Din Tai Fung – Dinner

This isn’t an unusual restaurant and my review may not be necessary as you’ve probably heard about this place from everywhere else, but I’ll post this as I consider this is my first time dining here. Actually, I think I might have dined here before, many years ago, but I couldn’t remember much from it.

Like typical chinese restaurants, the ambience was very vibrant and noisy, almost chaotic. However, I give them some credit for the effort in keeping things orderly. They did not screw up my orders nor provide any bad service. My tea was refilled promptly and the staff remembered to be polite. They even provided a container to place our bags, next to our table.

I was at the outlet at Marina Bay Link Mall, and the queue wasn’t terrible. We got seated in less than 10 minutes. When I got seated, I noticed this sign on the table:

Xiao long bao & truffles! Of course I had to order it. The price is indeed not the best but heck, how could I skip truffles? According to the poster, it’s only available at Raffles City, Paragon, Marina Bay Link Mall and Marina Bay Sands.

Xiao Cai – $2.80++

I’ve heard that this is good so I decided to give it a try. It’s like a cold marinated salad. While I’m not a fan of such ingredients on their own, I cannot deny that this tasted quite good put together. It reminded me of the cold appetisers served at Japanese restaurants.

Xiao Long Bao – $9.00++/10pc

Next was the normal xiao long bao, which cost $9 for 10 pieces.

I’ve heard raves about the xiao long bao from Din Tai Fung and was curious to know how it compares to Paradise Dynasty or Imperial Treasure. In my opinion, it wasn’t as good. The amount of filling and broth was substantial but I feel the broth was a bit too bland. It could have been more flavourful, or at least I prefer it to be.

Truffle Xiao Long Bao – $14.80++/5pc

I decided to forgo the “main course” of noodles and opted for this to have on my own, as my dining partner didn’t want to try it. Did I regret? No.

The aromatic truffle taste made up for the blandness of the original stock and this version was heavier in flavour than the original one, which was exactly what I liked.

The truffle broth had a very strong truffle taste and smell which was woody and earthy. I like how they really infused the broth with truffle and not simple put truffles into the original version. Slices of truffles can be seen inside the dumpling, which was a delightful sight!

Overall, I feel this was quite worth my money, being a fan of truffles. Despite being 3 times more expensive than the original one, I still feel this was worth it as I enjoyed it a lot more than I did with the original. I feel the truffle aroma and taste from this dumpling surpassed that from Paradise Dynasty. Paradise Dynasty’s version was more subtle in truffle-ness and the truffles were minced rather than given in slices, and theirs tasted more like mushrooms to me than truffles.

However, if we compare the quality of the dumpling skin and the pork filling, Paradise Dynasty’s still much better and is the best I’ve tried so far.

Beef Brisket Noodles – $10.00++

My dining partner had this. Being a fan of steak, I usually love beef, but I didn’t quite like this broth. It has a very animalic beef smell to it. I guess I’ll just stick to my rib eye steaks.

*****

Ambiance: 5.5/10

Food: 7.5/10

Value: 7.5/10

Overall: not the best xiao long bao in town but the truffle version if worth to try if you’re a big fan of truffles.

*****

Din Tai Fung

Marina Bay Link Mall

8A Marina Boulevard

#B2-05/06

Singapore 018984

Tel: 66347877