Din Tai Fung

We waited 30 minutes for a table on a Tuesday at 1pm. This place is always packed. Ordered pork dumplings, fish dumplings, green beans and sesame noodles. Perfection.

Amazing experience. I was and still so glad that I chose Seattle DTF as my first DTF.
Wait was long when I got there, was like 40 min, unbelievable. When we sat, we ordered, pork XLB, crab meat XLB, pork chop fried rice, veggie wonton in spicy sauce, chicken soup, taro XLB, and sauté beans.
Pork XLB — very yummy, hot and with lots of soup, original flavor
Crab XLB — on top of pork XLB, it has a sweetness that come from seafood, yum yum
Porkchop fried rice — recommended by colleague and it was very good. Especially they gave you an option of brown rice and I like the chewy fried rice with juicy pork chop
Veggie wonton in spicy sauce — maybe better with the shhrimp wonton, but honestly they taste all good because they all have the yummy spicy sauce, i ended up using the spicy sauce for my chicken soup leftover meat
Taro XLB — another my fave. I love Taro paste as always and I love how they usethe XLB skin, I hate thick skin and this is perfect for me.
I am aware that every DTF has different pricing, and quantity, apparently I am so glad they gave me 10 XLB in seattle instead of 6 XLB in Valley fair, northern Cali. which means I will come back to DTF in Seattle again :)))

This was a sad disappointment. I expected the ridiculously long wait, so that was not a problem at all. There are plenty of places to hang out at in U-​Village in the meantime. I think my expectation was a little too high though because I have not been to this chain in months and was craving their dumplings. I have only been to the locations in LA and even though the wait there is just as long, the food is at least worth the wait. I want to believe that maybe we came on an off-​night, but based on other reviews, I doubt it.
I like to have my meal come out together as one order — unless it’s an appetizer or a dessert. They do not operate that way here. They will serve you whatever dish the kitchen has ready first instead of trying to serve the table as a whole. We ordered the xiao long bao, sautéd spinach and pork chop fried rice. Not a terribly difficult order to manage imo. The xiao long bao came to our table within a minute — before we even got our drinks (which the waitress screwed up but I’m okay with that). The tables next to us hadn’t even been served their dishes yet even though they were seated before us. What I wasn’t okay with was the fact that the dumplings were luke warm at best and appeared to have been sitting out for a while. I think we were served a previous batch that was steamed waiting to be passed on to the next table that ordered it and we were the unlucky table. It definitely was not fresh off the press. It took another five minutes before the greens came and another ten or so minutes after that for the rice. By that time, the greens were already getting cold and I don’t even want to mention the dumplings. We nibbled on the dumplings and the greens while waiting for the rest of our order but it was just not a complete dining experience to say the least. I would not have minded waiting the 15 – 20 mins to be served everything together even though we had already waited almost an hour to be seated.
The décor and vibe here is nice but does not reflect in the service. Overall, the food was just okay at this location. I know the chain has a great reputation and I can vouch for it at other locations but not here. I will probably not come back here unless I desperately can’t fulfill my dumpling cravings anywhere else. But if I do, next time, I will sit at the bar which has a much faster turn around time or order to go.

Came here for dinner yesterday night around 7pm. We waited about half an hour or so. We ordered the xiao long bao, spicy pork and shrimp won ton, spicy braised beef noodle soup, pork and mustard green noodle soup, and the rice cake with pork. I also got a boba milk tea.
Food came out really quickly with the xlb being served first. The xlb and noodle soups were a bit underwhelming and lacking in flavor. The spicy beef in the noodles were a bit hard to bite apart and chew. The spicy won tons and rice cakes were good! The boba milk tea was sweet and refreshing.
All in all, a positive experience with excellent service but pretty expensive for what you pay for and the wait.

Luckily I didn’t have to wait long to be seated at a table so that made the experience wonderful.
I ordered some spicy shrimp and pork dumplings that were in a sauce that was so good. Even though it’s called spicy, it’s not actually spicy, it just has a lot of flavor. We also ordered the regular crab and pork dumplings and they were really good. The dumpling is filled with meat and broth. I loved slurping up the broth when I punctured the dumpling. I also ordered the fish dumpling. It was my least favorite compared to the spicy and crab and pork dumplings but it was still really good.
Even though the place was pretty crowded, my waiter was very pleasant and the food didn’t take forever to get on you table. Everything seemed really fresh and it’s cool that you can watch them make your dumplings!
Definitely recommend!

