Din Tai Fung

Best Xiao Long Bao in the world!

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Din Tai Fung is a world famous Chinese steamed dumplings and noodle restaurant. The restaurant was found in 1972 in Taiwan. Din Tai Fung is a chain of restaurants with branches in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Macau, Philippines, Australia, USA. Din Tai Fung is a one star Michelin restaurant with a middle price range. The restaurant with exquisite Chinese cuisine becomes more and more popular worldwide and improves in quality and in the level of service. Their philosophy is the highest standards in food with a great attention to details in preparation and careful selection of ingredients. They really serve dumplings in the best way. Each Xiao Long Bao is truly perfect. If any piece from the basket looks imperfect, they will give you one more piece for free. They really do pay great attention to details.

The legend of Xiao Long Bao

Xiao Long Bao is literally translated from Chinese as “small basket bun”. It seems that these world famous soup dumplings were created long time ago. But in fact they appeared in Shanghai only in 1875. There is a legend of Xiao Long Bao origin. The restaurant owner in Shanghai, named Huang Mingxian wanted to attract more customers and decided to create new dumplings by adding aspic to the minced pork for dumplings, and as the aspic would fill the dumpling with soup. The dough was very thin and must be pleated exactly 14 times, creating a small hole at the top. Those soup dumplings were steamed in a round bamboo basket. Huang thought that the small size of the dish would be much better and memorable, and he was right. Many people came to his restaurant to try the small meat buns steamed in bamboo baskets, and the famous name “Xiao (small) Long (basket) Bao (bun)” appeared.

Highlights

- exquisite Chinese cuisine;

- classic taste of Taiwan;

- the best Xiao Long Bao in the world;

- One star Michelin restaurant;

- high quality and service.

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Brief facts

- In 1993 The New York Times rated Din Tai Fung one of the top restaurants in the world among Asian restaurants.

- Din Tai Fung branch in Hong Kong was awarded the Michelin One star from 2010 to 2014 five times consequently.

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Well, the quality of the restaurant is really perfect. It is proved by the fact that each restaurant has an open kitchen and everyone can see how cooks roll out the dough and stuff the dumplings.

Working area with a lot of billowing steamers in front of the restaurant

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Atmosphere

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The decor is quite simple with simple wooden furniture but very neat. There are tables for two, four and 8 persons. The restaurant is always full. Moreover, the restaurant is so popular that you have to wait to be seated most of the time. Waiting time can be up to 20 mins. The place is very popular.

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The menu has a wide range of Chinese dishes. Let's start with the signature of all signatures - famous Xiao Long Bao. As you know Xiao Long Bao (literally "small basket bun") are steamed dumplings, often called soup dumplings. Very thin delicate dough filled with broth. Here I write about Din Tai Fung restaurants in Hong Kong, the portion consists of 6 pieces. But menu in different locations is slightly different. For example, in Hong Kong all portions of steamed dumplings consist of 6 pieces, but in Singapore and Malaysia branches you have a choice between a small basket with 6 pieces or a large one with 10 pieces. My favourite Xiao Long Bao are with pork and chicken but there are also steamed dumplings with pork and black truffle, a kind of delicacy with an expensive price, and dumplings with green squash and shrimp.

Steamed chicken dumplings

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Eating Xiao Long Bao is a very important ritual, a kind of a ceremony in Chinese culture. First, you have to put soy sauce and vinegar into the bowl with ginger. The ratio is 1 soy sauce and 3 vinegar. Take Xiao Long Bao and dip in the sauce, then place it in the spoon and poke a small hole to release the broth. Enjoy the delicious soup dumpling!

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Each table has a guide of how to eat Xiao Long Bao written in English and Chinese. Here, you can try all types of dumplings - Shao Mai, buns, wantons. I like pork and shrimp wantons. Wantons are usually boiled and eaten with soup and sometimes can be with noodles. Din Tai Fung is also very popular for its noodles and fried rice. For me, Din Tai Fung is the best Xiao Long Bao in the world!

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Hong Kong Branches

Silvercord Branch
Address: Shop 306, 3/F, Silvercord, 30 Canton Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Business hours: Mon-Sun 11:30 - 22:00

Yee Wo Branch
Address: Shop G3-11, G/F, 68 Yee Wo St., Causeway Bay
Business hours: Mon-Sun 11:30 - 22:00

Shatin Branch
Address: Shop no. 166 on Level 1. New Town Plaza. Phase 1 . Shatin. N.T
Business hours: Mon-Sun 11:30 - 22:00

Miramar Branch
Address: Shop 407,L4,FoodLoft,Mira Place One,132 Nathan Road,Tsim Sha Tsui,Kowloon
Business hours: Mon-Fri 11:30 - 15:30,17:30 - 22:00 ; Sat、Sun & Public holiday 11:30 - 22:00

Dumplings in Chinese cuisine

Dumplings are signature Chinese snacks known worldwide but sometimes people misunderstand the meaning of this word, and moreover many people think dumplings are simply just one type of food, but actually dumplings are many dishes that consist of dough with different fillings and various ways of cooking – steaming, boiling, frying. Here is the information about different types of dumplings.

Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) are steamed soup dumplings with Shanghai origins, which consist of thin dough and pork. They are steamed in bamboo baskets.

Steamed Jiao Zi are steamed dumplings with minced meat and vegetables in a thin wrapper sealed at the top.

Shao Mai are also steamed dumplings typically filled with pork, shrimp, mushrooms, green onion with crab roe, or carrot on a top.

Boiled Jiao Zi or Shui Jiao are the boiled dumplings with meat and vegetable fillings. After boiling they are usually served without broth, perfectly combined with vinegar.

Wontons are boiled dumplings with many variations in different parts of China. Cantonese wontons are filled with grounded pork or shrimp and served with noodles in soup. Shanghai wontons are usually filled with minced pork and pak choi. In Sichuan province they have a triangular shape and served chili oil and sesame paste.

Pot stickers are a popular street snack across the whole China region. These dumplings with many fillings variations like pork, cabbage, chicken are pan-fried in a wok with a bit of water and then covered. As a result pot stickers’ dough has a crispy texture on the bottom but the top of the dough is steamed.

Sheng Jian are large pan-fried dumplings. It is a fried version of Xiao Long Bao. Literally meaning of Sheng Jian is raw-fried buns. These dumplings with pork, shrimp or cabbage are also filled with soup inside. The way of eating Cheng Jian is the same like with Xiao Long Bao – as they are very hot, it is better to poke a small hole in the dumpling to release the soup first. Unlike steamed dumplings, the dough of Cheng Jian is much thicker.