Updated: 4/26/2024| Best Dishes to Order at Din Tai Fung
Din Tai Fung (abbreviated as DTF) is a Taiwanese restaurant that has taken the world by surprise with their famous Xiao Long Bao (小籠包) soup dumplings.
When approaching Din Tai Fung, you can see the kitchen staff busy stuffing dumplings through a clear glass window.
In 2010, the DTF branch in Hong Kong received a Michelin star for their soup dumplings. While they did lose their Michelin star, they are still mentioned in the Michelin Guide with a Bib Gourmand label, an award for restaurants with friendly service, good food, and decent prices.
While they are known for their famous soup dumplings, it’s important to know that they specialize in Taiwanese and Chinese Huaiyang cuisine and offer a wide range of dishes. Their menu is extensive and can be overwhelming to new diners.
Below, we’ll share our favorite DTF dishes and give you recommendations on what to try the next time you visit this renowned restaurant.
Best Dishes to Order at Din Tai Fung
We’ve probably dined at DTF over 50 times. So, yes, we are OBSESSED with their food and we know quite a bit when it comes to dining here.
When it’s your turn to dine here, the host will hand you a paper menu which you then mark with lines to indicate the dishes you want to order.
Not sure what to order?
Below are our favorite dishes that we order time and time again. We categorized the dishes you should try by the sections they are located on the paper menu.
Appetizers
- Cucumber Salad – Their cucumber salad is super refreshing and a great way to start your meal. The cucumbers are very crunchy and are doused in a tangy and savory sauce.
- Wood Ear Mushroom Salad – Crunchy mushrooms soaked until tender and dressed in their sweet and tangy vinegar dressing. This salad is super refreshing and is a dish we always love introducing to first-timers.
XiaoLongBao (Soup Dumplings)
Pork and Crab XiaoLongBao
The soup dumplings are the main attraction at all DTF locations and are often abbreviated as XLB. You don’t go to DTF without ordering one of their tasty little flavor bomb dumplings that explode in your mouth.
Below are the flavors we highly recommend trying:
- Kurubota Pork XiaoLongBao – This is the most popular flavor or XLB. The thin dumpling skin houses a silky broth and meatball that goes amazing with their dumpling sauce.*
- Kurubota Pork & Crab XiaoLongBao – The second most popular.
* The dumpling sauce is a mixture of 1/3 soy sauce, 2/3 vinegar, thinly sliced ginger, and as much spicy chili oil as you can handle. The flavor of the sauce is up to your liking.
Steamed Dumplings
While these do not have soup in them, they are delicious with the dumpling sauce mix (mentioned above).
- Shrimp & Pork Shao Mai
- Shrimp and Pork Dumplings
- Chicken Dumplings
Shrimp and Pork Shao Mai Dumplings
Buns
- Pork Buns – Steamed pork buns that are soft yet chewy. The inside is filled with tender char siu pork.
Wontons
- Shrimp and Kurubota Pork Wontons in Spicy Sauce – This dish is a house specialty! The super tender dumplings are tossed in an umami-packed sauce that is slightly spicy.
Shrimp and Kurubota Pork Wontons with Spicy Sauce
Soup
- Shrimp and Kurubota Pork Wonton Soup – This soup is always great. I love eating it when I am feeling under the weather.
- Braised Beef Noodle Soup – You used to be able to order this dish without noodles. Now you have to order them with noodles and ask them to leave them out. I would ask for the noodles on the side and eat them with another saucy dish such as the wontons in spicy sauce.
Noodles and Rice Cakes
We are a HUGE fan of their noodles and rice cakes. The sauce is super flavorful and umami-packed. It’s well-balanced with plenty of meat, veggies, and carbs.
- Pork/Shrimp/Chicken Fried Noodles
- Shanghai Rice Cakes with Jidori Chicken/Shrimp/Pork
Braised Beef Soup and Fried Shrimp Shanghai Rice Cakes
Rice
- Kurubota Pork Chop Fried Rice – DTF’s fried rice is fluffy and super flavorful! When topped with their tender and silky sliced pork, it’s a win!
Veggies
- Stir Fried Bok Choy – A simple dish of stir-fried bok choy in garlic with oil.
- String Beans with Garlic – We love how crispy and flavorful this dish is.
Fried String Beans with Garlic
Pot Stickers
- Shrimp and Kurubota Pork Pot Stickers – These are pan-fried dumplings that are then made crispy with a flour batter. It comes with a tangy sauce, but we prefer to eat it with the dumpling sauce. You have to try this dish at least once!
Shrimp and Kurubota Pork Pot Stickers
Dessert
- Chocolate and Mochi XiaoLongBao – You get 5 steamy pieces of chocolate covered in mochi and flour dough.
- Assorted Shaved Ice Dessert – (DISCONTINUED) This was one of our favorite dishes to order at DTF. You could order it in two sizes and it was a combination of sweet and savory with fluffy shaved ice and condensed milk. It was a treat to have after every meal.
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Do I Need a Reservation?
Din Tai Fung takes reservations now!
They didn’t use to and people would wait HOURS to dine at this famous establishment. The most I’ve ever waited 3 hours with a party of four.
If there are seats available in the bar area, I highly recommend dining there. The wait is usually shorter and people get in and out of the bar area pretty quickly.
If you decide to show up without a reservation, expect to wait for a table. The busiest times are during lunch and dinner every day of the week. They are also especially busy on weekends.
And if you’re not up for waiting to dine at DTF, you can always order take-out or delivery and enjoy DTF anywhere you like!
Recap of Dishes to Order at DTF
Here is a quick recap of all the dishes we HIGHLY recommend trying on your next visit to DTF. Bon appetit!
- Cucumber Salad
- Wood Ear Mushroom Salad
- Xiao Long Bao
- Kurubota Pork
- Kurubota Pork and Crab
- Dumplings
- Shao Mai
- Shrimp and Pork
- Chicken
- Pork Buns
- Shrimp and Kurubota Pork Wontons in Spicy Sauce
- Shrimp and Kurubota Pork Wonton Soup
- Braised Beef Noodle Soup
- Shanghai Rice Cakes (Pork, Chicken or Shrimp)
- Fried Noodles (Pork, Chicken or Shrimp)
- Kurubota Pork Chop Fried Rice
- Stir-Fried Bok Choy
- Green Beans with Garlic
- Shrimp and Kurubota Potstickers
- Chocolate and Mochi Xiao Long Bao
Watch a video of our visit to DTF on Instagram. Follow us @schimiggy and #schimiggyeats for food recommendations and more!
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And here is a video of us comparing the taste and quality of the ORIGINAL Din Tai Fung in Taipei, Taiwan to the Seattle locations.
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