I didn’t really like the setting: bigish darkish place close to a rare Amazon brick and mortar. Yet my current favorite DTF is the one in a strip mall in Arcadia. Go figure, the latter I found to be more intimate. I get freaked out when everyone wears headsets.
The XLB was not as good as what we had in Arcadia. I believe you also can’t do half orders at this one. The shaved ice was good though and is not available at all DTF as far as I know. Service was funny. I asked about a dish in mandarin and the server got all flustered. «I’m Korean!», he said sheepishly.
We went close to closing so it’s not the best gauge of the experience but at least we only had a 5 minute wait.

After an hour and a half wait, I started second guessing whether it was really worth the wait. I would rate this place a 3.5. I’ve wanted to try this place since discovering it in Cali, but just didn’t have the chance to try it out yet. XLB is pretty good but just not the greatest I’ve had, but it comes close. We ordered so many things, I just gave up on taking pics and started diving in.
Service-​it was good. Food came out fast enough. Waitress did a good job checkin up on us.
Ambience– it was poppin! Place was full. And don’t worry if you see small tables from the front window, there’s more space in the back. Bit dim, but it was okay.

Same experience as 2 years ago. But I’m finding the dumplings not as satisfying this time? Got the truffle one this time and it was ok. Glad I tasted it this once, but once was enough.
Takes card. Parking structure is adjacent. Be prepared for a wait. We came around 2p, and only had a 20m wait.

My first Din Tai Fung was back in Los Angeles, California and loved it – I was so happy to have discovered that there’s Din Tai Fung here! True to its popular chain nature, the typical wait is about 30 minutes to one hour — something you should always plan for.
I’ve tried a wide range of food here, from braised beef soup, pork fried rice and more, but there are two dishes I definitely recommend and a must try:
1. Pork xiao long bao — juicy and delicious pork dumpling
2. Red bean dumpling — the perfect dessert
Prepare for a long wait, but it’s worth it!

Service — excellent!
Wait — terrible. For a party of 7, wait was 2hours. You hear people/​groups around you who said they were so hungry that anything would taste good. One lady even said. Wonder if they’ve ever had anyone passed out from starvation. Nothing is worth that long of a wait.
Food — we tried so many dishes, it was hard to keep track, but the memorable ones were … spicy wonton dumplings, spicy beef noodle soup, green beans, and shaved ice dessert. Yes, people go there for the soup dumplings. They’re good, but not 5stars good though. Things I would pass on next time would be hot and sour soup and other noodle soups. Stick to their dumplings.

Aight, here’s the run down.
Bruh, we spent $ 500.00+ at Din Tai Fung LOL. DTF is a bit more expensive than your typical dim sum joint, but I guess you pay more for their reputation, quality, and ambiance. We got everything from the standard soup dumplings, shrimp on top of the soup dumplings. and … tbh, the whole outing was a blur because the pain of seeing so much food being stacked on top of each other. And the bill was the ultimate salt on the wound.
TL;DR: We got drunk of soup dumplings and blacked out.

One of our friends hyped up how good this restaurant was and said she had to go every single time she was in SoCal.
Well, you can tell our excitement when we found out there was one in Seattle.
We waited about an 1 – 1.5hr to get seated. We walked around the shopping Plaza that Din Tai Fung is located in to kill time. I would have been irritable if there wasn’t anything to do while we waited haha. I was HANGRY that night.
We finally got seated and ordered way too much lol. I texted our friend for suggestions on what to order and she came through with all the damn good suggestions.
Pork chop appetizer, Xiao long bao (pork and truffle& pork), shrimp & pork siu mai, sautéed broccoli with garlic, shrimp & pork wonton with spicy sauce, and chicken fried noodles.
So soooo soo good. I live in the bay area and I’ve been patiently waiting for the Din Tai Fung in our area to open.

Note: They don’t take advanced reservations, so it’ll probably be a long wait!
I recommend the following:
–pork xiaolongbao (D1)
–shrimp and pork wontons with spicy sauce (N14)
–braised beef soup (S3)
–shrimp and pork shaomai (D8)
–shaved ice
I loved the XLB and the shrimp and pork shao mai were good. I’ve also ordered the sticky rice shao mai before and it wasn’t very good. Make sure you get the one with meat.
Great service, great recommendations! Very authentic, but pricey.

