Thursday, September 27, 2007

Din Tai Fung, The Gardens - Midvalley City

(Non-Halal)

Precious Pea and I headed off to The Gardens as we had some serious shopping to do but our hunger pangs needed to be taken care off. Stopping by the cool touch screen floor directory where we still couldn't really decide what to eat, we headed towards the Lower Ground Floor where most of the restaurants were located. After scouring the entire food area, we decided to have our lunch at Din Tai Fung.
Din Tai Fung, The Gardens
Din Tai Fung has its own wikipedia page; being an award winning restaurant serving Taiwanese specialties - the xiaolongbao (small steamed soup dumplings) being the most famous dish of all. It has restaurants worldwide and this location is their first setup in Malaysia. Read more about Din Tai Fung and its history HERE.
Din Tai Fung, The Gardens

Din Tai Fung, The Gardens
Din Tai Fung's simple, bright and clean interior
Din Tai Fung, The Gardens
Of course, it has the open kitchen concept where customers can see the going ons in the kitchen which is separated by a glass panel. I think one of the chefs is probably giving a cooking lesson here.

We were told that only certain dishes were available (being their first day of operation, I guess that's understandable). and we settled for the dishes recommended by the supervisor. The supervisors and waiter/waitresses were efficient and courteous, especially the staff who serves our hot Jasmine tea. They would be bowing down each time they come to the table and also when they move away, I thought I was in Japan for a moment! Though we arrived at peak lunch hour and the restaurant was packed, waiting time was quite reasonable. It wasn't long before our orders were served.
Vinegar & ginger (for the dumplings)
The essential vinegar & ginger for the dumplings (I gave most of my ginger to Precious Pea's plate pictured above).
Xiao Long Bao - steamed dumplings
The xiaolongbao (RM11/USD3.20 for 5 pieces) tasted good and the skin texture was just right but we found that it did not contain enough soup in them. The minced meat was done nicely and was tender to bite.
Deep Fried Chilli Chicken
Deep Fried Chilli Chicken (RM15/USD4.40) - this was very tasty, all spiced up with chilli and lots of itsy bitsy garlic. However when you bite into it, you can feel the oil but this could come from the chicken skin itself.
Cha Jiang Lai Mian (Noodles with minced pork mixed in broad bean sauce)
The Cha Jiang La Mien (RM12/USD3.50) - Noodles with minced pork and tofu bits with broad bean sauce. The texture of the noodles was good but tastewise, it was pretty normal.
Shrimp Pork Siew Mai
Shrimp Pork Siew Mai (another variety of steamed dumplings - RM11/USD3.20 for 4 pieces). This tasted similar to the XiaoLongBao with the exception of the extra shrimp on top of it. The skin area surrounding the shrimp was thicker though as you can see.

We were told to come back in about a month's time when the full menu should be available. I guess I'll go back again then and have a second verdict on this place.

See Precious Pea's take on this outing HERE....

Din Tai Fung
Lot LG 207 Lower Ground
The Gardens, Midvalley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur


"I am emperor, and I want dumplings" - Emperor Ferdinand I



30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to go to this one too?
How many days do you think I would need to cover all the places I have listed for you?
Have you been keeping a record of the list or was I suppose to? Wahhahahaha....
Looks lovely, clean place and nice food.

Anonymous said...

hmmm dumplings. did you know that georgians also have dumplings? it is called kinkhali and delicious.

Precious Pea said...

Yo Sista! We go try the meat floss beancurd a month from now yah?

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wah..yesterday just opening..now post up d..very efficient..but how would u compare their xlbs to the current variety we have?..

daphne said...

yes! I miss the la mien in Din Tai Fung! And true..their siao long pau is good!

Anonymous said...

I also wanna go :(
*merajuk*

Big Boys Oven said...

So bad, never invite me......but don't forget to invite the next round....:)

MeiyeN said...

woot... remember to bring me along okay? i wanna try this place too.... :D

Unknown said...

eh eh... Din Tai Fung saya punya favourite!

The xiao long bao etc, all very good. But the ones in Spore, they serve in big portions, so if you want to eat many things, must go with more people...

*slurp*

teckiee said...

I tried this in Singapore a few years ago. Must try this one out.

boo_licious said...

Must give this a try one day when I am free. The prawn version kinda looks like the siu mai one in Nanxiang Mantou Dian.

