Din Tai Fung (Bishan)

Din Tai Fung was founded in Taiwan by Bingyi Yang. They started off selling cooking oil in 1958 but was revamped into a steamed dumpling cum noodle restaurant a few years later. The Din Tai Fung in Singapore is a franchise operated by BreadTalk Group that aims to bring guests the complete Taiwan dining experience.

We got a table, was offered Hot Chinese Tea ($1) and began ordering our food. Original Hot & Sour Soup, Regular ($8)- Sour, spicy and savoury notes, combined with a smooth, comforting texture, make this classic Chinese soup a perennial hit, stimulating the palate for dishes ahead. We added vinegar to the soup. The soup tasted like shark fin soup. It was warm, acidic, slightly spicy, thick and chunky with all the ingredients inside. My parents and I like the soup.

Steamed Pork Dumplings, 10 pcs ($9.80)- Steamed pork dumplings or xiao long baos traditionally contain minced pork wrapped in a delicate dough skin, which is then pleated, twisted at the top and steamed. Din Tai Fung’s signature rendition consists of juicy meat filling wrapped in a melt-in-your-mouth skin with a minimum of 18 exquisite folds. The must have item for most people who dine at Din Tai Fung. Smooth thin dumpling skin filled with juicy meat filling. I think people order this as it is fun to eat it.

Fried Rice with Shrimps & Eggs ($11.50)- An extremely popular dish, the ingredients are pared down to simple rice, shrimps, eggs, and spring onions, creating a taste of familiar comfort. Each plate is of a certain weight and minimal seasoning is used so that the natural fragrance of the eggs and spring onions shines through. Seasoning was really minimal, wished there were more. That said, the rice was fragrant like what the description said. The tastiest part was the prawn- sweet, juicy and tasty.

Fried Rice with Fried Pork Chop ($10.80). Fried rice with our signature fried pork chop marinated with complex spices. Somehow, the fried rice for the pork chop one had lesser seasoning than the shrimp one. Maybe it;s because the pork is more flavorful so to balance it they season the rice lesser. The pork was well fried, tender and tasty.

Rice Dumpling with flavored Pork ($6)- Filled with succulent pork steeped in our secret marinade recipe and stuffed within tender top grade glutinous pearl rice for a soft and chewy texture. Tasted like bak zhang except that it was slightly less flavorful and did not had the pandan taste since it was not wrapped in it.

Din Tai Fung has a Chinese banquet feel to it with the decor and the service staff uniform. I wouldn't mind coming back for their hot and sour soup.

Rate:
Original Hot & Sour Soup: 8.5/10 ☺
Steamed Pork Dumplings: 7/10 ☺
Fried Rice with Shrimps & Eggs: 8/10 ☺
Fried Rice with Fried Pork Chop: 7.5/10 ☺
Rice Dumpling with flavored Pork: 5/10 ☺