Ling Wu Asian Restaurant at The Grove

The Good: :: it's a local business! :: service is very helpful, friendly and attentive :: food is so good here...you won't go wrong with anything you pick. go with a variety of the dim sum options during their dim sum brunch! mix it up between steamed/sauteed greens, fried options, steamed options, soups, dumplings, etc. :: great for small or large groups! they have a fantastic unique private space upstairs for private events if you are needing to accommodate a large group. the walls upstairs are hand-painted of women that are in the owner's personal circle--very unique decor! :: ambiance is great--very nice vibe without being obnoxiously loud or pretentious :: the owner is very passionate about her customers having the best dining experiences regardless of which location they visit of her restaurants. the amount of attention she puts into the ambiance, the offerings, and the locations is just part of what makes her restaurants a successThe Bad: :: noneThe Ugly: :: noneWould I go back? Definitely yes! One of my favorite places to get upscale Chinese food in town with a great vibe that is all about the food.This place is IN.

Overpriced, flavorless food. Gluten free doesn't mean flavor free.The steamed vegetable dumplings were in a thick unrecognizable unpleasant orange wrapper. The vegetable filling was seasoned and the dipping sauce was the highlight of the entire meal with it's Unami flavor.The Crispy Tofu with seasonal vegetables had absolutely no flavor. The tofu was in 4 large blocks. The outside was somewhat crispy. The inside was far too soft and silky. It wasn't pleasant to eat. There was no sauce offered. The rice, for which there was an additional charge for a small bowl, was dried out flavorless and added nothing to the meal.The decor is confusing. It's like the restaurant doesn't know what it wants to be.Our server was great and very attentive so good marks there.Points off as the prices charged were higher than on the menu.The high point of the visit was the restrooms which have the automated TOTO toilet/bidets. :)All in all, it's a soulless, flavorless experience, in a soulless flavorless artificial neighborhood.Vegetarian options: Flavorless.Dietary restrictions: There are gluten free options. The 2 options I tried were not good. The textures were bad and flavorless.If you offer gluten free, learn how to make it palatable.

I'm pretty much obsessed with any restaurant the Ling Qi Wu family puts out. The newest addition to the franchise, Ling Wu (II) is conveniently located near Hyde Park & MoPac in the beautiful Grove development. For those unfamiliar with the Ling Qi Wu family, they're known for blending Western and traditional Chinese cuisine using healthy, high-quality ingredients. While it is on the pricier side compared to most traditional Chinese dim sum restaurants, you're paying for the quality of the ingredients, the beauty of the restaurant, and its spotless cleanliness.Like there other restaurants, the Xiao Long Bao and Shu Mai are my favorites. However, the pricing for Ling Wu's dishes makes me hesitant. For example, I paid $20 for a pot of loose-leaf Jasmine tea (they charge $5 per person), which feels steep when I could easily brew the same thing at home!Since Ling Qi Wu caters more to the American palate (we were literally the only Chinese family there on a Saturday morning), they offer specialty sauces to suit different tastes. If you're used to traditional dim sum, you can ask for soy sauce on the side--but note: it's not the same soy sauce you might be familiar with.Service here is a bit lacking compared to its predecessors.

I ate here for the first time to celebrate a friend's birthday last night. Overall, we had a great time, and there were definitely many highlights, but also a couple of concerns worth mentioning.Highlights:The atmosphere was lovely and cozy. The food was delicious and made with fresh ingredients. My veggies had like 3 diff colors of cauliflower, and several types of mushrooms. Overall, our server was kind and attentive. I ordered a cocktail with a flower blossom that numbs your mouth, and the server came back to check on me and asked what I thought about it--which I appreciated! For the birthday girl, the staff surprised her with the most adorable bunny-shaped dessert complete with a sparkler, which was such a sweet and thoughtful touch. The drinks were great!ConcernsUnfortunately, there were a couple of issues that left me a little uneasy. First, the birthday girl found a large blue magnet in her dish, likely one used to hold orders for the kitchen staff. While it was easy to spot, it was unsettling to see something like that on a plate. It raises questions about quality control and attention to detail in the kitchen.Second, I asked for an extra set of chopsticks so I could take part in the shared dim sum without using my own (I was sick earlier this week, and didn't feel comfortable sharing utensils). The server suggested I give up the set I was using, which wasn't a solution for me, and then never brought the extra set I requested. It felt a little dismissive...Overall:I really liked thos place, and plan to give it another shot. My friends have been to other locations, and like them. They had great drinks, creative desserts, and some very thoughtful touches from the staff. But the magnet and the chopsticks situation were disappointing... That said, I understand mistakes happen and hope this was just a one-off incident.

I believe this is the sister restaurant to Lin and Qi. I love the entire chain but I think Ling Wu is my favorite given the smaller but more selected menu. Unlike Lin, Ling Wu didn't offer a long list of dimsum but rather a select few items that's excellent such as the shrimp dumplings and pork soup dumplings. the best item ordered was the fried rice. It was piping hot, savory, and just all around tasty. Will be back again just for that!

Ling Wu's ambiance was really great - we loved the aesthetic of the restaurant and all of the artwork. The cocktails were nice and very spirit forward. The food was very solid and we especially liked the Hakka noodles and veggie dumplings. We love spicy food so when we added chili oil and chili paste it was great.

Came on a Friday evening for dinner. My husband and I shared soup dumplings, a shrimp dish and a beef dish. The soup dumplings and shrimp were good. The beef was very dry. The servers were very accommodating and brought us a mousse for our wedding anniversary!Low lighting, cute ambiance. Overall it's a fancy spot for okay Chinese food

Our first time trying the new Ling Wu since it opened. I've been to lin's and Qi therefore it's very easy for me to compare and overall I would not rank this one the highest.Food wise I was disappointed by the following:- the soup dumplings had a bunch of hard pieces in them, perhaps pork or crab bones or cartilage. They need to parse the meat better.- the yellowtail/salmon mango salad had like 2 pieces of sashimi that tasted fishy to me and was $18!!! What a let down. Do not order it!!

Had to check this place out as a fan of both Qiand Lin's, and it definitely did not disappoint in any way. We went all out and got a large variety of items for just 2 people, and each dish was really a hit. We got the Peking duck, xo cabbage, GF dumpling trio, veggie steamed dumplings, fried rice, and sesame chicken. The fact that they accommodated my gluten allergy for so many items was alone impressive -- I'm not sure if I've had Peking duck at all since becoming celiac. It was all delicious, the place looked fantastic, and the drinks were also standouts. Would definitely recommend it.

THE BIG: Located in the Grove of West-Central Austin. Beautiful space inside with traditional Chinese decor. Large art mural of a Chinese woman on the brick. Free self-parking in garage or valet parking available.THE BLACK AND WHITE: The wife and I came here during our anniversary dinner and was excited to try out Ling Wu. We had a resy at 8pm and was sat immediately. Drink menu was pretty vast, and the food menu was just long enough to have decisions.We got the soup dumplings, pecan shrimp, jingdo pork loin. Soup dumpling came out first and it was pretty good, however weird way of eating without the soup spoon. Rather it came in a cup. The pecan shrimp was probably my favorite but the serving was so small for $30. The jingdo pork was overcooked IMO. Service was great and on point.THE FINAL BAMBOO: Overall the damage done here was around $85 for three dishes. Very underwhelming food-wise, however service was great.