A new branch in Pavilion, Level 6
And since Din Tai Fung has extended a new branch in Pavilion - by far one of the hippest, swankiest and also expensive places to shop - , I was very eager to try it out.
Clean, no-nonsense interiors
Inwardly, I was hoping that it is different from the Din Tai Fung in Gardens. My family's ( not me ) previous experience in Din Tai Fung @ Gardens was very disappointing. And apparently, someone else shared their disappointments too.
And although I've been to Din Tai Fung @ Gardena once, I seriously cannot remember anything about that meal. Maybe, it's just a very mediocre meal. All I could remember was the extremely poor service.
Mediocre soup dumplings
About ten minutes after our order was taken, the soup dumpling chef personally carried the soup dumpling trays out. It was such a pretty sight!
But there was this anticipation: what will the soup dumpling taste like??
To my expectations and my mother's and my sister's, the soup dumplings were just average. Average if one had tried the soup dumplings in JW Marriott's Shanghai Restaurant.
Size wise, The soup dumplings were very small. I had no problem with this. However, there was little or no hint of crab in the dumplings. In each bite, I can only taste pork. Still, it is flavorful from the soup.
Is the vinegar sweetened? Hmm...
What I truly had problem with is not the flavour or the size, but the thickness of the soup dumpling skin and the soup.
The skin of the dumpling is too thick on the top the point that I could not help but feel a little cheated because in the menu, the dumplings boasted of thin, translucent skin.
And the soup is too oily. If it's not for the vinegar and young ginger, I would have not drank the soup, complete or not.
But somehow, I'm glad that there's still half spoon of soup yield from such a small dumpling.
Palatable but not quite there noodles
Dumplings aside, we also had hand-pulled noodles, Zha Jiang styled.
Palatable as the noodles were, they lacked fragrance of fermented beans. Also, the hand pulled noodles or la-mian, were a not as crunchy as we expected them to be.
So, we decided to tweak things up by adding some vinegar to cut through the oiliness - as Kylie Kwong would put it. And to spice things up, a nice teaspoon of chili paste. It immediately became our favorite.
Simple yet very difficult to make
I know it's very cliched to have sweet and sour chicken in Din Tai Fung, but how can one help it if it tastes as appetizing as it looks? With the right amount of batter and crispiness, this dish is a must order!
Bizarre tasting snake beans
I felt that the snake beans tastes very pork-ish and nothing like snake beans. I have a suspicion that the vegetables might be frozen, then thawed and put into the wok. But, it's just a suspicion.
After the meal, we had their homemade barley drink and red bean dessert served with black sesame filled glutinous rice balls. While the barley drink leaves my throat refreshed, the red bean dessert was a complete disaster. The glutinous rice balls had very little black sesame, that I can forgive. Worst, they actually grind the mandarin peel together with the red bean paste, leaving the dessert a complete tart!
Little things:
-Portions: Small
-Service: Prompt. Staff is very friendly and attentive
-Budget: Reasonable, if you don't mind small portions
-Non-halal
-Parking: Spend RM 100 above in Pavilion to get two hours free parking or else, be prepared!
-Webpage (Click here for English, Click here for Chinese), Location (Click here)
-Branches: There is another branch at Gardens, Mid Valley KL.
-Other reviews: Gnostec, Jean
