Din Tai Fung
World Square Shopping Centre
644 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9264 6010
Open 7 days 11am – 2.30pm, 5 – 10pm

Din Tai Fung has just been declared as a Runner Up for Time Out Magazine’s “Best Cheap Eat” category for 2009. There are aspects of DTF that I enjoy, and there is no doubting that the skin of the Xiao Long Bao there is of high quality for example, but there is no way that I would consider $10.80 for 8 XLB as “cheap”. The various Shanghainese restaurants in Ashfield are cheap, DTF is not.

I would also say that thought they may not be as attractive and the skin as thin, I have had better XLB broth in Ashfield than that at DTF, but that’s a very personal thing.

The dishes came out in a haphazard fashion and in fact one dish came out incorrectly. We had ordered the Garlic Shoots with Chinese Ham ($14.80) but got the Garlic Shoots with Prawns.

Rather stupidly, I then promptly forgot to take a photo of the correct one as well. Having had this dish at DTF before, this was one of the lesser versions, with some of the Garlic Shoots old and stringy.

The only cold dish that was ordered was the Silken Tofu with Pork Floss and Century Egg ($6.80). This is one of the cheaper items on the menu. I am not a big Century (or Thousand Year) Egg fan and never have been so I let the others have their fill. This dish ended up being a disappointment because the tofu was literally refrigerator cold, when it should have been more at room temperature. It made eating it a less pleasant experience than it should have been.

Next up was the inevitable Xiao Long Bao ($10.80 for 8). They do the skin of the buns very well here, and these were reliably tasty, but it still hard for me to reconcile myself with the price you pay. I am lead to believe that in Taiwan DTF is comparatively cheaper than it is here, and I wonder how much of this is due to high overheads in the World Square location, plus the staff costs, since they seem to have a large army of employees.

The dumpling dish was the Vegetarian Jiao Zi ($8.80 for 6).

One thing you have to acknowledge about DTF is their quality control and consistency. Each one of the jiaoxi was perfectly formed.

Next up was the “Choice of 2 Buns” ($4.80), which in this case constituted two Pork & Vegetable Buns. I didn’t eat these so I can’t really comment on them.

It was a bit of a noodle lunch; we ordered three of them.

First up was the Braised Beef Noodle Soup ($15.80). I have had this on a previous occasion and whilst enjoyable, I do think that it is overpriced.



The second noodle dish was the Cha Jiang Noodle ($11.80), aka “Jia Jiang Noodles”/ “Jia Jiang Mien”.

I find JJ Noodles a curious dish, as it seems to differ from restaurant to restaurant, even country to country. In this sense it can be a challenge to keep on searching for the “killer JJM”, or occasionally frustrating when you’re just looking for some consistency of taste. I will admit at this point that one of the ones that I like to eat (though it has also changed slightly over the years due to changes in the kitchen etc) is from the Luk Yu Tea House in Hong Kong.

Here is a photo of a small bowl of the Luk Yu version :

As a child, when my family visited Hong Kong there would be repeated visits to Luk Yu. I don’t know that they necessarily have the best Yum Cha in Hong Kong, but it’s a kind of family tradition to eat there. My paternal grandfather spent a lot of time there, my father virtually grew up there, and my siblings and I visited it as children, and then as adults. My nephew and niece, who are 6 and 4 respectively, have been there a number of times already when visiting the city. As I write they are actually in Hong Kong on a brief stopover back to England, and though I have not asked, I am certain that they have already eaten there.

There are old timers there who have been dining at the same table for decades, and who have grown old along with the staff. Some of the waiters there started working at the tea house when only 15 or so, and are still going strong half a century later. It is a quaint old place and I am happy to keep up the tradition, for their Jia Jiang noodles if nothing else!

Okay - enough already with the nostalgia trip.

The third noodle dish was the Dan Dan Noodles ($10.80) which is another noodle dish which which some members of my family have a lifetime’s fixation. If it’s on the menu then at least one member will order it, for comparative purposes.


DTF’s iteration, which I have eaten previously, is fairly strong on the sesame/ peanut front. If you prefer your Dan Dan Noodles with less of this then you probably shouldn’t order this one. Again it’s one of those noodle dishes which seem to have more versions than I can count. My understanding is that there is no “original” version per se, but I am certain that the increased use of a pronounced sesame/ peanut flavour is relatively modern in appearance.

The final noodle dish was ordered by the 6yo, the Prawn and Pork Wonton Noodle ($12.80). DTF basically serves glammed up street food and wonton noodles are arguably the most basic of the basics in this regard.

The DTF one is not cheap at all. The soup was flavoursome, the noodles well cooked and the wonton skin silky and the filling tasty, but for all of this, I still do not believe that it should cost $12.80.

It was an enjoyable meal and I am quite happy to eat there but as I commented at the beginning, I would disagree with Time Out that Din Tai Fung is cheap. $114.20 for Shanghainese food for three adults and 2 young children is not cheap. 

You'll notice something interesting - the Xiao Long Bao are listed as "1 Pork Dumpling [8]". 'Bao' are buns, and it seems that it is only outside Chinese speaking places that they are deemed 'soup dumplings', yet in this Taiwanese chain, perhaps in a concession to an English speaking audience, calls them 'dumplings.

 

[AP]