Din Tai Fung

After hearing so much hype, I finally got to try Din Tai Fung and it definitely lived up to the experience. Be prepared to make a reservation well in advance because the wait is real, but the food and service made it worth it. The ambiance is modern, clean, and lively, and the staff were friendly, attentive, and efficient throughout our meal. The soup dumplings were flavorful with perfectly delicate wrappers. The chicken dumplings were good, though I wish the filling had a bit more seasoning. The shrimp fried rice was simple but cooked perfectly, and the cucumber salad was fresh, crisp, and a great starter. The desserts completely stole the show. The mango shaved ice with fresh mango, mango sauce, and condensed milk was light, refreshing, and perfect for summer. But the chocolate mochi buns were the highlight of the meal served warm with melted chocolate inside and paired with a side of lightly salted whipped cream that balanced the richness perfectly. Easily one of the best desserts I’ve had. Overall, I had a great experience and can definitely see why this place is so popular. I’ll absolutely be back to try more from the menu.

The host and the serving staff were extremely nice and friendly. The ambience was great. Took our daughters to experience a different type of food and they enjoyed it. We knew about the long wait times so made a reservation weeks in advance. The chocolate mochi was the best bite of meal. The warm chocolate against the sea salt cream, it was flavor bomb. We also enjoyed the cucumbus salad, fried noodles with vegetables, spicy vegan wontons and vegan dumplings. The highlight was definitely those chocolate mochis!

DTF's first East coast restaurant and boy did they go all out. This place is huge!! The decor is so modern with dark woods/colors. Nothing like their Taiwan locations, but hey it's NYC Times Square. It can seat up to 450 people in the dining room. I have to say, the food comes out pretty quick. Service was okay. Not sure why they keep rotating servers in between service. They have a pretty good cocktail menu, like their Vegas location. Their DTF Old Fashioned is great. They have a specialty Espresso martini which was good. As far as the food, we usually order the same items. We've been to their original location in Taipei and other locations such as Taipei 101 and in Vegas and SoCal. For appetizers, can't go wrong with the Cucumber salad, Sweet & Sour Pork Baby Back Ribs. Soy Noodle salad and seaweed & Beancurd salad. For mains, a must is their Xiao Long Bao. The pork one and chicken were really good- just eat them while it's hot. Other dishes we enjoyed are the Noodles with spicy sauce, Fried rice with shrimp and Shrimp & Kurobuta Pork Shao Mai. Make reservations through Yelp!

Really enjoyed our visit. The restaurant is beautiful, and the atmosphere makes it a great spot for a nice meal. My favorite dish by far was the Chicken Spicy Wontons. The sauce was incredible. The Cucumber Salad was also delicious and super refreshing. It tasted like it had fish sauce, and maybe ginger sesame oil? and a really nice savory flavor. My second favorite was the Sweet & Sour Baby Back Ribs. They were tender, flavorful, and had the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. For dessert, we had the Chocolate & Mochi Xiao Long Bao with the Sea Salt Cream. The dark chocolate filling was rich and high quality, and the sea salt cream took it to another level. We also tried a few different kinds of Xiao Long Bao. I know they’re what Din Tai Fung is famous for, but they just weren’t my thing. I found them bland in flavor, even after trying different fillings.