Xiao Long Pao is King at Din Tai Fung

Regular visitors of my blog can say how much I love this particular dimsum called Xiao Long Pao. I love how each piece was carefully crafted to keep the delicious soup intact and the meat flavorful and tender. It's always a delight to carefully take a small bite, slurp the soup and pour in a few drops of special Xiao Long Pao vinegar before popping the entire thing into your mouth.

On our second day in beautiful Singapore, we met up with Paul's cousin J for dinner and I'm so glad we went with my request to dine at Din Tai Fung. For those who are not aware, Din Tai Fung is really known for their Xiao Long Pao as repeatedly told to me by my mom, aunt and friends. My aunt loved it so much that she even thought of bringing Din Tai Fung to Manila (now I wonder what ever happened to that negotiation). Din Tai Fung has various branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, in Taiwan where it originated and a lot more!

J regularly dines at Din Tai Fung and so we left the ordering to him. I trust J's taste and my stomach continues to rumble as we patiently wait for our number to be called. It was a weekday and the place was packed! Thus the need to get a number and to join the growing crowd outside the restaurant who are also waiting for their turn to be seated.

Just as Singaporeans are very efficient, our number was called in less than 10 minutes. To save time, J has already submitted our order as he quickly ticked off a couple of must-orders from the list.

Of course, we were there for their Xiao Long Pao ($9) and J ordered two orders of this for the three of us to share. Each order has 10 piping hot Xiao Long Paos. With our chopsticks and soup ladle we carefully picked up our first xiao long pao and took our first bite. Mommy was right, nothing beats Din Tai Fung's Xiao Long Pao.

Xiao Long Pao masters at work
It's amazing how delicious they can make it to be with just the right amount of soup and still we noticed that the wrapper was strong enough that even if we held up our Xiao Long Pao for a considerable amount of time, it still doesn't break. Amazing! I'm glad J got two orders because one will definitely be not enough for us.

To complement our dimsum, we got the Porkchop Rice ($9). I love fried rice and this was definitely a great choice. One order is actually good for three provided you're ordering other dishes. I love how delicious the fried rice was and the porkchop was crunchy on the outside and tender in every bite.

Lastly, we got a small order of Stir-Fried Veggies ($8) to share. After filling up our carb and protein quota for the data, it was just right to indulge in a few leafy goodness before ending this wonderful meal.

It really takes a regular Din Tai Fung patron to perfectly estimate how much to order. For first timers, be sure to survey your neighboring tables to see the size of each serving so as not to over order. How I wish Din Tai Fung can finally make its way to Manila. Nonetheless I wouldn't mind flying off to Hong Kong or Singapore to taste their wonderful Xiao Long Paos again.

Click here to visit the official web site of Din Tai Fung. Din Tai Fung has 8 branches in Singapore.