Jason King
AmyHuangDumpling Heaven at Din Tai Fung
February 1st 2011 20:27
We all love a good dumpling and Din Thai Fung is meant to be the best in Australia - I am no judge on this as I haven't tried them all and I keep getting told Chef's Kitchen is better but I finally got to tick off one of my top 10 must eats in Sydney.
Din Tai Fung is listed as the only dumpling place in the Top 50 things every foodie in Sydney must do and it made number 1 on my personal list of top 10 things to eat in Sydderrrzzzzzz. Here is the top 10 and 50 list. HERE
Once described by world renowned chef Ken Hom as the ‘world’s tastiest dumpling”, it may seem strange that there is such an art to eating something no bigger than the average mouthful.
Din Tai Fung has a signature point of difference - every dumpling pastry is delicately hand made to measure between precisely 4.8 and 5.2 grams at conception, with an exact 6cm diameter, before being stuffed to weigh between 20.6 and 21.4 grams. All this and the promise that the food can be made fresh in front of your eyes, steamed in exactly three minutes and on your table in seconds. Such scientific precision and quality control is what makes Din Tai Fung stand out from the rest. While you either wait or eat you can watch the white masked cooks prepare the dumplings behind glass. It looks like a surgery in operation or a massive cocaine making facility
But it looks professional.
The first Din Tai Fung opened in 1974 was only a humble stall in Taipei. Din Tai Fung restaurants can now be found in Japan, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, USA, Hong Kong, Australia and very soon in Thailand. The Din Tai restaurants have been voted one of the top ten restaurants in the world by TIME magazine.
The menu is simple to order from and is divine. I did not get the full food experience I was after. I had 30mins before a movie preview to munch down on culinary heaven. Usually this place has ridiculous queues and it has been known for people to wait up to 90mins for a seat. My good news was visiting on a Monday early eve avoided any queues. Paul and I wanted to sit outside to eat as it was much cooler but were told that only people ordering take away could sit outside. Paul's observation was "if people want take away are they not wanting to take it away?". It was slightly annoying we could not experience the full meal on proper plates etc purely for wanting to sit outside the entrance in the massive seated areas but as soon as we got the food in plastic containers we chowed it down.
Now - you MUST EAT Xiao long bao dumplings - these are a soupy pork dumpling and to be honest we did not eat these ones as the Chef's recommendation is the Pawn and Pork Shao Mai which was pure heaven - and they were filled with soup as well - bloody thing spurted everywhere But it was worth it. Then we had a BBQ pork bun each - must have stuff in an Asian restaurant that makes them. Next was a vegetable and pork bun - bloody beautiful - and be sure to mix up the soy sauce you get with the ginger slithers and dip your dumplings in it. The vegetable and pork one was more subtle with a green dough and I just loved it.
And then I entered heaven - it wasn't a dumpling but it was very dumpling like - it was a Prawn and Pork Wanton served in a spicy sauce - this was close to the nicest spicy Asian thing I have ever eaten - Paul insisted we get it and told me I would not be disappointed - how many meals have you had when your eyes roll back and you enter another plane of existence. An existence where you want to grab the whole bowl and refuse to share while fighting for your meal with any weapon necessary?? You get my point
Here are the details - do yourself a favour and note that for our meal it cost us $17- each and we were blissfully full.
World Square Shopping Centre
Level 1, Shop 11.04 , 644 Geogre St
Sydney, NSW 2000.
Ph: (02) 9264 6010
Business Hours:
Lunch
Mon-Fri: 11:30-2:30
Sat-Sun: 11:00-3:00
Dinner
Mon-Wed: 5:30-9:00
Thur-Sat: 5:00-9:30
Sun: 5:00-9:00
Click here to view the map directory
Booking only available before noon for lunch and before 6pm for Dinner for weekdays. We do not take any booking on the weekend and public holiday. Please ring the restaurant 02-92646010 for more informations.
Thanks to Google for images of the restaurant and food - I did not have my camera with me - if you would like personal credit for being the photographer or would like the picture removed please get in touch. Thanks
Pawn and Pork Shao Mai
Din Tai Fung is listed as the only dumpling place in the Top 50 things every foodie in Sydney must do and it made number 1 on my personal list of top 10 things to eat in Sydderrrzzzzzz. Here is the top 10 and 50 list. HERE
Once described by world renowned chef Ken Hom as the ‘world’s tastiest dumpling”, it may seem strange that there is such an art to eating something no bigger than the average mouthful.
