Din Tai Fung

Our attempt at eating at Tim Ho Wan was a complete fail since they already moved out of their Mong Kok location, and we only found out once we got there. Their other branch was at Sham Shui Po which was a little out of the way from our planned itinerary. Not wanting to miss out on eating at a Michelin starred restaurant while in Hong Kong, we made our way to Din Tai Fung in Tsim Sha Tsui.

 

Din Tai Fung in Tsim Sha Tsui is located inside Silvercord Mall, which is just adjacent the very upscale Harbour City (there's actually a walkway between then). We went there for dinner, but arrived early at 6PM after reading that the lines get ridiculously long at times during peak hours. As expected there was already a line, but the lady at the front asked if it was just the 2 of us and quickly ushered us in. I would assume then that it's easier to get a table if you're dining alone or just as a couple rather than being in big groups.

 

The inside of the place was nice, clean, well lit and spacious, but nothing really fancy or special. But I guess that's not why they got a Michelin star for. The service was really great! They're attentive to your questions and they're very efficient and courteous. And of course, the quality of the food. We knew coming in that it would be a great dinner from all the reviews, but it still exceeded our expectations.

We ordered the following:

Xiao Long Bao (56 HKD)

This is their specialty. People from different parts of the world come to Din Tai Fung just to sample this. For those who doesn't know, XLB is a steamed dumpling that has pork inside together with some soupy broth encased in a very delicate wrapper. They even have instruction cards on every table on how to eat it!

The steps were:

1. 1. Prepare your sauce by combining soy sauce, vinegar and ginger. The suggested ration is 1:3 soy sauce to vinegar.
2. Take the Xiao Long Bao and dip in the sauce. But it's also suggested that you try it out first without any sauce.



3. After dipping, place the XLB in a spoon and poke a hole to release the soupy broth.



4. Try to add some ginger to the spoon. Enjoy!

Now, we haven't really tried a whole lot of XLB. But compared to those others that we have had before, this was bar none the best we've had. We loved that the wrapper no matter how thin (you can even almost see the broth inside) doesn't break easily! The soup inside was heavenly and really went well with the dipping sauce.

Shrimp Dumplings (78 HKD)

We know this more popularly as Siomai, but in different parts of HK they go by shrimp dumplings, Shao Mai, etc. But yeah, this is something that we all know and love. The ones from Din Tai Fung have got to be the most plump siomai we have ever had. And you know it's freshly made and steamed when it takes more than 10 minutes for them to serve your siomai.

Pork Chop Fried Rice (75 HKD)

We don't know why but this seemingly normal and run of the mill dish was the highlight of our dinner. It's just fried porkchop on top of some yang chow. But the combination of both was really great and delicious. The porkchop really stood out, it was slightly sweet and salty, crunchy outside but tender inside.

Pork Bun (16 HKD)

I love eating siopao and I just had to try some from Din Tai Fung. I don't know what to make of this one though, since we are used to asking for asado or bola- bola and this looked neither of those 2. But at least it tasted great! They didn't have any sauce to go with it, though. Pinoy na Pinoy, naghahanap ng siopao sauce at hot sauce.

The menu at Din Tai Fung isn't exactly cheap, but it's not really that expensive either. With the quality of the food and service, it was definitely worth it. Those Michelin starred restaurants really do deserve the honor after all. So next time you're in HK, don't always cheap out and just eat at those seemingly cheaper little restaurants. You'd be surprised at how Din Tai Fung isn't that expensive :)

Din Tai Fung
Shop 130, 3/F, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kog