Heavenly Dumplings at Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung: 4.5/5

I've been hearing about Din Tai Fung in Arcadia for years now. Yes, this is the US outlet of the world renowned (one of the top 10 restaurants in the world according to the New York Times!) Taiwanese dumpling house. For whatever reason, I just never bothered going. I decided the other day to try running in for lunch. I knew that they're always busy, but I wasn't prepared for the extent of that business for Sunday lunch. Given that I was there to quickly grab a bite with Puppy before dropping him off at High End Virgin Grain Food Emporium, we didn't have the requisite hour and a half (!) wait. I gave up but gained a new-found desire, no, NEED, to eat here. If the wait's that long, I just had to see how worth it it was.

Fast forward a day to Monday. I got us up earlier and drove back out 18 miles to sample some dumplings. I went abso-effin-lutely determined to get in. Whatchya know? Even on a Monday, there was a wait. I got a ticket (number 121) and they were still calling the lower 80s. Oy! But since Puppy had the day off and we didn't have anywhere to be, we sucked it up and waited. Besides, I wasn't about to go and be defeated two days in a row. One thing to note here: Din Tai Fung is all about getting you in and out. While you're in line, you get a fill in menu kind of like a sushi card. You fill in the things you want while you wait, and they bring things as they are ready. Great for speed, not too great if you want certain things in a certain order (like we wanted our soup as an appetizer -- it came last).

Our order was the following:

Juicy Pork Dumplings (Xiaolongbao)
Juicy Pork and Crab Dumplings
Vegetarian Dumplings
Shrimp Fried Rice
Shrimp and Pork Won Ton Soup.
2 X Coke


We sit down, and the waitress quickly checks our order sheet. Withing 2 minutes, the first steamer of dumplings (pork and crab) arrive. I smell... I drool... then I pick one up ever so gingerly so as not to break the dough... dip it into the black vinegar, top with shaved ginger and then put in on a spoon... carefully slowly break the dough with my teeth, and then suck up the soup in the dumpling. I'm getting aroused at this point, it's so good. Then I just plop the rest in my mouth and chew. Wow! That's good. Right there, first dumpling, I already know why there's that line here.

Xiaolongbao. Soup Dumplings. Definitely one of those things that have a place in my heart. When I was a teenager and sick, my grandfather used to sneak me out of the hospital once a week to take me to polish off a platter of these soup filled delights. And these here are the best, hands down, that I've gotten here in the US. Not that there are that many places that actually offer them.

The regular pork ones were actually better in my opinion than the crab ones. It was just more meaty and "clean" if that makes sense. The fried rice was a great serving for two or three to share, and the soup was a light chicken broth filled with eight or so giant shrimp and pork dumplings that were heavenly once you got over burning your tongue on them.

The only miss here was the vegetarian dumplings. It was filled with a combination of things that was at once bland, but also had a mealy texture. It was edible, but I won't be ordering that one again.


All in all this was an amazing experience. Definitely worth the wait... The best part here is how inexpensive it is. After eating all that, the bill came up to less than $40. Really, not that bad considering that every dumpling order is for 10 pieces, and the most expensive one, the crab and pork dumplings come in at $8.50. You've heard rumors about Din Tai Fung... yes, they're all true. Don't think. Just go.

Happy Eating!