Din Tai Fung

All the items on the menu are superb. Xiao long bao is a must-​have item. Order some xiao cai, which may act as appetizer and a side dish. Then have either the handmade noodles or fried rice as the main dish. Healthy tasting food.

We had the famous 小籠包, fried rice with prawn, mushroom noodles, and pork chop. All the dishes were well prepared and service was prompt and efficient. Tea was refilled promptly and it wasn’t hard to get the attention of the staff.
The only downside was a lack of noise management towards a family with a shrieking toddler. We left the restaurant soon after they came in.

Food is excellent with the dumplings and pork chop noodles. However, service could be much better. I had some difficulty conversing as most staff speaks mandarin only. I guess its authenticity.

Had my first visit here recently and it was amazing. I’ve never had such awesome dumplings in my life. The dumpling dough was so well made and the fillings were juicy and tasty. Just writing this makes me hungry and think I may have to go there for lunch. Definitely want to try everything on their menu!

They’re everywhere but perhaps Din Tai Fung’s popularity is for good reason. It’s clean-​tasting Chinese food well executed.
Love the fact that in every branch, you can look into the kitchen and see them making all those many dumplings. I really enjoyed the shrimp and pork dumplings with the tasty broth. Didn’t care for the pork and veggie dumplings because it was borderline dry. Give that a miss.
Also had a couple of appetizers. Big fan of the braised beef. Despite being pretty lean, it’s still tasty with the light sauce. Would be even more perfect if they had some mustard to go with it. Other snacks we had included the cucumber salad, century eggs, and braised bean curd — all really decent but not necessarily memorable.
This branch at Nex is surprisingly big but is run like a tight ship. Service is friendly and efficient. Got here right at 11am when they opened and were seated promptly but the line was out the door by the time noon rolled around.

We had the xiao long bao dumplings of course and they were excellent as always! We also got the chicken soup and I really don’t get the hype on that. The chili crab bao you can pass on, has too much pepper flavor. The pea shoots are pretty good and it’s good to have some to balance out all the proteins and carbs from the other dishes.
It’s funny because I’ve been to Din Tai Fung in Japan, Taiwan, Los Angeles, and Sydney, and they’ve all been pretty consistent. In fact, I think the one I went to in Taiwan actually was lesser in quality (I don’t know if it just had cooled down too much or the fact that there seemed to be less soup in some of the Xiao Long Bao), but the rest have been good

Din Tai Fung is (in my humble opinion) the canonical place to go in Singapore for classic xiao long bao (pork dumplings). My first experience with Din Tai Fung was at the Paragon location, and I loved it. I’ve been to this location, at NEX, several times since because it is more convenient. Unfortunately, it never lives up to my first experience. Bottom line: Din Tai Fung is great, but go to the one at Paragon. And if you are there in July or August I highly recommend the seasonal chili crab dumplings.

decent noodles and dumplings at this taiwanese chain — this is an effortless way to say hello (!) in the midst of post-​holiday-​induced melancholy, and fortuitously, a recommendation for an easy dinner out if you can’t bring yourself to cook tonight.
this is a good fallback restaurant (but not if you’re dining at a typical meal hour, as it’s always full) for decent food and low prices; and while I think the crystal jade empire (and more relevantly, its equivalent la mian xiao long bao outlets) serves better food when their kitchens exert themselves, this place shows a higher degree of consistency in production.
and production, it really is — though there’s some semblance of artisanal quality in showing their chefs with their magic fingers folding eighteen pleats into dumplings, and weighing out balls of dough for their noodles — those sous-​chefs work at an admirable speed far akin to the efficiency of machines.
anyway, down to bizniz: I thought I’d share one of their most impressive dishes (in value and taste) — that very plate of expertly-​fried rice topped with a large slab of fried pork chop. it’s my partner’s favourite — he orders it almost every time we’re there — and it really is great execution. well-​dispersed egg, a good mound of separately-​grained rice, and that moist slice of deeply-​browned loin. we shared some dumplings — those xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) are a must, with lots of black vinegar and strips of ginger, and the vegetable ones a little more take-​or-​leave-​it.
cheap, easy, and with so many outlets you’re bound to find one near you, this makes a good contingency meal plan. make it yours!
p. s. photos on the blog.

1. Xiao long bao
— Affordable, healthy (ok, maybe not 100%) fast food.
— The skin is soft and smooth yet it manages to contain the soup in the dumpling really well.
— The best!!! Second best is Crystal Jade’s.
2. Dan dan main
— Love the peanut sauce on the noodles
— These are handmade, stretchy white chinese noodles
— A plain and simple dish.
Overall, I think I can confidentially vouch for all dumplings and noodles dishes from this place.
Service is very efficient too for the amount of traffic they get. The waiters wear walkie talkie to coordinate with each other. Very efficient indeed!