out in the wrong order and the rice ordered was forgotten until we asked.

Bathroom was also a little dirty, together with prices on the expensive side we expected better.

I got the crispy chicken and rice. It was advertised with sauce, ginger, spring onions and other condiments. All I got was plain rice and chicken for $16. This happened previously with a dish advertised with bok Choi and an egg, but all I got was bits of meat and rice. Not worth it, other places provide much more. Has a lot of potential to do better.

Got takeaway from Buywell Dumplings last night and I was blown away. Best honey chicken and special fried rice I have ever had, it was amazing. Got two serves of dumplings which were also amazing. I will be back there soon

Beautiful food. Love the seafood noodles and their chicken chop chop. Best Chinese food I've had in a while!

Best counter service around. Smart, witty and on time. Delicious dumplings, beef and beer. Great place to drop in and grab your dinner.

Best dinner experience I've had since lockdowns have lifted!
The service was second to none. The food was extremely fresh, most definitely exceeded all our expectations.
Best lemon chicken melbourne for sure.
The enthusiastic waiter we had tonight was awesome, very fun guy.
Would 10/10 recommend this place and will definitely be coming back soon.

Sensational evening. Food was elite and will bring us back, but the service, oh the service. Fun, friendly, efficient and loveable, thankyou buywell dumpling you've treated us well.