Xiao Long Bao in Rockville, MD: Where to Find Shanghai Soup Dumplings
Shanghai Taste at 1121 Nelson St, Rockville, MD, serves authentic xiao long bao hand-pleated to 18 folds — named "The Virtuoso of Soup Dumplings" by The Washington Post. Here's what to order.
The best xiao long bao in Rockville, MD are at Shanghai Taste, 1121 Nelson St (Woodley Gardens shopping center). They hand-pleat every dumpling to 18 folds, make the filling fresh daily, and were named “The Virtuoso of Soup Dumplings” by The Washington Post — “probably the best of our region.” It's the only dedicated Shanghainese restaurant in the area and the clear local benchmark for XLB.
About Shanghai Taste
Shanghai Taste is a women-owned, Asian-owned restaurant that opened in Rockville to bring authentic Shanghainese cooking to the DMV area. Their kitchen focuses on handcrafted Shanghai street food: xiao long bao, sheng jian bao, braised meats, and noodle soups. Nothing is frozen. Every batch of XLB is prepared fresh in-house, and the owners take the craft seriously — each dumpling is individually hand-pleated to the traditional 18-fold standard.
What to Order
Pork Soup Dumpling (上海小笼包) — $10.95
The essential order. Seasoned pork filling with gelled broth inside a thin, translucent skin, pleated to 18 folds. Served with Chinkiang black vinegar and shredded fresh ginger. This is the dish the restaurant was built around. Order it first.
Crabmeat & Pork Soup Dumpling (蟹粉小笼包) — $12.95
The premium version. Crab roe and crabmeat folded into the pork filling add a briny, subtly sweet note to the broth that distinguishes it clearly from the pork-only version. Worth ordering alongside the pork XLB to compare.
Pan-Fried Soup Dumpling / Sheng Jian Bao (生煎包) — $9.50(weekends only)
The Shanghai street-food counterpart to XLB. Thicker skin, larger size, pan-fried on the bottom until golden and crispy, then steamed to finish. The inside still holds hot broth, so the same careful eating technique applies. Available weekends only — plan accordingly.
How to Eat XLB Without Burning Your Mouth
The broth is near-boiling when the steamer arrives. Do not bite straight in.
- Lift with chopsticks from the body of the dumpling, not the pleated crown
- Place it in the ceramic spoon provided
- Bite a small opening at the bottom or side
- Sip the broth from the spoon and let it cool slightly
- Dip in Chinkiang black vinegar with a slice of ginger
- Eat the rest of the dumpling
Location, Hours & Contact
- Address: 1121 Nelson St, Rockville, MD 20850 (Woodley Gardens shopping center)
- Hours:Tuesday–Sunday, 11 AM–9 PM (closed Monday)
- Phone: (301) 279-0806
- Website: shanghaitastemd.com
Shanghai-Style vs. Szechuan: Two Different Chinese Traditions
If you're exploring Chinese food in the Rockville area, Shanghai Taste and China Jade cover entirely different culinary traditions. Shanghainese cuisine is sweeter and more delicate: slow braises, freshwater fish, and precision dumplings where the technique is the point. Szechuan cooking — China Jade's specialty — runs in the opposite direction: bold, spicy, numbing from Sichuan peppercorns, heavy on fermented ingredients like doubanjiang. The two cuisines share almost nothing in technique, ingredients, or flavor profile.
Both traditions are worth knowing. Ordering XLB at one restaurant and mapo tofu at the other gives you a clearer picture of how varied Chinese regional cooking actually is.
Shanghai Taste — Soup Dumplings in Rockville
1121 Nelson St, Rockville, MD 20850. Pork XLB $10.95 • Crab+Pork XLB $12.95 • Sheng Jian Bao $9.50 (weekends). Open Tue–Sun, 11 AM–9 PM. Washington Post's “Virtuoso of Soup Dumplings.”
Order at shanghaitastemd.com →