The menu displayed a few variations on the xiao long bao. After getting our fresh watermelon juice, we made a selection of four varieties to sample. Each of the steamers were lined with a sort of little cloth tea towel to prevent the dumpling skin from sticking to the bamboo and breaking, releasing all of its precious soup. Finely sliced ginger was served in a little tower to add to the dipping vinegar to taste.
First sampled was the chicken xiao long bao. They were not as pretty as the pork xiao long bao, which arrived at the same time. Usually, when I eat my xiao long bao, I prefer to bite the top off and suck the soup out before consuming the rest of the dumpling. The soup did carry a strong chicken flavor and the dumpling alone was just a ball of ordinary chicken. The chicken xiao long bao seemed better suited for eating whole to allow the chicken broth to burst in your mouth.
The pork xiao long bao was absolutely gorgeous with is delicate 18 folds. The wrapper is super thin and translucent enough that you can see the soup floating inside. The broth tasted very much like pork without the extra salty flavor that you would find from other cheap canteens in Shanghai. The filling was also luscious and meaty.
As mentioned before, the crab xiao long bao was avoided until later in the meal as one holds off on sipping a bold red before going back to a light white wine. The crab filling was not as impressive as the one from Jia Jia Tang Bao, but the Shanghainese hairy crab is also not so much in season. It lacked the abundance of roe and the meat tasted slightly gritty (also characteristic of the Shanghai hairy crab), almost to the point that one would believe there were small pieces of soft shell in it. However, there was no shell as there was no definite crunch, but the texture was a bit more rough rolling around in your mouth.
To round off the xiao long bao sampler, at 78 RMB for a steamer is the black truffle variety. In this case, the black truffle and pork was sampled. As "truffle" is a version of "mushroom," this dumpling seemed to be more "mushroom" than "truffle." The broth was savory and meaty with an added layer of complexity from the mushroom. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the truffle was layered on top of the pork filling instead of integrated together as a consistent filling, as were its preceding counterparts. Perhaps during the steaming process, the truffle flavor was able to permeate the soup emitted from the pork filling. The black truffle and pork xiao long bao is a fresh variation on the original.
Since the brunch was entirely based on xiao long bao, vegetables were ordered to balance out the meat-loaded part of the meal. Nothing too outstanding, but did give a better nutrition value to the brunch. The spicy wonton dumplings also ordered were a bit too sweet, probably better suited for Shanghainese rather than Taiwanese tastes.
To top off the meal were the peach red bean paste buns. The outside of the steamed buns looked like a white peach with a blush of pink, but tasted nothing like a peach. The bun was flavorless and was only a vessel for the smooth and subtly sweet red bean paste inside.
The experience at Din Tai Fung was highly enjoyable and the service was so impeccable a patron would feel that for once they were given proper care at a restaurant. The servers were eager to help when asked and stayed out of the way as much as possible. At the end of the meal, we were asked to fill out a suggestion card and the server wanted to know precisely what could be improved to better the food in an extremely interested and polite way.
The xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung was very good, but it was hard to order knowing that you are paying around 15rmb per xiao long bao when you can find it cheaper. If it is a battle between Jia Jia Tang Bao and Din Tai Fung, Jia Jia Tang Bao is more for your money as you rub elbows with local Chinese waiting in line.
Din Tai Fung. 1/F, Shanghai Center, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Xikang Lu 南京西路1376号上海商城1楼, 近西康路. Shanghai, People's Republic of China (other locations in Shanghai / worldwide). www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/
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