Din Tai Fung

Great food! Cant go wrong with anything if you’re not picky but service needs improvement.

Oh Din Tai Fung. I love you. The dumplings are always great. ALWAYS. Beautiful little thin skinned juicy pork dumplings full of soup and deliciousness. So so good. Also get the egg and prawn fried rice, wontons in black vinegar, spinach with garlic and the red bean with sticky rice. Service is solid. This location is busy because it’s in a touristy spot, but the wait is worth it. Love it.

It was my first time dining at a Din Tai Fung Restaurant. This happens to be in Sentosa and near the entrance of Universal Studios/S.E.A. Aquarium. My husband and I just finished our self tour of the S.E.A. Aquarium and wanted something light to eat.
We were seated at a table for four, but there’s just the two of us, it just means more room for us. The server placed the menu and the order slip on the table for us as well. We ordered the Steamed Pork Dumplings (10 cts), Steamed Pork Buns (3 cts), and Steamed Sesame Buns (3 cts). Then realized that we had forgotten to order our drinks. We then asked the server for two hot Jasmine teas.
The first order to come out were the dumplings! Which were porked filled and also filled with a soup broth. So when we bit into the dumplings the soup would escape out and tastes so wonderful. I really enjoyed the Steamed Pork Dumplings, it’s definitely one of my favorites. Both sets of buns came out right after we finished the dumplings. The pork buns were decent, nothing too special, I did like the breading on it rather than the pork meat. The sesame buns were really good, according to my husband, but I was not a big fan of the sesame buns, since it was my first time trying that kind of paste. It’s not something I would eat too often, but my husband said it was pretty good.
Once we finished all our buns and teas, we went out to pay. The service was alright, but the refilling of hot tea was very good, since our teas were never empty. My husband mentioned that the servers could have been a bit more friendly.
I really liked how they had several cooks/​dumpling makers in the see-​through room making dumplings right in front of us. It’s pretty neat and it shows how fresh each dumplings were when made to order.
I would definitely like to come back for the Steamed Pork Dumpling. It was quite fun to eat, but could be seriously dangerous if you bit into one when it’s super hot! Beware of hot, fresh dumplings! Take your time to eat them or just open the dumpling to release the soup before enjoying, if it is too hot to eat the whole thing at once.

Din Tai Fung has consistently good food. Waitresses and staff are all business — almost like non human robots. Very efficiently run chain restaurant. Diners mark selections on a clipboard either while waiting for a table or immediately when seated.
We go about once a month, all the locations are pretty consistent and we often tend to order the same things on each visit. Sliced Cucumbers with Garlic, Xiao Long Bao, Shrimp and Pork Dumplings, Shrimp and Pork Shumai, Pork Buns, Fried Rice with Fried Pork Chop, Wontons with Vinegar and Chili Oil are all extremely good.
Today, we ate at the Resorts World Sentosa location. It’s a large restaurant and geared for the large groups and tourists. Today, we waited about 10 minutes for a table. The number display was broken so the hostess had to shout out the numbers in a shrieking voice that was as annoying as the sound of a very loud dial up modem (I’m telling you — they’re all robots!) I believe the prices here are a little higher for the tourists. They also do not serve complimentary green tea after you are seated. The food today was a little better than normal DTF quality — meaning it was excellent.
There is often a wait for a table so the trick is to arrive early before the peak rush. They open an hour earlier at 10am on weekends. Din Tai Fung is a great place to bring out of town visitors for dim sum. Even the most constipated westerner will find this food appealing.

Almost invariably wonderful Din Tai Fung reduced to a very missable.
Take a shrieking hostess on a 120 decibel PA system yelling numbers off a painfully long waitlist (mainly of wise guys who have long since deserted) — God save the unwitting who have decided to wait. Add inept manager and newer staff. And strange for DTF not their usually high standard of food.
Far better idea to enjoy the delights at Malaysian Food Street next door, especially if is a warm or balmy day since the air-​conditioning is just right. Or try something in the food stretch — Bali Thai and Ruyi sound good. Else maybe just go back into town to DTF at city hall, paragon (my favorite décor) or Wisma.
If you do decide to stay, wait patiently and try get a seat in the much more pleasant dining area that is further inside and has more windows and open space.
Try and enjoy but of course don’t let this one color your view of DTF overall. Hopefully they’ll sort it out.

It’s a large space! Many, many round tables fit for large groups and families. Beef noodle soup was the best I’ve tried. The xiao long bao was yummy as well. I haven’t tried the other branches in Asia or in California so I had no expectations or standards to measure this one up against. But going here after a full day at Universal Studios was a relief, to say the least. At the front, you just write out all the dishes (including water) you want on a sheet of paper and they bring it to you in a few minutes. I did notice it took a while for my boyfriend and I to get our server’s attention.

Dumplings here are bigger, juicier, and flavorful than the ones in USA. More menu selections. Haven’t tried the other Asia branches to compare it with.

Horrible customer service for sub-​par food at this branch. Avoid this location.

DTF’s dishes are no doubt the best.
But this one branch isn’t just my favorite.