My Favourite of All Time Just Keeps Getting Better…

RESTAURANT SUMMARY

Din Tai Fung (Paragon)

290 Orchard Road, #B1-03 The Paragon, Singapore

Phone: (65) 6836 8336

http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/index.asp

RATINGS

Ambience: 7.5/10

Food: 8/10

Service: 7.5/10

REVIEW

This will be my last entry on my awesome food trip back to Singapore in September (I know, I have taken quite a long time to get things updated and organised. My apologies.)

Din Tai Fung is my all time favourite for good quality Xiao Long Bao among many other classic Chinese fare. (Still remember my previous entry on their Sydney outlet?) The outlet at Paragon is DTF’s very first venture in Singapore. I could still remember during their initial opening, everyone was mesmerised by the open concept kitchen where patrons were able to see the chefs busy at work up close! Also, getting a seat meant a wait of at least 30 min regardless the time of the day!The crowd has since subsided but during rush hours and weekends, one has to be prepared for a fair wait. When my parents and I arrived for dinner on a weeknight, we were shown to our seats swiftly and as expected, the restaurant was already packed with diners!

First up, we had the ever popular Sweet and Sour soup. The thickness and the flavour were impressive and you simply could not stop at one!We also ordered a plate of lightly fried vegetables in view of the sumptuous dinner we were having ahead…

Ain’t sure if I was lucky or plain coincidence, DTF was showcasing three of their limited edition Xiao Long Baos! Of course, as a foodie, I took the liberty to order one serving of each to share with my dear readers. The Steamed Fish Dumplings were delicious: the skin was the right thickness as usual; the filling was fresh and succulent.

Next, it was the Angled Gourd and Shrimps XLBs. I was wondering how are they going to fill the XLBs with the gourd as they are always soft upon cooking. The chefs surprised me with their perfect execution and their ability to retain the moisture and crunchiness of the gourd. The skin was thin/translucent, where you can see through them!

Last but not the least, the most special of them all was the Truffle XLBs, where the truffles were air-flown from France! Not only that, they were only available at the Paragon outlet. I guess you really pay for the quality of such fantastic ingredient, the soup was subtle but fragrant; the filling was soft and tasty! I reckon that it was best of the 3! NOM!

We also had the Pork Cutlet fried rice. The rice was fluffy and fried nicely with the eggs. Pork cutlet was tender and not too fried. After all, it was one of their signature dishes, it was impossible to get it wrong?!

After all those mouth-watering indulgence, we were thinking if we should continue with more or call it a day? Mummy mentioned that she has always wanted to try their Red Bean Buns. They might look just like those typical ones you get from any Asian stores, but the workmanship and the tastiness were something that is hard to achieve. The bun was soft but fluffy at the same time; the red bean paste stuffed in them was the right balance, not too sweet at all!