Tommy says…

Name: Din Tai Fung, Sydney
Address: Level 1, World Square, George Street Cnr of Liverpool St, Sydney 2000 - map
Website: http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/ch/index.asp
Phone: (02) 9264 6010
Type: Noodle/dim sim house
Cuisine: Taiwanese, Shanghainese, other Chinese
Opening hours: 11-2:30, 5-10; one hour earlier on weekends

The xiao long bao is a Shanghainese cultural icon. Invented in the town of Nanxiang, it looks like a miniature steamed pork bun, but has the delicate texture of the best steamed dumplings, and a filling made of – traditionally – pork and gelatin that melts into delicious broth when steamed. A slightly fancier version uses Shanghai crab roe mixed with the pork filling, creating an exquisite blend of flavours. In Shanghai, xiao long bao can be found in many restaurants, but probably the most famous location is the Nanxiang Mantou (a kind of steamed bun) Shop located in the old city, which is so popular with locals and visitors that it has a perennial queue outside – and to get a seat, you have to stand behind the last batch of diners while they eat.

Din Tai Fung, now the global face of the xiao long bao, began its history just about as far from the food item as possible. The founder moved from Shanxi province to Taiwan, and started Din Tai Fung as a cooking oil business. Then one day, an old army veteran knocked on his door, and asked to set up a stall outside the shop, where he could sell the steamed buns that he had learned to make back on the mainland. The buns became so successful, the oil business was eventually closed down and the shop turned into a restaurant. By 2000, Din Tai Fung had become one of the most popular restaurants in Taipei – and adopted a strategy of global expansion that has taken it to Tokyo, Los Angeles, Jakarta – even Shanghai itself. Then in 2008, it expanded to Sydney.

I greeted the news with ambivalence. On the one hand, I love my xiao long bao as any self-respecting Shanghainese would. On the other hand, the comments from early diners were a mixed bag – from “as authentic as any place in China” to “completely disappointing, espcially given the price”. Having finally tried it though – I can declare that it was not a disappointment. The crab roe buns are at least as good as – if not better – than the best in Shanghai, and authenticity alone was enough to win me over.

The four of us shared a basket of plain pork xiao long bao, a basket of crab-pork xiao long bao (6 in each basket), a bowl of clear beef soup noodles and a bowl of dan dan noodles. The pork xiao long bao ticked all the boxes – delicate skin broken at the merest touch, hot, delicious broth, filling with just the right consistency. The crab-pork buns packed a full dose of flavour, with a generous mix of crab roe - the worst mistake for a bun shop is to be stingy with the crab roe.

Part of the fun of eating xiao long bao is in the experience. The dip was important too – Chinkiang vinegar with ginger slivers. The restaurant helpfully provided a little card with instructions on how to pick up, dip, and eat the buns. Peeling off each bun from the steam basket is a precision operation - too much force, or the wrong contact points on the chopsticks, and you would poke a hole in the bun and lose the precious broth. Once picked up, it must then be dipped in the vinegar and transferred to the spoon, where you would bite open the bun, drink the broth, then eat the bun. Here’s a bonus trick: grip only the top knot – the thickest part – with the chopsticks, and make sure that you use the length of the chopsticks and not the point.

The clear beef soup with noodles is a Taiwanese item, and was delicious. The ginger used in the soup helped to accentuate the natural flavour of the beef while neutralising the meaty undertones. The dan dan noodles, though – were not dan dan noodles. By definition, dan dan noodles, from Sichuan, should be so spicy that you’d be rolling on the flooor begging for water. (One recipe I have to hand calls for 100g of hot chili paste per 500g of noodles.)  These were just noodles in peanut sauce. We finished the meal with taro buns – xiao long bao with a sweet taro filling. A novel combination, but delicious enough as a dessert.

One disappointment was the serving size given the price. The crab-pork buns were almost $13 for a basket of six, making it $2 a bun – a tad expensive for a bun half the size of the golf ball. With the same money ($2), you could get a basket of 10 in Shanghai – though apparently Din Tai Fung buns in Shanghai costs exactly the same as it does here. Given that I usually order a basket of 30 in Shanghai, I was not used to this concept of eating three xiao long bao at a time.

While the buns were authentic enough, the rest of the menu was a nice balance between Shanghainese dishes (e.g. “drunken chicken”) and Taiwanese fare. The decor was a tad too unlike a bun shop for me. Yes the tables and chairs were wooden (but built to a Western size, i.e. 1.5 times the width of a normal chair) – but the bar with its wines and the chrome glass motif felt just slightly odd to me.

Finally, a tip: get there early on Friday nights. We stood in the cold – only slightly alleviated by the complimentary jasmine tea and overhead heaters – for about 30 minutes, watching the efficient production line in the glass-walled kitchen – before being allowed inside.

Conclusion: Great for a delicate snack, portion/price ratio too low for a main meal

Food: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 6/10 (A bit too modern for a bun shop)
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 6/10