With over 1000+ reviews already, I won’t write a lot of details about Din Tai Fung since it is a known commodity. The gist if you don’t know about them is that it is a hugely popular Taiwan chain with many locations around Asia and the US (CA and WA) serving Shanghainese and Taiwanese food.
This location at U-​Village is the first Seattle location. A second one will open at Pacific Place this summer in downtown Seattle. The restaurant is located on the second floor of a parking garage complex, so you won’t find it on the ground level. You take the escalator up to reach it.
The restaurant has a different layout than the one at Lincoln Square in Bellevue. The bar area is in front and separated from the main dining room. As I typically do, I took a seat at the bar since it is much quicker to be seated there than at one of the dining room tables.
The bar area is pretty typical with a well stocked bar and a couple TVs showing sports programming. After shopping at Amazon Books downstairs, I visited DTF for a weekend brunch meal. The prices seem pretty much the same as the Bellevue location. Decided to try a couple new items that I haven’t had before at DTF. Ordered the sticky rice & pork shao mai ($ 11.75), pork buns ($ 5.50) and Taiwanese oolong tea ($ 3).
I thought my meal here was just okay. The sticky rice & pork shao mai were pretty ordinary. It was just like eating sticky rice dumplings at a Cantonese dim sum restaurant except the wrapper was different. The pork buns were delicious, albeit pricey. The buns at Tofu 101 taste pretty similar to the ones here but are priced about a $ 1 less per bun.
As for the oolong tea, this is one of my favorite drinks to order at DTF and is a decent value. They serve your tea in a large thermos. The handles are cool, but the tea inside stays hot. I didn’t like the tea cup though as they aren’t heat resistant so it is really hot when you are holding onto it. I got about 6 cups or so of tea from that thermos, so I would suggest ordering one thermos if you are dining for two.
After my meal, I walked into the main dining room as that is where the restrooms are located. I thought the dark wooden interiors are quite lovely. This would be a good place for an upscale family meal. Overall, I like the food at DTF for the most part but find it pricey for what you get. Sticking with the usual favorites like the xiaolongbao is best. Given the Bellevue location is closer to my home, I don’t think I will be dining here regularly unless I am shopping at U-​Village and am looking for a meal.

I have to credit my amazing Unilocal friend, Boon C, for alerting me to Din Tai Fung and encouraging me to visit this restaurant on my trip to Seattle. The restaurant is located in the University District section of Seattle, on the second floor within a very high-​end shopping plaza, near the University of Washington, and not far from Microsoft’s corporate headquarters.
Din Tai Fung first opened in Taipei, Taiwan as a restaurant specializing in soup dumplings and noodles. The tradition of Din Tai Fung quickly grew with its locations in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and Thailand. Din Tai Fung can only be found in four cities on the west coast of the US, and we happened to be in one of them.
We called ahead to see about dinner reservations, and the lady told us that waits of up to two hours were not uncommon (even with reservations), however, if we were willing to get there right after they opened for dinner, that she’d likely be able to seat us right away.
As we stood in line at the hostess desk, it was hard to ignore all of the amazing reviews from Zagat, the Michelin Guide, Travel Channel, and countless magazines, newspapers, and food websites. This was like setting foot into foodie heaven, and I was very excited.
To our left and behind the window of glass was the kitchen area. It was fascinating to stand there and watch the assembly line of cooks hand-​preparing the Asian noodles and amazing soup dumplings. Everything is made by hand from the freshest ingredients possible.
Once seated, our waitress helped explain the menu with it’s diverse collection of appetizers, fresh greens, Xiao long bao (soup dumplings), steamed dumplings, dim sum buns, fried rice, soups, noodle soups, wontons, noodles, fried noodles, rice cakes and desserts. She suggested that we pick a few different items, and that the food would be brought directly from the kitchen, and still steaming in the various bamboo baskets.
She explained that the restaurant’s philosophy supported the belief that perfect service lies in attention to detail. The most important aspects of restaurant service are friendliness and flexibility. Everyone at Din Tai Fung seeks to put the guest’s needs first, providing proactive service in which even the tiniest detail embodies Din Tai Fung’s service philosophy and brand values.
With her help, we started with an order of sweet and sour spare ribs to start the meal. These were coated in a dark molasses-​flavored sauce. Sticky, but very delicious! We paired that with an order of sautéed baby Bok Choy with a hint of garlic.
Next came the soup dumplings, and these things were just incredible. It looks like a steamed noodle dumpling, but when you bite into it you get a mouthful of hot soup, along with the pork filling. They also offer pork & crab, truffle & pork, or silk squash & shrimp soup dumplings. We learned very quickly to tip our heads back, or else you’d get soup down the front of your shirt while eating these. They were even better than Boon had promised me.
Finally we ordered a plate of shrimp fried noodles made with homemade Udon noodles. This was another magical dish, and again, many thanks to Boon for his recommendation!
This restaurant is superb, and it’s easy to see why Anthony Bourdain calls it «A deeply religious experience». You quickly understand why Din Tai Fung has been awarded a Michelin star, and you must add this restaurant to your bucket list.
Soup dumplings are totally amazing!

Be ready to wait! We waited an hour and 30 minutes before being seated. What’s nice is they call or text you when your table is ready so you can shop around in the shopping mall. There is also free parking which is another +
The food was ridiculously delicious and authentic Taiwanese. Prices of the entrees ranged from $ 6-​$ 11.
We had a group of three and our check was $ 73 with leftovers to take home.
Staff was extremely nice and always refilled our waters.
This place is a must if you are in town.

