Din Tai Fung: Noodles, Soup Dumplings, Wontons, and Mango Pudding at a Michelin Award-Winning Taiwanese Restaurant

Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐

Taiwan's Most Famous Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand

This week, I had an amazing bowl of noodles topped with shrimp and pork dumplings and covered in a spicy Chinese sauce and fresh green onions at Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), a Michelin award-winning restaurant from Taiwan that has opened a branch in Bangkok, Thailand. I'd love to visit the flagship restaurant in Taipei someday, but for now, I can get a taste of Taiwan right here in Bangkok.

Renowned across the world for their xiaolongbao, or "soup dumplings", Din Tai Fung also serves an expansive menu of traditional Taiwanese dishes.

spicy Taiwanese-style noodles with pork and seafood dumplings

I started by ordering a bowl of spicy noodles with dumplings. Deliciously soft and chewy thin-pulled noodles were covered with a spicy Szechuan sauce and topped with toothsome and filling pork and shrimp-stuffed wontons. The dish was served with a sprinkling of finely chopped spring onions.

Each bite was bursting with flavor. While the meaty wontons were my favorite part, the noodles were some of the best I've ever had, rivaling even the very special hand-pulled noodles ad David's in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

delicious pork and seafood dumplings with spicy sauce at Din Tai Fung

Every good Chinese meal typically begins with some sort of soup, and I ordered my longtime favorites: hot and sour soup.

It was spicy and tangy - a perfect balance of both in my opinions, and stuffed full of shredded egg, chopped onion, chili oil, black pepper, and other flavorful ingredients. I enjoyed my starters along with a can of Singha beer while I waited for my meal to arrive.

a bowl of hot and sour soup at Din Tai Fung in Bangkok, Thailand

After the soup, I had a serving of sliced duck in crispy spring onion pastries, which turned out to be sort of a bite-sized version of Peking Duck, one of my all-time favorite dishes.

Each little crispy fried pocket was stuffed full of succulent duck meat, spring onions, and other Chinese aromatics. They were piping hot, and each one burst with flavor in the mouth. They were served with a sweet chili dipping sauce, but honestly, I didn't find the sauce necessary. They had enough flavor on their own to impress me!

sliced duck in crispy spring onion pastries at Din Tai Fung

Finally, the main course arrived. Xiaolongbao, or "soup dumplings", are an iconic dish originating from the coast of Eastern China. The dumplings are a true culinary marvel, delicately crafted to hold a savory burst of soup alongside a bite of minced pork meat within their thin, translucent wrappers.

xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings, by Din Tai Fung

To properly eat a Xiaolongbao, you should carefully pick the dumping up with your chopsticks, place it on your spoon, gently puncture the wrapper so that the soup pools in your spoon, and then sip the broth. After the soup is drained, you may then enjoy the dumpling in its entirety.

Each bite offers a perfect balance of texture and taste. The tender, filling, and warm broth and the delicate dumpling wrapper harmonize into a little parcel which has gained global fame.

Taiwanese-style xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung are filled with soup broth

For dessert, I ordered Din Tai Fung's famous mango pudding. The sweet cool dessert was a creamy, rich pudding filled with chunks of soft, fresh mango and topped with a creamy custard and a sprig of mint. It was a rich and delectable way to finish the meal.

Din Tai Fung's famous mango pudding

Location

Din Tai Fung has a few branches in Bangkok and several throughout the world, but the one that I visited was at Level 1, 1691 Phahonyothin Rd, Khwaeng Chatuchak, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900. It's conveniently located not too far away from where I live.

the dumplings are all made by hand at Din Tai Fung (Central Lat Phrao, Bangkok, Thailand)