Din Tai Fung Silvercord (Hong Kong)
After our vacation in Europe our last destination back to Auckland New Zealand was in Hong Kong, we had almost one whole day to spare before boarding our connecting flight in the evening. Eight hours is not a lot of time for Hong Kong as there are many things to do here but we had been here a lot of times plus I lived here during the late 90’s and early 2000’s so we had done most of the touristy stuff. What we planned to do here was to do some food tripping on the cheap Michelin star restaurants and of course Jollibee and that’s what we exactly did.
Din Tai Fung at Silvercord, was our second stop, it was Lunch time, but we just ate at Jollibee 3 hours ago, and since we prepared for this, our tummies are up for the challenge. Din Tai Fung for those who does not know is quite a popular restaurant worldwide, a restaurant that started in Taipei with branches Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, United States, Thailand, UK and the UAE. This restaurant is known for many things, first is their Xiao Long Bao, its named one of the top ten restaurants in the world by The New York Times in 1993 and it is branch in Silvercord Hong Kong, Causeway Bay Hong Kong and Macau, gained a one-star Michelin award.
It was just after lunch around 1:00 PM when we got in here, it’s a good time to visit it at that time so you avoid the lunch hour queue, having said that there was still a bit of queue when we came in, but it was not long, so we got seated after 20 minutes. It is my first time in any Din Tai Fung restaurant so I did not expect how it works but as we got handed with a piece of paper it reminded me of how things are ordered in Tim Ho Wan where you tick what items you want and things are made to order, so don’t expect it be like a yum cha style affair as food will not come to you in carts.
As our tables are set the server suggested to do our dips and explained the perfect ratio of soy sauce and vinegar which is also indicated in the “Guide to enjoy the Xiao Long Bao” pamphlet in each table.
As they prepared our sauce, we ordered some soy milk to start with then we proceeded to tick items on the order slip. Dishes come as they are cooked so don’t expect them to all come at once.
First order that came in was their world-renowned Xiao Long Bao, basically a Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings (HK$62.00). It will be hot so be careful, do not put everything in your mouth, I learned my lesson the first time I tried this dish. To best enjoy this is to put it in a spoon, poke a small hole so the soup comes out, add a bit of sauce then enjoy the soup then the dumpling. It was good, the soup was very tasty, porky in a really good way.
I also ordered some Noodle tossed with Spring Onion and Soy Sauce (HK$52.00), a noodle dish that I discovered recently when I had it in Shanghai Street in Melbourne. It’s such a simple noodle dish that looks tasteless but don’t be fooled by its looks, its one tasty treat. The texture of noodles is quite good, reminds me how the Japanese gets serious with their noodles. My daughter loved it and thought the flavour is nearly similar to the IndoMie.
After that we had the Deep-Fried Chicken and Shrimp Spring Rolls (HK$52.00), nothing special but it was good, crunchy and tasty, I just think I just make better spring rolls than this 🙂
Then this Steamed Shrimp and Pork Shao-mai (HK$84.00) came in, I love its presentation, it was large, plump, chunky, juicy and tasty.
Steamed Red Bean Paste Dumplings (HK$48.00) was served next, this was surprising to me. I was expecting a thicker moist outer shell, but it came in with a dry thin dumpling wrap. Its red bean paste lover’s dream, the ratio of warp to filling is like 1 is to 20.
Then the last thing to arrive was this Steamed Pork bun (NZ$18.00/each), at this point we were quite full, so we just ate one and took home the other two which we ended up snacking in the plane. It’s similar to the Filipino Siopao Bola Bola, filled with minced pork clumped together rather than the barbecue style one, never the less it was good as well.
Overall, we were satisfied, great food which I think were meticulously prepared. Staff was great and the place was clean than most Hong Kong restaurants I tried. So, was it Michelin Star worthy for me? Well the Xiao Long Bao is.
Din Tai Fung
Address: Silvercord, Shop 306, 3/F, 30 Canton Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Phone: +852 2730 6928
Website: http://www.dintaifung.com.hk/
