What to Order at Din Tai Fung

Eating at Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) is one of the most highly recommended activities for visitors to Taiwan, and for good reason. Despite being a chain restaurant with big seating rooms and high turnover, they manage to churn out incredibly tasty dishes that have gained international popularity (there are now locations in LA, London, Dubai, Sydney, and many more cities around the world). Along with bubble tea, Din Tai Fung has become one of Taiwan’s most famous culinary exports.

Everyone knows you must eat at Din Tai Fung in Taiwan to experience the local flavours and service — but the tougher question is what to order when faced with dozens and dozens of menu options. We checked out Din Tai Fung’s original location, the Xinyi Branch on Yongkang Street, to answer that question with the help of our Taiwanese friend.

Unless you go at very off-peak hours (the middle of the afternoon), Din Tai Fung nearly always has a wait. They don’t take reservations, so you’ll need to physically go to the restaurant to get a number and a spot in the queue. They’ll give you a paper menu so that you can mark your orders while waiting, turn it in ahead of time, and start receiving food as soon as you sit down! Though the waits are long, Din Tai Fung has their queuing system organized down to a science.

You can actually check the current wait times for each Din Tai Fung branch on their website or app (just search for 鼎泰豐 or Din Tai Fung on iPhone or Android — don’t worry, they’re English compatible). Both the website and app conveniently display the queue number currently being called, so you can leave the restaurant and do something else nearby while tracking the queue on the go. This is hugely helpful when you have as long a wait as we did on a holiday Friday evening — 65 minutes! Rather than stand on the chaotic street among other hungry people waiting for a table, we chose the relaxing alternative of sitting down at a tea house nearby and ran back as soon as our queue number was close to being called.

There are windows to the kitchen, so you can see all the chefs in action as they fold dumplings by hand.

The dining area is simple, designed for efficiency and speed of service. The newer branches are more aesthetically pleasing than the original, but we like them all just fine. Assuming you’ve already handed in your orders while waiting for a table, your dishes should start arriving very soon after you sit down.

With input from our local Taiwanese food expert friend, we ordered many of our favourite dishes (most of which are also featured by Din Tai Fung itself) to compose this list of dishes we think other foreigners would love:

Spicy Pickled Cucumber ($75)

It may seem basic, but this dish is actually one of our favourites and we order it literally every single time we go to Din Tai Fung. The cucumber chunks are lightly pickled so that they still retain some crunch, and they’re doused in an oil that has just the right amount of spice to tickle your tastebuds. This dish makes the perfect appetizer and it’s one of the cheapest items on the menu — just trust us and order it!

Braised Eggplant ($110)

This dish takes locally grown Chinese eggplant, cooks it to the perfect texture, and then dresses it with a blend of sauces. The result is a juicy and flavourful appetizer that you’ll love if you like eggplant — and might even change your opinion if you don’t!

Stir-Fried Cabbage ($190)

It doesn’t look like much, but stir-fried cabbage is always a go-to for us at local restaurants. We love the simplicity and the subtle flavour as an accompaniment to other dishes. Din Tai Fung recommends this dish on their menu, though we have to say it’s no better than the versions you’d find at cheaper restaurants for a lower cost. We still love it every time, but if you’re going to skip one of the vegetables, let it be this one.

Pork Chop Fried Rice with Egg ($240)

This might seem expensive for a fried rice dish, but not when you consider the massive pork chop that lays on top. The bed of rice, fried with egg and spring onion, soaks up juices from the meat, making it moist and flavourful. This isn’t just your average fried rice — it tastes delicious!

Crab Roe and Pork Xiaolongbao ($185 for 5)

More than anything else it serves, Din Tai Fung is famous for its soup dumplings. Xiaolongbao (小籠包) are small steamed buns full of hot broth that burst with flavour in your mouth. For those who don’t know, there’s a specific process to eating them — but don’t worry about looking like a fool, because the restaurant provides foreigners with English instruction cards explaining the proper steps, and the staff will even help mix and prepare your sauce.

At least one order of xiaolongbao is a must at Din Tai Fung, regardless of which of the multiple types you choose. The standard pork XLB ($110 for 5) is always a great option — it’s marked as a recommended dish on the menu — but we like to switch it up sometimes. Crab adds a whole extra layer to the soup, making the broth even more flavourful. If you like crab, you’ll obsess over these, and if you don’t, just stick to the always-delicious pork! Vegetarian options are available too.

Noodles with Spicy Sesame and Peanut Sauce ($110)

We love spicy, sesame, and peanut sauces individually, and we love them even more when they’re combined together in a single bowl with layers of flavour. Mixing plain noodles through that rich, dense sauce is seriously drool-worthy. This is a heavy dish that’s good to share so that you don’t fill yourself up too much!

Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings ($135)

This is a classic order that might not stand out from the crowd, but it’s a great option that’s sure to be popular. Each dumpling is filled with tender pork and plump whole shrimp. There’s a simple satisfaction in receiving these dumplings in a bamboo steamer, dipping them into soy sauce, and engulfing them whole.

House Special Spicy Shrimp and Pork Wontons ($180)

This is our absolute favourite dish at Din Tai Fung, and it’s the one we recommend above all others. We cannot begin to describe how tasty that spicy sauce is slathered on top of the wontons, with their delicious pocket of meat filling. The flavours work perfectly together, and we have been obsessed with this dish ever since we first tried it.

Chocolate Xiaolongbao (5 for $175)

We hadn’t tried this dessert before and ordered it just for the novelty factor, (“a chocolate dumpling?” we wondered with audible skepticism) but ended up loving it and questioning why we ever doubted it in the first place. The warm chocolate oozes once you bite through the dumpling skin, and the chocolate is much richer than you’d expect. It makes quite a decadent end to the feast, and it’s not just for novelty — we’d actually order it again!

You can browse all the dishes on Din Tai Fung’s menu here.

What’s the vibe?

Din Tai Fung is a very popular restaurant chain (with both locals and foreigners) dedicated to high turnover. Although there’s usually a long wait during peak hours, their efficient systems and fast service make it easy to fill in a paper menu order, do something else in the nearby area, return to the restaurant just in time to sit down, and start receiving dishes to the table soon after. Despite the emphasis on efficiency of service (like the small instruction cards explaining how to mix xiaolongbao sauce, for example), it also has a clean, well-lit dining space that makes the meal all the more comfortable.

Worth it?

Absolutely. We’re sure there are plenty of worthy Din Tai Fung competitors out there, but a visit to this insanely popular restaurant is an experience in itself. And once again, despite the fact that it’s a chain restaurant that emphasizes high turnover, their food is still incredibly delicious. Prices may be higher than you’d find at smaller restaurants, but we still find them to be fairly reasonable compared to Western prices.

Would you go back?

We’ll go for months without eating at Din Tai Fung (the long wait times are usually a disincentive) but then get a sudden craving and happily go back again. And repeat.

Visit Din Tai Fung Taiwan’s English website here.

Click on each pin for more information on each of the Din Tai Fung branches in Taipei:

Last updated: July 2019