Din Tai Fung has a signature point of difference - every dumpling pastry is delicately hand made to measure between precisely 4.8 and 5.2 grams at conception, with an exact 6cm diameter, before being stuffed to weigh between 20.6 and 21.4 grams. All this and the promise that the food can be made fresh in front of your eyes, steamed in exactly three minutes and on your table in seconds. Such scientific precision and quality control is what makes Din Tai Fung stand out from the rest. While you either wait or eat you can watch the white masked cooks prepare the dumplings behind glass. It looks like a surgery in operation or a massive cocaine making facility
But it looks professional.
The first Din Tai Fung opened in 1974 was only a humble stall in Taipei. Din Tai Fung restaurants can now be found in Japan, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, USA, Hong Kong, Australia and very soon in Thailand. The Din Tai restaurants have been voted one of the top ten restaurants in the world by TIME magazine.
The menu is simple to order from and is divine. I did not get the full food experience I was after. I had 30mins before a movie preview to munch down on culinary heaven. Usually this place has ridiculous queues and it has been known for people to wait up to 90mins for a seat. My good news was visiting on a Monday early eve avoided any queues. Paul and I wanted to sit outside to eat as it was much cooler but were told that only people ordering take away could sit outside. Paul's observation was "if people want take away are they not wanting to take it away?". It was slightly annoying we could not experience the full meal on proper plates etc purely for wanting to sit outside the entrance in the massive seated areas but as soon as we got the food in plastic containers we chowed it down.
Pawn and Pork Shao Mai
Now - you MUST EAT Xiao long bao dumplings - these are a soupy pork dumpling and to be honest we did not eat these ones as the Chef's recommendation is the Pawn and Pork Shao Mai which was pure heaven - and they were filled with soup as well - bloody thing spurted everywhere
But it was worth it. Then we had a BBQ pork bun each - must have stuff in an Asian restaurant that makes them. Next was a vegetable and pork bun - bloody beautiful - and be sure to mix up the soy sauce you get with the ginger slithers and dip your dumplings in it. The vegetable and pork one was more subtle with a green dough and I just loved it.
Culinary Orgasm
And then I entered heaven - it wasn't a dumpling but it was very dumpling like - it was a Prawn and Pork Wanton served in a spicy sauce - this was close to the nicest spicy Asian thing I have ever eaten - Paul insisted we get it and told me I would not be disappointed - how many meals have you had when your eyes roll back and you enter another plane of existence. An existence where you want to grab the whole bowl and refuse to share while fighting for your meal with any weapon necessary?? You get my point
Here are the details - do yourself a favour and note that for our meal it cost us $17- each and we were blissfully full.
World Square Shopping Centre
Level 1, Shop 11.04 , 644 Geogre St
Sydney, NSW 2000.
Ph: (02) 9264 6010
Business Hours:
Lunch
Mon-Fri: 11:30-2:30
Sat-Sun: 11:00-3:00
Dinner
Mon-Wed: 5:30-9:00
Thur-Sat: 5:00-9:30
Sun: 5:00-9:00
Click here to view the map directory
Booking only available before noon for lunch and before 6pm for Dinner for weekdays. We do not take any booking on the weekend and public holiday. Please ring the restaurant 02-92646010 for more informations.
Thanks to Google for images of the restaurant and food - I did not have my camera with me - if you would like personal credit for being the photographer or would like the picture removed please get in touch. Thanks
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Comment by Helen Randell
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Ummm you were suppose to follow their eating instructions of biting a small bit off the pastry first so you can let out the soup onto your spoon before stuffing yourself with the dumpling, and then finishing off with the bit of soup to round it all up in your mouth!
May I also suggest for any future visitors - the beef noodle soup. It's a Taiwanese signature and it's yum!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Simply heaven - next time I will spend a larger amount of time there munching down on the joy
No eating instructions when eating takeaway out the front.
It is so hard to eat anything besides the dumplings but OMG Wantons were the BEST - I will put the beef noodle soup on the list for next time