I’m sure you’ve seen so many TikToks of people reviewing what they got at Din Tai Fung, but I’m going to go into more detail about my overall experience and review what my friend and I ordered.
Address: 400 S Baldwin Ave Unit M5 Arcadia, CA 91007 (Located in the Santa Anita Mall)
Expense: $6.50 – $28 (this range includes dessert, but does not include drinks)
Here is what my friend and I ordered, and how I liked it:
For starters, we got the Seaweed & Beancurd in Vinegar Dressing. They ran out of the cucumber salad and recommended this dish. I was bummed that they ran out of the cucumber salad, but this alternative was still good. If you don’t like seaweed or beancurd, I don’t recommend this dish. I personally thought it was good, but I don’t think it’s something “crave-able” if that makes sense. (unless you love seaweed or beancurd) I’d rate this dish a 3.5/5.
For one of our entrees, we ordered the Noodles with Minced Kurobuta Pork Sauce. My friend recommended this and it was pretty good! This was a different taste for me because I don’t order many noodles orders when I go out, but I liked it. I recommend ordering this and if you like chili or something spicy, it tastes even better if you mix it with the house spicy sauce from the pork wontons I’m going to talk about below. But overall rating for this dish: 4/5, I think it’s good on its own but better with chili.
The next order we got was the Shrimp & Kurobuta Pork Wontons with House Spicy Sauce. This one is my personal favorite. Everything about this was so good. I don’t have anything else to say other than order it. 5/5.
For the last entree, we ordered what you’re supposed to come here for… the Kurobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao. Like you can’t come here and not get them. But the Xiao Long Baos from here is great! I mean it’s nothing eye-opening or special about them. My go-to spots for Xiao Long Baos are Mama Lu’s Dumpling House or P P Pop, and you can get the same thing for less of a wait. But overall, I’d rate the Xiao Long Bao a 5/5.
For dessert, we tried the Chocolate & Mochi Xiao Long Bao. It sounded interesting to us, so we decided to give it a shot. Overall, it wasn’t bad. It was a little weird to me at first because it looks like a regular Xiao Long Bao, but when you bite into it, there’s chocolate and mochi inside. It’s just one of those things where you think it’s going to taste like something else, but it tastes different. After getting used to it, I actually liked it. I’d rate it a 4/5.
Overall, I liked Din Tai Fung. Although it was kind of pricey and the wait is so long, I would definitely come back to see how my boyfriend would like this place and to try other dishes (specifically the dessert baos). If you don’t want to wait or pay for cheaper dishes, I recommend checking out the restaurants I mentioned before: Mama Lu’s Dumpling House or P P Pop. (Review coming soon)
TIP: JOIN THEIR WAITLIST IF U CAN, my friend and I went around 6-ish thinking the wait won’t be long for 2 people but NOPE, waited about 2 hours to get seated 🥲
