Din Tai Fung @ The Gardens

For once, my title is not so strange. After all the crabbing, there is no crabs in this post. I cannot guarantee if there are crabs in the next :)

Well, this is a work lunch post that was done some time before the 11th of May 2008 BUT only uploaded now. Yeah, work is busy recently by the time i reach home. I just want to koon. Plus I have been heading to the gym more often, it leaves less blogging time than i normally have.

My regular lunch partner FF and i decided on Friday, we need to buy food for our hunts. So, the nearest and closet place is Midvalley for us. Yes, BV 2 is near but parking is hell there! Besides, we wanted to experience other food. FF is one of those lunch partners that thankfully eat healthy. *PHEW* means no chee yuk fun etc with her or items dripped in oil. Which is good for me as, with all the stress we have, should not load up more with extra calories.

Before we hit midvalley, we already started the usual "EAT what ah?" sentence. Her usual reply - "Dunno lah, we see how lah".... I just hopped it was not paddingtons again - LOL..... Luckily for us, we decided to park in the gardens, and when we hit the lower area near cold storage, my eye saw - DIN TAI FUNG. So i suggested we try and after skimping the menu - the dumpling noodles got us going, we were in. And boy were we lucky. No sooner we sat down, the crowd arrived.

I heard this place originates from Taiwan and has places all over the world and hey, it is even in wikipedia man. By the way, it is a top 10 ranked restaurant in the new york times. Now is that good or what.

Once we placed our orders, ( we share normally - so we can eat, i mean try more stuff ), they brought our appetizers.. Oooh - we heart this. There is glass noodles, chilli, a bit sourish with tofu.... goodness me, we likes. Whets the appetite even more.

My new favourite Xiu Long Bao - came next, 3 for each of us. This is excellent XLB. The skin, thin. The broth - subtle and the taste - exquisite. Move over Shanghai 10. When you live this little gems up, it can sustain itself without breaking. This is a work of art by itself. By the way, the ginger strips + a bit of vinegar tastes even better.

Our shared Dumpling La Mian with Kau Choy Fah. I dunno why i like this veggie, it stinks actually but to me the taste is quite good. I must say the La Mian texture here is very good. Springy without being hard and smooth to the taste. It is much better than the on i had at dragon i. I think Lil Bro' will like this, he is a die hard noodle fan and must bring him over to this place. Although this looks like a small bowl, turns out to be quite a lot for the two of us.


The piece de resistance , taufu. Yup, this 4 babies, fried lightly covered with seaweed was divine!! :) I love the taste of the taufu. I BET you they put some stock in the taufu. Words cannot describe the taste, except that it melts in your mouth ... sighz.... I ate all the chinese spinach at the bottom but passed on the mushroom. Some how that gives me indigestion.

Price wise, it was not that bad, for good food like this. I will come again, hopefully not when we want to buy food to eat for hunts :P. Btw, they have branches all over the world. Check it out if you are not from Malaysia - click me

Nippon aru yo.... :)


Lot LG-207, Lower Ground Floor,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200, Kuala Lumpur
TEL:60-3-2283-2362