Superb lunch @ Din Tai Fung [Taipei 101], Taipei

When I was planning our Taipei trip, visiting Din Tai Fung in its native city should have been on my list of places to eat. But I'd mistakenly assumed Din Tai Fung was born in Shanghai, very likely because xiao long bao is usually associated with Shanghainese cuisine, not Taiwanese. Anyway, now I know better! When my friend and I (with our babies) visited the iconic Taipei 101, we planned to lunch in one of the restaurants in the higher floors of the skyscraper. However, we were put off by the limited and expensive choice of menu, and the indefinite waiting time (any period of waiting with cranky hungry babies is torture, especially in a small lobby with no shops to pass the time). So we decided to check out how bad the queue was at Din Tai Fung in the basement of 101. The waiting area outside the restaurant was pretty crowded, but we were told our group would only need to wait 10 minutes, which was manageable. We did some food tasting at the nearby shops to pass the time. Upon entry, I was surprised at how vast the dining room actually was! The waiting area only showed a small portion of the interior. Baby girl and I loved watching the dumpling-making action through the windows into the steamy kitchen. Those guys were working very hard, and there were many of them! Service was pleasant and efficient, and the food was delicious! There's good reason why Din Tai Fung is a very successful franchise worldwide!

Huge dining room:

Xiao long bao, and lots of them!:

Dandan Mian:

Guotie (potstickers, aka gyoza in Japan):

Zongzi (rice dumplings):

And of course, we had to order xiao long bao! We ordered the normal one, and the fancy truffle type. Both were delicious:

Din Tai Fung [Taipei 101]
B1F
45 Shifu Rd
Xinyi District
Taipei, Taiwan
+886 2 8101 7799