Last week I went to a world renowned restaurant called Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐). The restaurant was founded in Taiwan and has since opened shops around the world including one in Seattle and Los Angeles. They're world famous Xiao long bao or 小龍包. These Xiaolongbao are a type of dumpling that are usually associated with Shanghai. These dumplings are often filled with pork but the shrimp and winter-melon are particularly tasty in the summer. What makes the Xiaolongbao different from other dumplings is that there is soup in the filling. This makes them particularly tasty. The Xiaolongbao are served in the bamboo steamer that they were cooked in. The preferred eating method is to take the Xiaolongbao and place it in a spoon. While on the spoon the Xiaolongbao is opened to let the soup out. The next step is to add finely cut slices of ginger soaked in soy sauce and vineager to the spoon. They taste unbelievable, possibly one of my favorite dishes. Ask any-one about the quality of Xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung and there is a good chance they'll tell you they have the best. I went with my good friend Alex, who loves cooking so much he had to make his own dish at our table. I've visited Din Tai Fung before but this was my first trip to the original. It was all delicious and I'd recommend going if you ever have the chance.
Here is a link to they're website for those who are interested.
http://www.dintaifungusa.com/about_us.html
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I would definitely have to say it's one of my favorite restaurants, but after meeting more Taiwanese people (ironically, during my travels in Japan), I found out that this restaurant is a status symbol. From the looks of this restaurant, at least from an American point of view, especially if you live in a bigger city, it doesn't seem expensive at all. Both quantity and quality are reason for its price. However, when I mentioned that I liked Din Tai Fung to the Taiwanese girls I had met, they said that most people in Taiwan can not afford to eat here. Moreover, they said that Din Tai Fung is catering more toward foreigners. Not to make a light topic unnecessarily heavy - I mean, regardless, Din Tai Fung is frikkin' delicious - however, it did give me some food for thought.
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I'd say that makes sense. It's almost tourist oriented. The line waiting outside consisted mainly of people from other countries. Plenty of Japanese and Americans were enjoying lunch there. I'll admit my mouth dropped when I saw the bill in NT. After I did the conversion to USD it seemed less expensive and more like a bargain but that's only compared to DC prices.
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