I enjoy our everyday chinese food as much as the next guy. The greasy fried rice, sweet and sour fish covered in batter and a thick glistening sauce, fried or barbequed pork ribs, it all good (most of the time). What I love about Din Tai Fung is its not necessarily better than other Chinese restaurants I've been to but they are different. I find that what they were able to do is refine Chinese cuisine a bit. Most of their dishes have a nice, subtle but complex flavor as opposed to the usual big, bold, msg? flavors that I have been accustomed to.
Fried Rice with Pork Chop.
This is one of their signature dishes. Its basically fried rice topped with fried breaded porkchop. The fried rice is a bit unusual because it is on the bland side for me (which is actually a good thing because once you eat it with the pork, the salt levels are just right). Its not greasy and you can see they went overboard with the egg. Its like the egg pieces are as much as the rice.
The pork chop is obviously the star of this dish and as it should be. The meat is really nice and tender and the breading they used is very flavorful and fragrant and just the salt level is just right. I can have just this dish and be a happy camper, but I don't think ordering just one item here is never gonna happen.
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| Their signature Fried Rice with Porkchop |
Chilli Crab Steamed Buns.
I've had steamed buns filled with some sort of meatball, barbequed duck, barbequed pork but never chilli crab. I know for a fact that chilli crab is one of the most if not the most popular, dish in Singapore so it is nice to see they created their own take on this local favorite. The flavors were that of chilli crab, it had the spicyness of chili crab, and I didn't have to open any crab shells (which I hate). It's certainly no substitute for the real thing but it is a very good take on it nonetheless.
Dry Noodles with mushrooms and minced meat.
This dish best exemplifies what subtle but complex flavors is. You get the rich umami flavor from the fresh mushrooms, you get the saltiness from the soy sauce, you get meatiness from the minced pork, you get the fresh oniony flavor from the chives and the nuttiness from the toasted sesame seeds. The great thing about this is you get all of that but it all works very well together without any particular ingredient overpowering each other. This is definitely one of my favorites probably because of the fresh mushrooms. I looooove fresh mushrooms!
Century Egg with diced ginger.
These appetizer is basically sliced century eggs on a pool of sweet sauce (i think this is soy based) then topped with chopped ginger. I absolutely love this. Even though I am a big fan if century eggs, I must admit that there are times that I get served century eggs that have a slight unpleasant aftertaste but here the aftertaste is definitely a pleasant one. Since the yolks are on the soft side, you get a wonderful, rich, creamy texture that goes great with the texture of the "whites" of the egg. Plus add on that addictive sweet sauce that they have and a bit of the chopped ginger (which amazingly doesn't have that strong, spicy ginger flavor) for texture, and you wont be able to stop eating it. I think I finished the whole plate by myself. For century egg lovers, this is a must.
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| The best century egg appetizer I've ever had. Century Egg with chopped ginger. |
Xiao Long Bao.
When it is your first time to eat at Din Tai Fung it is mandatory that you order this dish. Not ordering this is something like taking your first your in Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower. Well, its really not as important as that but you get my point.
As far as I know these are their specialty. Apparently, there are quite a few variations of xiao long bao but these are the soupy kind. And no, the soup is not served on the side, its inside the dumpling. For me flavor-wise, its nothing out of this world. It just taste like really good siew mai. What makes it unique is the overall feel when you put in in your mouth and start chewing. Once the soup inside bursts, the sensation is quite nice. You think you're eating a normal dumpling then suddenly, this flavorful soup starts mingling with the other food inside your mouth. Quite interesting but very very pleasant.
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| Xiao Long Bao |
Xiao Long Bao with black truffles.
This is not part of their menu. It's either a valentines promotion or they just found a truck load of truffles, but for whatever reason it is, I am very glad that i was there when this was available.
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| Xiao Long Bao with black truffles |
If the normal xiao long bao is just a really good siew mai with a suprise inside, then this one is a really good siew mai with two surprises inside. The other surprise ofcourse are the black truffles, and these little (super expensive) fungus make this dish from really good to insanely good. This is probably the best dumpling I have tasted in my life. The pleasant earthiness of the black truffles just supercharges the umami flavors making you want to have more until your wallet can't take no more.
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| A shot of the contents of the xiao long bao with the black truffles in the center |
Raffles City
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-08 Raffles City
Singapore 179101
Tel: 63366369
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