Saturday, January 01, 2011

RESTAURANT: Din Tai Fung

It's the power of the people. It's... powerful. Powerful enough to make me avoid this place. Despite this place being open for over two years and getting great reviews--and despite my constant ache for dumplings--I avoided Din Tai Fung because of it's reputation for having serious queue action. And I never spoke of it again.

But one dark and stormy night (I don't recall the weather, to be honest), helped greatly by the promise of drinking beer nearby while waiting, I finally went to Din Tai Fung, home to what many call the best dumplings in Sydney.

And just how good are the dumplings? Yeah, they're pretty good. No minds were blown, but cravings were satiated.

Not surprisingly, the food and the experience is pretty much on par with sister restaurant Chef's Gallery. Along with the dumplings, the silken tofu with pork floss and century egg was fantastic. And the desserts were quite nice, especially the fried red bean and taro breads, when paired with some black sesame ice cream (one of my weaknesses).

So the food was above average, but the queues were long. Who wins? I think it's a personal thing. For me, there are places in Chinatown doing food just as good with no wait, so I think I'll be gravitating towards them in the future.


RATING: Okay, may go back [?]


Din Tai Fung on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dont think Din Tai Fung has any connection with Chefs Gallery

Ben said...

I could be wrong but I believe they have the same owner.

If not, they certainly have a very similar menu/plating style/serving method/design.