Okay Nomsters, dim sum’s one of my favorite ways to eat, and after years of chasing it all over the state, I finally rounded up my favorite dim sum spots in Maryland in one place. If you’ve never done it, dim sum’s the Cantonese tradition of small, shareable plates, steamed dumplings, buns, rolls, and little fried bites, meant to be ordered a few at a time and passed around the table.
This guide runs from Rockville and Gaithersburg out to Owings Mills, Catonsville, Hanover, and Baltimore City, so wherever you are in Maryland, there’s a spot on here for your next long and very filling dumpling brunch.
As always, these are in no particular order, just the places I genuinely love and keep going back to. You’ll see a mix here too: old-school weekend cart service, newer made-to-order spots where everything lands hot and fresh, and a couple of all-you-can-eat deals that are seriously worth it. Save this one and let’s get into it!
1. Mai Dragon
Mai Dragon in Hanover is my go-to dim sum spot in the whole state, and it’s quietly become my favorite, so of course it leads off. It’s an unassuming strip-mall gem serving fresh har gow, siu mai, and sticky rice daily from 11am to 4pm, with rolling cart service on weekends.
It’s a full Cantonese restaurant (you’ll also see it listed as Mai Dim Sum), so there’s a whole dinner menu, a sushi bar, and big-plate Chinese dishes too, but the dim sum’s the reason to make the drive. It’s casual, family-friendly, and moderately priced, exactly the kind of low-key place I love putting a spotlight on, and the egg tarts are a sweet little must before you go.
If you’re bringing a vegetarian along, there’s enough on the menu to keep them happy too. My one piece of advice, and I tell you guys this every time, is to get there right when they open, especially on a weekend, because it fills up fast.
📍2647 Annapolis Rd, Hanover, MD
2. Dim Sum Palace
Dim Sum Palace is THE place to go in Catonsville. The interior’s clean, spacious, and on the more modern side, and they’ve got all the traditional offerings plus options like a black truffle shrimp dumpling (super yum) and a baked Portuguese egg tart. They open at 11am daily and serve dim sum til 2:30, with lunch specials if that’s more your jam.
The service is great and the waitstaff’s attentive, but heads up, certain items you order off the menu versus grabbing from the cart, and they get SUPER busy on weekends, so go early if you can. I’ll keep it real, I haven’t worked through their regular menu yet, but every piece of dim sum I’ve had here has been solid.
📍6600 Baltimore National Pike Ste O, Baltimore, MD
3. Far East
Far East is a beloved Rockville institution, and it came back even better after a much-anticipated renovation. I went on a Saturday right when the doors opened (learn from me, it fills up quick), and every bite was pure deliciousness. Standouts were the steamed roast pork bun, stuffed bean curd sheet, shui mai, and the sweet sesame ball, but my personal favorite is the egg tart, which is seriously ELITE.
I don’t know how they get it so creamy and flaky, it’s probably the best egg tart I’ve ever had. The pricing’s gentle too, small dishes run $5.50, medium $5.95, and large $7.50, and the jasmine tea ($1.50 a person) is a lovely addition. Here’s the detail I love: they’ve been serving dim sum since 1974, at the same location since 1984, still run by the same family.
📍5055 Nicholson Ln, Rockville, MD
4. Peter Chang Gaithersburg
Peter Chang Gaithersburg’s already famous for its bottomless dim sum and Chinese tapas deal, and that alone earns its spot here, but the specialty dishes are what keep me coming back. On the dim sum and bao side, the Creamy Walnut Custard Bun ($8) and the Black Sesame Egg Yolk Bao ($9) are absolute bao heaven, and I genuinely can’t make you pick between them.
Then you branch out into the specialties: the Home Style Braised Fish Filet ($24) was easily my favorite of the bunch, sweet, spicy, and perfectly flaky, and the Chili Oil Beef Tenderloin Tofu ($29) is for my spice lovers, comforting with the perfect heat level, not burn-your-mouth-off.
Even the Pan Seared Shrimp Patty ($9) had a texture that was unreal, the kind of dish I’m already planning to bring my mom back for. If you want endless dumplings AND next-level Sichuan cooking under one roof, this is the move. You NEED to run here if you’re craving bomb Chinese food in Maryland. And full disclosure: Peter Chang is a NOM Digital client, but as always, I promise to be honest and transparent =)
📍637 N Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg, MD
5. Asian Court
Owings Mills isn’t exactly a dim sum destination, which is exactly why having an actual Hong Kong-style Cantonese dim sum house right here is such a win. I’ve been a regular at Asian Court’s original Ellicott City location for years, so when they opened this second spot, I had to see how it stacked up, and the answer is yum.