WOW, this place is amazingly good. The 30 – 40 minute wait is more than worth it. They hand you a menu so you can check what you want during your wait, or you can even walk around the plaza because they’ll call/​text you when your table is ready! You can also skip the wait and stand at the line for a seat/​near the bars. I ordered:
PORK XIAO LONG BAO — I thought one would be enough but I had to order another order once I started eating the first one because it was so dang good. Best xiao long baos I have ever had. ¹⁰⁄₁₀
SHRIMP AND PORK WONTONS — These were also so freaking good. Man, the sauce was everything. ¹⁰⁄₁₀
PORK SHANGHAI RICE CAKE — Yummy rice cakes! I dipped these in the sauce that came with the shrimp and pork wontons and the combination was delicious. ⁹⁄₁₀
SHAVED ICE — The small size was more than enough for one person. It comes with taro, boba, mango and lychee jelly, red bean, mango pudding, and some sort of squishy chewy ball all on top of shaved ice with some sort of syrup.
I definitely would come back! I wish there were more locations!

My heart was fluttering fastly as I learned about this place. Soup dumplings! Yes, please. Shu Mai, double yes. Famous Taiwanese dumpling export? You had me at hello. I made sure this was a priority on my trip to Seattle.
We queued up Monday morning at 10:45 after killing some time around the mall. If you can’t find it, it’s next to the Starbucks on the second floor. This place wants you in and out. They give you a menu slip while you’re in line. Then when you’re seated, you get a regular menu with photos so you know what you’re getting. Not familiar with xiao long bao or their other offerings? Let the server know and s/he’ll give you some good pointers on what’s popular, how much to order, etc. Super kid friendly with bendy straws and chopstick trainers.
They set little dishes julienned ginger for your dumpling delights, just add vinegar, soy sauce and hot pepper oil (optional). The dumplings were good and definitely fresh. I was just hoping they were hotter. They prob do that so people don’t burn their tongues but that’s what I wanted. Steaming hot! My husband thought the hot & sour soup had too much stuff in it and I might agree. They were out of shu mai, sadness. Their won tons were crispy and with large pieces of shrimp. Their fried rice with pork chop was absolutely delicious, greasy and the pork chop had a great five spice flavor. And their garlic green beans were crispy and garlicky but a good garlic, not spicy when there’s too much. Next time, more xiao long baos, extra pork chop with the pork chip fried rice and skip the soup.
So the ultimate dumpling place remains a dream in my mind. But I won’t ever mind going to this place!

Had dinner here and it was amazing!!!
We were lucky enough to beat the crowd by accidentally coming early for dinner. 5 pm instead of 530pm. As soon as we came in, we were seated and as soon as we order, the food came.
Every dish we tried was delicious!!!
We had sautéed kale, garlic green beans, pork XLB, shrimp and crab XBL, wonton soup, spicy noodles, spicy shrimp and pork wontons, and spare ribs. We also ended the meal with some taro/​red bean XLB.
Pros:
+ quick service
+ everything taste amazing, not over salted or missing any flavours
+ the vegetables were cooked perfect, the kids loved it which is definitely a plus since it’s hard to get kids to eat greens
+ they bring out cool plates for the kiddies and put their water in cups with a lid
I would list some cons but I don’t have any.
Definitely would come back if I have a chance.

I’ve been to Din Tai Fung in Singapore and was curious how the Seattle location would compare and of course… AMAZING!
Din Tai Fung is located in University Village. It was a little confusing to find the entrance since it is on the second level of a parking garage. They don’t take reservations, and your entire party needs to be present in order to be seated. I suggest getting there earlier than later to avoid a long wait. The wait can be up to 2 hours on the weekends. But on the weekdays (like last night when we came in) we only had to wait 15 min.
One thing I loved about this place is that some people may be unfamiliar with this type of food, so they have pictures of every dish inside their menu so that you can get a visual of what you’ll be eating. The pork Xiao Long Bao is a MUST! They are delicate soup dumplings that just pop with flavor! Their sesame noodles are also handmade, rich, and served with a creamy peanut sauce! Their potstickers in spicy sauce are also very flavorful, spicy and perfect for sharing. I could eat here every day! And all of the food comes out very fast. The experience literally feels like a rush of dumplings and noodles!
The only thing I think they can improve on is the service. We had so many people coming to our table to bring food and clear plates, but it was hard to catch our server. The servers could be a little more attentive in my opinion.

Simplemente excelente. Lo mejor en este estilo de comida. La atención es súper buena. Lo recomiendo altamente.