Din Tai Feng, Taipei City

Having been to Shanghai and tasted their "famous" dumplings from a variety of different places, I felt that Ding Tai Feng beat them by miles. The dumplings were great, filled with stuffing, as opposed to lard, and actually had soup in them when they were supposed to. Quick, polite service, good enough to compare with top Japanese places. Don't be deterred by the massive lines up to the front door, 1. its worth the wait and 2. turnover is fast.

There are a few locations. We went to the one on Yongkang St. There is not an immediate MRT station in the area, so it was a 30 min walk from ZhongXiao station. Easy to find...just look for the crowd. There are many locals and tourists there. A definite good thing. We ordered the shao long bao...that's the one with the broth in the middle...just normal pork. Then some other dumplings that were mushroom and vegetable flavored....they were just ok. I'd skip them next time. We also got the noodles with special spicy house sauce and the shrimp fried rice. Those were both very good but not spectacular. The broth dumplings were also good. I had the same ones in NYC at Joe's Shanghai (Ctown location), and these tasted the same. Maybe I'm just not that blown away by the novelty of broth in dumplings. The service was the best part of the experience....but that may be Taiwanese service in general. The table was set with tea and ginger before we sat down. Everybody was involved in our service. It's not like in America, where you have one wait person assigned to you, and no one else notices if your glass hasn't been refilled for the past half hour or that there are dirty finished plates on your table. Here it's a group effort and everything is run very, very efficiently. Though this place is incredibly cheap...especially if you compare it to Joe's....(our meal cost USD 20 for two ppl), relative to the average Taiwanese restaurant and street food, it's pretty expensive. We went to Sushi Express afterward where everything was USD 1....you get the best salmon sashimi there for relatively pennies. We're very simply ppl...from time to time we go to fancy restaurants but will always prefer that special hole in the wall type place that only the locals know about. So this was not a memorable experience for us, but we do recognize that it is good food with good service.

This place is outstanding. Excellent service and much cheaper than the Din Tai Feng in Shanghai and also much better in Taipei. I have been here several times and will also plan a visit in Feb 2010 over Chinese New Year!

THIS PLACE IS SOOOOOOOO OVERRATED. THE FOOD IS NOT THAT GOOD FOR ITS HIGH PRICES. I DONT KNOW WHY PPL THINK THIS PLACE IS GOOD. TO ME MOST PPL THINK THAT THIS IS A FANCY PLACE TO EAT, JUST HOW A REDNECK THINKS APPLEBEES IS FANCY TOO..

My husband I recently returned from a week long visit to his home country, Taiwan and we had heard so much about Din Tai Fung so we had to try it. It was DELICIOUS and the service was PHENOMENAL!! We can't say enough about the place. Because of our hotel location we visited the Fuxiing Location. And we managed to beat the crowds every time by arriving BEFORE 11:30 am for lunch. We ate there our first day and again before we boarded our plane back home. The place definitely deserves the credit of being one of the best global restaurants! Don't miss the chance to enjoy the XIAO LONG BAO (shrimp & pork dumplings).

I visited Ding Tai Fung for the first time ever and I was certainly not disappointed. The service upon enterring the restaurant was top-notch. They even had a bathroom attendant! There was always someone around to get anything that you need. The food was extremely good. You cannot leave without trying the xiao long bao. They had very fresh and thin skin which, on the inside, was a small amount of the meat juice and the minced meat. Everything else on the menu was delicious but the xiao long baos were definitely the winners. The restaurant is about a 5-10 minute drive to the Taipei 101 district which is good since you can go for a stroll after a big lunch.

a little squeezy. narrow passage ways. but nonetheless tasty n juicy 'xlbs' and big plates of fried rice with lots of prawns! unsure how to go as was brought there by tourist guide as a deviation. glad we deviated! =)

Din Tai Feng was the best resturant that I encountered on my month long tour of China and Taipei. When I first walked in, I surprised to find the simplicity of the place - large, well-lit room which seemed to have the status of an American Arby's. After we finally cleared the around-the-block line to be seated, my four frineds and I preceded to order portion after portion of the pork and shrimp steamed dumplings and demolish them. So amazing was the taste and apperance of the basket full of broth dumplings that we all preceded to eat at least 2 dozen each followed by a bottle of Alka Seltzer that night in our respective rooms at the Grand Hotel. Bottom Line: Best eating in Taipei in a very simple, laid back enviorment and is a must when in Taiwan!

Even though we made reservations, our party still waited a good 20 minutes before seating. However, it was totally worth the wait. The service was courteous even though it was busy; the food was excellent. Nothing we ordered was short of perfection. Just make sure you call ahead to make reservation.

This place is the bomb. I went to Taiwan in December 2006 and I ate here twice. (different branches). The service is EXCELLENT. You need something you don't even have to ask, the waitresses are mind readers and are very quick and very polite and friendly and will always smile at you. All dumplings are delicious. Other things to try are the snow pea tips, beef noodle soup, and the shrimp fried rice. I was one of the first customers to visit the grand opening of Din Tai Fung in the new Sogo shopping mall. Both of the Din Tai Fungs I went to had beautiful decorating and polite waitresses. One downside is the crowd. But I guess that just means their food is excellent. I'm getting hungry just typing this up! I wish I was still in Taiwan! Please take my advice and go there if you are ever in Taiwan. P.S. I heard bad things about Din Tai Fung in Los Angeles but I can assure you that the locations in Taiwan will not disappoint you.