You gotta get BOTH the steamed and baked pork buns, no contest, those are my faves here. It’s tucked into Metro Centre at Owings Mills, dim sum’s available every single day, and they roll out cart service on weekends. The Owings Mills spot’s a touch quieter than the OG, so fewer carts circle on the weekend, but don’t let that scare you off, you can order literally anything straight off the menu. And the free garage parking nearby is just the cherry on top.
📍10209 Grand Central Ave Ste 101, Owings Mills, MD
6. Shanghai Taste
I’ve been on a mission to find the best soup dumplings in Maryland, and wow, Shanghai Taste delivered, so I had to include it for the XLB lovers. Tucked into Rockville’s Woodley Gardens Shopping Center, it’s been part of the community for over a decade, and it’s long been known for virtuoso soup dumplings and Shanghainese staples (the Washington Post even spotlighted them back in 2016).
The Pork Soup Dumplings, aka Xiao Long Bao ($9.95 for 8), are SO GOOD, juicy, balanced, and super slurpable, and they do a pork and crab version if you want to level up, 100 out of 10, please get these. The Sheng Jian Bao ($9.50) shocked me in the best way, pan-fried soup dumplings with a crisp bottom and a fluffier, bun-like top, another absolute must.
If you love sticky rice textures, the Shumai Stuffed with Glutinous Rice ($7.95) is chewy and satisfying. Several of you told me to go, and I’m so glad I listened, because this place is a GEM and I already can’t wait to go back. I go back and forth between them and Bob’s for the best XLB in the area, but you can’t go wrong with either.
📍1121 Nelson St, Rockville, MD
7. A&J
A&J’s a little different, and it’s worth explaining why it’s on here. It’s a Taiwanese-run Northern Chinese spot, so it leans on wheat (dumplings, noodles, buns, and little snacks called xiaochi) rather than the Cantonese carts you might picture.
I’ve been eating here for years, and it’s earned GOAT status in my book. The move is their Pan Fried Pork Dumplings ($11.10), shaped long and skinny so you get way more crispy surface than your average dumpling, and dunked in soy sauce and chili oil, they’re SO yum. The Beef Noodle Soup and Peking Beef Wrap are right there with them. The family traces back to a 1970s Taipei restaurant and opened the Rockville spot in 1996, so they’ve had decades to perfect those dumplings.
📍1319 Rockville Pike, #C, Rockville, MD
8. Corner Bites
Corner Bites completely won me over, and it’s my pick if you want made-to-order dim sum in Rockville. Everything’s cooked to order all day, which means your baked BBQ pork pastries land at the table hot, flaky, and fresh, and you can genuinely taste the difference.
My top three were the Baked BBQ Pork Pastries (3 for $5.75), the Fried Stuffed Eggplant ($5.75), and the Egg Custard Tarts (3 for $5.75), and you can’t go wrong starting there. Owner Steven Wu built it around the made-to-order idea on purpose, because the freshest dim sum’s the kind made right after you order it.
It only opened in 2025 (it took over the old Bob’s Noodle 66 space), and it’s already landed on Washingtonian and Bethesda Magazine’s radar, which is saying something for a spot this new. It’s tucked into The Square in Rockville Town Center, and the eats are super affordable.
📍316 N Washington St, Rockville, MD
9. Nihao
This one’s for all my Nomsters who keep asking where to get good dim sum in Baltimore City, I got you! Nihao, over in Canton, runs an all-you-can-eat dim sum brunch that’s genuinely one of the better deals in the city. It’s $32 per person, available Friday through Sunday from 11:30 to 3, and you get 90 minutes to eat as much dim sum and Chinese tapas as your heart desires.
It’s a Chef Peter Chang spot, and his Sichuan cooking’s kind of legendary around the DMV, so the kitchen’s got serious chops, the dumplings here are handmade in house and you can absolutely tell. Don’t miss the Pork Soup Dumplings, the Scallion Bubble Pancake, and the Crystal Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow). It all happens inside a cool three-story Canton townhouse, so the setting’s got character too. Reservations are a must, because this place gets SUPER busy on weekends.
📍2322 Boston St, Baltimore, MD
And there you have it, my running list of the best dim sum spots in Maryland, Nomsters. Whether you’re a weekend-cart traditionalist, a made-to-order convert, or just here for an all-you-can-eat dumpling marathon, there’s a spot on here with your name on it. Which of these have you tried, and did I miss a dim sum gem I need to get to next? Drop it in the comments, and send this to your favorite dumpling partner in crime. See you at the carts!