DinTaiFung isn't a local Shanghai spot, which is why I hesitated in writing this blog post at first. But...it's still really delicious, so why not introduce it. Din Tai Fung has expanded to New York's skycrapers, Tokyo, and 160 locations.
It surprisingly all started as a cooking-oil business. In the 1970s, Mr and Mrs. Yang's venture was on the brink of collapse. They struggled to keep their oil-retailing business afloat. Instead of fighting against the tide, however, they decided to find cash elsewhere: by making soup dumplings. They weren't any regular dumplings - selling out each time and growing quickly in popularity (Source: DinTaiFung). The business pivotted fully to a soup dumpling business to expand what would become a restaurant franchise. A fancy restaurant was probably not what they imagined DinTaiFung would become.
Design
The entrance to the restaurant is captivating. With Din Tai Fung in bright red characters, a glass pannel that offers a glimpse into the sleek kitchen, and a NYT plat that certifies their recognition as 1 of the top 10 gourmet restaurants.
The restaurant interior is classic and simple. Wooden tables, chairs, and ceilings give off a traditional feel. The bright lights illuminate the restaurant (while making it very hard for bloggers due to the shadows - let me vent). The pure white plates are also symbolic for Din Tai Fung. The overall atmosphere is calming and vintage.
Circular tables are very important in Chinese culture - with both a symbolic and practical intention behind them. The practical point stems from the fact that chinese dishes are eaten family-style. Every dish is shared and no one hogs a basket of soup dumplings for themselves. A circular table lessens the distance between diners and the dishes. Especially if dishes are placed in the center, it's equally distanced to every diner.
Dishes
Pickled cucumbers are a classic appetizer in Chinese cuisine. Most restaurants use a technique of flattening the cucumber with a knife before cutting them, to give them a irregular and crunchier texture. DinTaiFung, however, does not. The presentation is elegant and beautiful. The pickled cucumbers have a hint of spice and an imbedded saltiness. It's not overly briney, with a perfect balance of cucumber's natural flavors and the pickling liquid.
The Yuchoy draws in all of the garlic and chicken-stock flavoring. The seasoning is salty enough to avoid making it a bland vegetable dish that everyone at the table avoids. Leafy Yuchoy also works very well with another version of this dish that DinTaiFung also serves, which I'd personally recommend over the plain Sauteed Yuchoy. DinTaiFung adds rice wine to the dish to bring out a deep aroma and cut through the richness of chicken stock and other flavorings. The warm, sauteed vegetable is a great complement to the rest of the menu.
The fried rice at DinTaiFung is sublime. Somehow the egg yolk and whites, stirred into the fried rice, are completely seperated. There's ribbons of egg whites, and strands of yellow yolk in the fried rice. The rice itself is also prepared very well. Each grain is seperated, and you can feel the rice fall apart into individual pebbles as you chew through. The spring onions, spinkled in the rice, also adds color and fragrance to the dish. The pork cutlet served on the side, placed on a spoonful of rice, is all to die for. Juicy, succulent, and marinated in a explosive soy flavoring, the pork cutlet is one of the best items on Din Tai Fung's menu. I'd come to DinTai Fung just to try the combo of egg fried rice and the pork - a perfect meal for one person.
Chili oil is a common condiment in Sichuan cuisine and in other regions of China with a high spice tolerance. Bubbling hot oil is poured into a container with whole chilis, dried chili flakes, and peppercorns, to release the flavor of the chilis. The end product is a punchy and tingling chili sauce. Anything can be dipped into the chili oil, but nothing beats wontons. With a delicate exterior and a slightly gelatinous texture, the wrapper of wontons soaks in the chili oil. The filling is juicy, oily, and packed full with pork.
While I got the boring option, DinTaiFung serves at least 10 different kinds of soup dumplings. Notable ones include a hairy-crab filling, a custard filling, shrimp, etc... The classic option of pork soup dumplings gives you everything you need from a soup dumpling: a beautifully folded wrapper and an interior filled to the brim with pork broth. The skill required to fold a soup dumpling so professionally is insane. I counted around 20 folds. Dip it into some soy sauce, add a piece of ginger, poke a hole to let out the heat, then gulp it down and enjoy!
Creamy coconut milk/cream with different treats hidden underneath it is one of the iconic deserts at DinTaiFung. The taro jelly is sticky and chewy in the best way possible, and not too sweet. Made of natural starch from the taro, it pairs so well with the coconut milk. The pearls are alright, but definitely not the highlight of the dessert. The orange and purple color also makes the dessert visually appealing for photographs, while it does not come with a levitating spoon that holds up all of the elements of the dessert hidden under the cocoonut broth (unfortunately).
Summary
While definitely on the moderate-high end scale of Chinese restaurants in Shanghai, DinTaiFung is still relatively affordable and doesnt have the gourmet status it may have in other locations like New York. The whole meal came out to a bit more than 100 rmb/person. While the items at Din Tai Fung can also be found in many other dimsum restaurants, their execution of the dishes are immaculate. The wrappers of wontons and dumplings are a display of dexterity and the skill of the chefs at DinTaiFung. The first post on this blog was about another dimsum spot. Whenever, I come back to Din Tai Fung, I know it has most other comparable restaurants beat in quality.
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