shrimp & pork shiaomai
I finally went to Din Tai Fung which has been on my "To Eat" list for so long. Arcadia is pretty far from Mid-Wilshire LA and admittedly I do not get up early enough on the weekends to try to get the earlier, shorter than 1 hour wait that is a common characteristic of the dumpling house. But today I did. Set my alarm at 10 and tried very hard to avoid my "five more minutes...five more minutes" habit that frequently causes my late departure for work. I just kept telling myself "dumplings, get up, dumplings."
Sleepy, hungry and hot, we endured the 40 minute wait with a few iced green teas from next door. As soon as we were seated a metal steamer was plopped on our table full of Juicy Pork Dumplings. Little, bite-sized parcels filled with delicious, moist pork filling. The wait was definitely worth it. I got so busy with those bundles, dipping them in soy sauce and vinegar with ginger, I forgot to take any pictures til the end of the meal.
Next came the Juicy Pork/Crab Dumplings. This was my favorite. Simply delicious. I liked the additional layer of flavor from the crab and thought it went very well with the pork. The Shrimp & Pork Shiaomai were delicious but I thought the shrimp on top of the bundle were little bit overcooked. I liked the presentation however with the pink shrimps on top of a flowering mouth.
Sour & Spicy Soup
By the time we were seated (around 1230) they were already out of the Pork Buns and Small Dumplings with Soup. :( Next time I must wake up even earlier. I read somewhere that the dumplings in soup were delicious. The Sour and Spicy Soup was just okay. It wasn't as sour as I usually have it and it definitely was not spicy. The Shanghai Rice Cake was delicious. The oval shape of the rice cakes is exactly like sliced Korean rice cakes. It was stir-fried with a soy sauce mixture and some greens.
We left very satisfied. I guess now it's time to try the few other top dumpling places and compare, right?
1108 S Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA 91007
626.574.7068
Din Tai Fung USA
2 comments:
You've started at the top with DinTaiFung, there's nowhere to go but down in quality in my opinion. This place has perfected the soup dumpling.
Even Joe's Shanghai, which is supposed to be the best soup dumplings in New York, can't even touch these
hi vipat,
well good thing i went there for my first real dumplings! it's too bad it's so insanely busy. i would have loved to try their soup dumplings.
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