You can never go wrong dining in Din Tai Fung if you want authentic Taiwanese food!

Din Tai Fung is a popular Taiwanese food chain that even opened branches in other countries such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and Thailand. I often wonder, when will they ever open one in the Philippines? That way I wouldn’t have to worry about finding flights to Malaysia or Thailand just to eat at the restaurant.

This restaurant has been highly recommended by my friends and when I saw the name of the restaurant on our group tour itinerary, I was just ecstatic!

Me, Kevin (thank you for this photo) and Mica

We ate at Din Tai Fung during lunch time. In the morning, we visited the Eslite bookstore known for their great selection of books, opening 24 hours a day. Believe me, 30 minutes to roam around wasn’t enough! I got lost a few times! Then, from here, we walked all the way to Taipei 101. It was a great opportunity for exercise! I’d like to thank our tour guides for that. We did all the eating we could get in Taipei and walking around the city was such a relief! It was very cold at that time with temperatures dropping at 12 degrees Celsius at night and 18 degrees in the morning with breezy wind which makes it even colder!

Who would complain? None of us did. We actually loved the winter weather which we don’t have here in the Philippines.

I got natural rosy cheeks because of this.

And because I didn’t know we were walking to Taipei 101.  I left my DSLR in the bus >.<

Which means, my Din Tai Fung photos were captured by my HTC Chacha.

Appetizers and in-between servings

Condiments. Sauce. Ginger, Vinegar and Soy Sauce

Spicy Cucumber

Rating: 4.5/5

I’m telling you, I’m not a fan of cucumbers.  But this one was admittedly quite yummy!

Hot and sour soup, perfect with a little vinegar.

Rating: 4.5/5

It’s just the perfect soup to start your meal especially when you’re hungry.  Warming up the stomach for the feast that’s about to happen!

Yang Chow rice served in the middle of our meal

Rating: 4/5

simply because it wasn’t too salty nor bland.  It was the perfect blend.

Garlic Spinach

Rating: 4/5

Maybe because I’ve tasted better, but it’s good to have fiber in our meals.

Taiwanese pork chop sprinkled with herbs and spices

Rating 3.5/5

Nothing too special about this one.  But yes, I taste authentic taiwanese chops 🙂

Xiao Long Bao

It was HEAVEN on a SPOON! or chopsticks – or whatever!

Rating: 5/5

Din Tai Fung is famous for their juicy, handmade Xiao Long Bao (小籠包).  It’s that dumpling with soup inside.

HELLO!?! Best Xiao Long Bao in the world!!! To think I’m not a huge fan of dumplings, this just got me really excited!

Note to self: Don’t write another food blog entry when you’re hungry… like right now… it’s quite a torture!

Writing this article made me crave for another Xiao Long Bao BUT HELLO!?! We don’t have Din Tai Fung in Manila!  Or maybe I can go try this in other local restaurants that offer one.  Any of you recomment a good Xiao Long Bao restaurant in Manila?

Xiao Long Bao is best eatin as soon as possible while the meat inside is fresh and the soup is warm with that tender texture of the delicate wrap around it.

For our table, we were apportioned 6 Xiao Long Bao per person. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

Dumplings

We were offered quite a selection of dumplings like Crabmeat, Siew Mais (Siomai), vegetables and meat dumpling, spicy dumplings and others.  I really couldn’t remember everything anymore because everything all happened so FAST!

It all happened so fast, my attempt to take photos of all the dumplings on the steam bowl was a fail.  Instead, I took a photo of the dumplings I “dumped” on my plate 😛

Spicy dumplings, Crab and vegetable dumplings

Vegetable Dumpling

Rating: 4/5

Shrimp Siew Mai

Rating: 4/5

I really wasn’t able to note what kind of dumpling this is, because they all look the same on the outside.

You’ve gotta take a bite to find out!

Oh, I want to take just one bite!

Service

Yes, everything all happened so fast, by the time we finished taking photos of the dumplings, another set comes in.  Which just means, their service is really good and quite fast!  The servers were also very polite and I see them smirking everytime we get really excited about our food.  Food coma is love!  Thank you for the great service!

Fast service

The servers did everything to make our dining experience happy!

Red Bean Dessert

Rating: 4/5

A perfect way to end the dining experience.

It was a feast we definitely enjoyed and this is one food trip you shouldn’t miss along with the Shilin Night Market.

In Taipei, you definitely need to prepare your appetite for awesome food, and your feet for walking exercise!

Din Tai Fung (101 Branch)

Din Tai Fung Taipei 101 address: B1F, No 45, Shifu Rd, Xinyi Dist, Taipei City 110, Taipei, Taiwan
Din Tai Fung Taipei 101 contact number: 02-81017799
Din Tai Fung Website: dintaifung.com.tw

AirAsia flies to Taiwan four times a week, with fights departing Clark at 12:05 p.m. and arriving at Taoyuan airport at 2:00 p.m.

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