Along the strip of Chinese eateries along Dominion Road, Barilla is easy to spot any day of the week. Why? The place is always heaving with people, often with queues out the door. Barilla is Auckland's worst-kept secret when it comes to the best dumplings in town.
Whether boiled, fried, or steamed, the dumplings are handmade fresh each day in a variety of mouthwatering flavours, and at wallet-happy prices too. They're especially great with everyone's favourite side dish - the French beans with spicy salt.
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We'd heard a lot about this place and finally made it there a few times recently. The food is really good, especially if you're in a group and can order lots of different things to try and share. It's reasonably priced and you'd struggle to spend $20 each when sharing, coming away very full! Each time we've been there, it's been really busy but with two stories, you don't have to wait tooo long for a table.
Barilla is another of the eateries in Balmoral vying for the best dumplings crown. They are pretty good but the most sensational dish has to be the french beans with spicy salt - a delectable combination of tempura fried beans with a chilli, cumin, salt and sugar infused seasoning. Also the peanuts marinated in aged vinegar are surprisingly tasty and a refreshing side to the more oily dishes. Speaking of oily dishes, the spring onion pancakes are some of the best in town so make sure you order some. Get here early as the queues can be long and don't be put off by the surly service which seems to go hand in hand with good food in these places.
Love, love, love this place!! So cheap and so good. The list of the different types of dumplings is insane and they also have heaps of other different dishes to choose from. One thing to note about Barilla is that this place gets packed, so sometimes dining in is a bit tricky but takeaways are always win. Try the beef and chilli sauce dumplings, you won't stop smiling afterwards, so good.
AMAZING DUMPLINGS!!! Great selection of vegetarian options. There are two different kinds of aubergine they do and both are inconceivably tasty. Are they wizards? I suspect yes. Every time I’ve been here we’ve had to order more aubergine because all the meat-eaters kept eating it! Beware though, if you order a plate of dumplings, do not let the price fool you into thinking it will be a small amount! This place is cheap and you will get a mound of dumplings. They are really good and I have eaten so much every time I’ve gone here cos it’s all just so hard to resist! The décor ain’t so glam, but they do have those nifty lazy susan tables and extra seating available upstairs. The star of this show is defo the food though!