Din Tai Fung Nihonbashi

I love xiao long bao and have been wanting to try Din Tai Fung for the longest time. When I found out there was one in Tokyo I was excited. The service was excellent, there is a short wait and they do have a variety of xiao long baos such as the regular, truffle and sea urchin but to my disappointment they were just ok. I’m told I should try the original one in Taiwan before I make my final decision so for now… DTF is just ok.

There’s def juice in the dumplings, but I wasn’t a big fan of the overall taste. I live in California and the one in Arcadia actually trumps this place, but I wanted to try it. :) I think it was more expensive too. I’m wanting to try the original one in Taiwan.
There was a waiting line here though so there’s something about it that the locals or tourists love. :)

Foods are good, but it takes too long to wait for it.

I am a Din Tai Fung junkie! no English, funny thing is we asked for a English menu and they said «Japanese only «the menu has pictures and has English descriptions, anyway. My usual favs, dumplings with pork and crab, pork, shrimp and pork and the meat buns, and some fried rice. Wow amazingly fresh and tasty, two of us ate until bursting for about $ 60! Be to the one in taiwan, singapore, Seattle and now japan. If you haven’t tried it I’ll just saw hand made dumplings with soup and meat and the ginger with vinegar to cleanse your palette between delights!

I think I’m the only person in the world who doesn’t like the soup dumplings at 鼎泰豐. The soup just isn’t that good and each dumpling is so tiny… Doshite do people like this so much?

Xiao long bao. It’s so fun to say. XLB is Taiwanese food but what my first review for Unilocal Japan is about! I love the warm soup that gushes in your mouth as you eat the dumplings and the vinegar sauce you dip them in.
I flew to Japan for a day to eat Taiwanese dumplings. Does that sound crazy? Nah… what was crazy was the line. This location is in the Takashimaya Department Store in Shinjuku. The line for a table was a bit daunting and wrapped around the corner but actually moved way faster than you would have thought (we came at 2pm). We chose to sit outside even though it was a little nippy so we could get seated faster. It was cute, they had a bunch of blankets to cover your lap.
Din Tai Fung is obviously known for their dumplings. My friend and I decided to get a lunch special for about 1659 yen with beef noodle soup and xiao long bao. The xiao long bao was really good. The dumplings were a good size and the soup in the dumplings were warm and not too hot. The beef noodle soup was ok but not something I enjoyed too much. The broth was really heavy and a bit greasy for my taste.
The lunch special came with two desserts. We got a mango and a berry dessert which were good but nothing special.
I know Din Tai Fung has tons of locations in the world, of course not in Hawaii. I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back for to try a different soup and more xiao long bao. Happy slurping.

The place is the bomb!
Seriously, if you are not a vegetarian or vegan, you’ll definitely love it here.
This is THE house of pork dumplings. Originally from Taiwan, this is a pork dumpling empire that has about 70 plus branches all over the world. The restaurant in Taipei is always packed and you’d having to queue up so I’m surprise how there’s no queuing necessary here.
What to eat, you say? Well, I’m really only here for the pork dumpling. I am a sucker for juicy mince pork wrapped in fine dough skin. I just love my dumplings with super fine skin. Never been a fan of thick skin, so I guess I don’t really like Pekingese dumplings as much.
A dash of dark vinegar, a few shreds of ginger on top and I’m ready to gobble in a dozen of these babies. With the dumplings at Din Tai Fung, I suggest you put your dumpling on a small, add your condiments and take your first bite from the side. Suck all the soup in then eat the rest of the dumpling.
My god, just describing me made me gulp.
These babies are dangerous shit.