SteamyKitchen said...

I love the simplistic architectural design of the restaurant.

Even if the XLB wasn't so juicy, it still looked beautiful.

wmw said...

judy : I think maybe a few months? Hahah..I haven't been keeping a list of the places you want to go to, I thought you were doing it over at your side. ;o)

chih : Kinkhali...mmm...kinky name!

precious pea : Yup, we will!

joe : Actually the best xlb I tasted was at Chef Loong's in SS2 before Chef Loong left for Shanghai 10 and and the quality in Shanghai 10 was not as good as his earlier masterpiece in SS2. But like I said...if DTF's xlb had more soup, it would be on par with with.

daphne : Well, there's one here in the Klang Valley when you're back here! Hooray!

jason : You know what I'll say..."Move to PJ"...LOL

wmw said...

bbo : Didn't know you are interested in shopping also...Hee Hee...

meiyen : Can, but am sure you would prefer to go with your someone special leh ;o)

keropok man : Hi there, haven't seen you around for awhile. Oh, bigger portions at the same prices???

teckiee : Well, go back in a month if you wanna have more things to try. Of course, you can always rope us in to makan too! :o)

boo_licious : Well, I'll probably only go back there in a month's time to try the rest of the stuff. Limited range...

steamykitchen : Ahhh...hi there Superstar! You have DTF restaurants over there in your area? Anyway, if you ever make a trip to Malaysia, I'll be your food guide to take you around (or you can whip up food for me anytime! LOL)..

catsndogs said...

well , i never taste dintaifung at Msia yet .. but for sure if u go taiwan , definately u MUST go to try their local restaurant.
no words can describe ...oh...MY GOD.

backStreetGluttons said...

actually last time emperor china eat 28 kinds of dumplings with 18 colors and 8 piao meis one. nowsdays our Banting/Bentong coffee shops also got 88 piao meis many tigers & toddys but no dumplings so must bring them here oredi soon TQ

Anonymous said...

Pricing is pretty good .. i'll have to say. The shrimp dumpling looked very interesting eh.. :)

Anonymous said...

The shrimps siumai-cum-XLB soooooo scrumptious!

Jacelyn Chew said...

real envy u gals can go shopping and makan makan often... i oso want to join next time!! ok? :p

btw, will u do this tag?
http://mummyinvain.blogspot.com/2007/09/all-2-of-me.html

sc said...

guess i should only go ne month later then? wonder if it tastes the same as the branch in spore..

wmw said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wmw said...

Jackson : Well, there's only one way to find out...

catsndogs : Oooh...you tasted the original one woh!

team bsg : Wah, the xlb must have tasted good even though they weren't because of piao meis!

mama bok : Pricing is definitely okay for you all lo...hehe!

tigerfish : Yalor, pretty picture, eh?

jacelyn chew : Hahaha...will try!

sc: Guess so, we can all go together to try more varieties! :o)

Anonymous said...

Just what I am looking for on my trip Spring 08. I hope the 12 hour plus flight from the UK is worth it. Will post my comment after sampling the goods, atmosphere claims etc.

wonda said...

A little pricey compared to other shops selling dim sum?

Anonymous said...

this is a MUST destination when we are in town! so much bowing, ah! I honestly doubt that bowing tradition will last long :)

New Kid on the Blog said...

I left Precious Pea a note also... There's another branch in Penang and it's in Bayan Bay area (aka Queensbay).

wmw said...

balik kampung : I will await your verdict...:o)

wonda : Yes, what to do...that usually happens after New York Times list one as one of the top 10 restaurants to go too.

Mrs Pitt : Am sure the clean surroundings was the pull factor (more than the food). hahaha...

nkotb : Really, I thought this one at The Gardens was the first. Aha! Something you don't need me to send to you as you also have it over there...Hee hee...

ilene said...

Aisay, had I known you were there, could have asked you to wait for me to take you out to coffee. I was there - was invited for the opening of Robinsons.

New Kid on the Blog said...

Know what??? I hv not try it... cuz, many says not nice ... I wonder you can still courier for me or not?? :D heheehehehe....

wmw said...

ilene : Aisay, had I known you had invitation, I would have asked you to take me in...instead the non VIP customers were asked to vacate the premises :(

nkotb : Hahaha....This one have to eat it freshlah. Go try in Penang lo ;o)