I have been to Din Tai Fung in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Ningbo. Admittedly I have not visited their original location in Taipei, but I think I can have an opinion about this celebrated restaurant: it is overrated.
The visit
This review is based on a visit of their Ningbo branch with a friend. Honestly, all the branches I have been are remarkably similar.
In Ningbo they are located near the Convention Center, a bit far away from downtown. The restaurant is spacious and simple.
The first thing you notice is the kitchen staff making soup dumplings in immaculate white uniforms behind a glass window. They look like the personnel of a lab. It is one of the signature feature of Din Tai Fung.
Just in case you are not familiar, soup dumplings (or xiaolongbao) are steamed buns that carry inside little bits of gelatinized broth made from chicken, pork and cured ham. When the dumpling is steamed, the broth gelatin melts like a soup… hence the name.
Soup dumplings were born in Wuxi and Shanghai, but Din Tai Fung in Taiwan made them an international sensation. They have locations across Asia and in the US (mainly in California).
Din Tai Fung soup dumplings are admittedly perfection, from a visual point of view. There is something regular and appealing in the way they are folded. Even the presentation in the bamboo steamer suggests a precise design.
We ordered two of the premium soup dumplings: the one with pork and crab meat (pictured above, double portion) and the one with truffle and pork (pictured below).
The truffle flavor honestly was really understated (it was better in Shanghai). I am not sure that crab and pork work well either. I do not know… I am not a big fan of dumplings, but I cannot place these decisively above the one had in more common eateries.
Another characteristic feature of Din Tai Fung is the ginger arranged like a starfish (or a root?) in the soy sauce mini bowl. Din Tai Fung recommends to pour one part of soy sauce and three parts of vinegar to obtain the perfect sauce for the dumplings.
You are also recommended to first try the dumplings without any sauce, by placing one on a spoon, then poking it to get some of the soup out (this will also cool it). I personally prefer to eat them entire in one bite… but it is kind of dangerous because the soup can be super hot. I appreciated that the dumplings that were served were at the right temperature to eat them in one bite.
We also had a wonton soup. Also good, but again, I could not experience “the next level” as opposed to the same dish had in other restaurants in Ningbo or Shanghai.
We also had a fried pork chop that was excellent. Din Tai Fung it is not only dumplings.
We closed with sweet dumplings with red bean paste. Red bean is a common ingredient for desserts in Asia. These sweet dumplings were excellent.
The check
The two of us spent 487 CNY (or 70 USD, 35 USD per person). For this quality meal, I am fine with the price point and, by the way, we had some of the most expensive varieties of dumplings.
Do not get me wrong, I totally enjoyed this meal and others I had at Din Tai Fung. Just I could not be carried away. Probably part of the problem is my limited knowledge of Chinese cuisine. But while on other occasions I could perceive a clear divide between everyday Chinese food and the same dishes from a Michelin-starred restaurant, in this case this divide was less clear and this makes me think that Din Tai Fung is overrated.
Where in Ningbo:
MinAn East Road 268, f Tower 1 Floor
Address in Chinese: 江东区民安东路268号F座1楼
Check the restaurant’s website for a list of locations across China and world-wide.