Din Tai Fung Xinyi Branch — Restaurant in Da'an District

Can't say enough good things about this particular location. Been coming here 100 +times over the span of 15 years and left satisfied every single time. The fact that it is so consistent from every perspective throughout the years is truly remarkable.

-Appetizers- I recommend starting with a dish or two of appetizers. Theres' no bad choice here, but my Dad always gets the "Shanghai Style Soy Sprouts" and I always get the "Spicy Picked Cucumber"

-Xialongbao- When people talks about Din Tai Fung, they talks about their Xiaolongbao, the "Pork Xiaolongbao" is absolutely one of the best thing on plant earth, For those who likes a richer flavor, the "Crab Roe Xialongbao" is also equally phenomenal.

-Dumplings- If you eat shrimps then definitely try "Shrimp Pork Pot Stickers" and the "Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings". Both excellent addition to the Xialongbao. Fish Dumpling is one that's unique and doesn't get enough recognition, but it's lighter in term of taste so if you were to order be sure to have it first.

-Soup- Soup is great here, definitely try one of the "Chicken Soup", "Steamed Beef", "Braised Beef" or "Hot and Sour" if you want something different. Some might argue the hot and sour soup is too mild, but i think is just how i like it.

-Wontons- The "House Special Spicy Shrimp and Pork Wontons" is a special somebody. I was blown away when it first came out back in the days. The SAUCE was unlike anything I had before. It's is still today my favorite dish from Ding Tai Fung. Be sure to conserve the sauce if you also order any of the fried rice

-Fried Rice- Ding Tai Fung is also known for its fried rice. I see most people order "Pork Chop Fried Rice", but I like the plain and simple "Shredded Pork Fried Rice". The one with the added shrimps is great too. If you can, have 3 small bowls of fried rice as is with a little soy sauce that's at the side of the table with the leftover sauce from the "House Special Spicy Shrimp and Pork Wontons" dish.

-Deserts- If you are unsatisfied with the amount of Xiolongbao, I recommend either the "Red Bean" or "Taro" Xialongbao. Some people like one over another, and some like both and some hate both. I personally prefer the red bean over the taro. I found the Chocolate Xiaolingbao to be surprisingly pleasant, they add something to the skin to give it a chewy texture and the chocolate is rich, semi-sweet with a little roasted flavor, overall an interesting blend!

Last but not least, service is no joke here. They are helpful, quick, and smiley. The cleaning lady also does a good job with the bathroom.

Even though I don't come here as often anymore due to the overwhelming crowd, I'm proud to say this restaurant is one the those that doesn't degrade in quality because of tourism. It is also one of those restaurant that you MUST DINE IN, their hosts and severs really do a good a job in accommodating every guest that walks in. With that said, it's best to visit the place 9:30am or 3:30pm on weekdays to avoid waiting in line. If in line, you can walk around nearby and check your status on web or via their mobile app. If not, you can visit their other locations in Taipei as I'm sure they will offer...

I have had great meals at other Din Tai Fung locations, so I knew when I visited Taiwan that I wanted to visit the mothership.

We visited about 1pm on a Wednesday. The website and hostess were correct that the wait would be about 30 minutes.  Being able to review the menu and place your order while waiting your number significantly speeds up the process for getting your food once you are seated.

There were 3 in our group, and we ordered: Pork XiaoLong Bao, Crab Roe and Pork XiaoLong Bao, Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings, Shrimp and Pork Shao Mai, Pork Buns, Shrimp and Pork Wonton Soup, Stir Fried Water Spinach,  Stir Fried Sweet Potato Vines, Shrimp Fried Rice, House Special Spicy Vegetable and Ground Pork Dumplings.

The quality of the food was great. The only problem is that delivery was not spread out and we started having too much food getting cold on the table at once.  We tried to get them to slow down the service but were really not successful (since various different servers were delivering the food).  We would have enjoyed the meal much more if the food was still warm by the time that we were able to eat it.

If we were to eat here again, we would intentionally only order part of our meal initially, knowing that we would order more once we made some progress (like this review if you have experienced the same thing).

Our bill was about 2,050 NTD (for 3 people) including the 10% service charge. We got...

It really is amazing. It does deserve the 2 Michelin stars they hold. There's always a line up trying to get in to this place, but they have streamlined the whole experience. You go and grab a number to see where how long it would take to get a table, while waiting you and your party look through the and decide what you would like to order. Then submit the order with the hostess. When time comes to get your table the hostess double checks your order with you and makes any necessary changes at this point if need be. In my case adding a third pork bun to an order where only 2 comes in an order. Then at this point we are told to go upstairs to our table, we greeted and shown our table. We sat down and in the span of maybe 5 minutes 5 different servers came to our table to check our order to make sure that we ordered what we ordered. It was amazing... Talk about efficiency.... I've worked restaurants for a long time and have never seen this level of service to make sure the kitchen runs well and to not remake orders from mistakes. Another minute later the food arrived, the waitress placed our dumplings down and started to properly pour (ratio) our soy sauce and vinegar into a side dish for dipping. We had the pork dumplings, chicken dumplings, water spinach, 3 different noodles and soup and char siu bow. All were beyond amazing. If you're ever in Taipei...