@kimbapgall's Review of Din Tai Fung - New York

Can you imagine making 10,000 dumplings a day? Because that's exactly what happens here at Dintai Fung. The first ever in the East Coast and the largest Dintai Fung in the world just opened up in New York City and we finally got the chance to visit it. Dintai Fung is one of those places where it always hits the spot, a perfect 8 out of 10 every single time no matter which location you go to. If you don't know what DTF is, they're famous for the Xiaolongbaos, which are soup dumplings, but all of their dishes are just as decadent. Today we opted for the baby back ribs, the string beans with garlic, the xiaomai with mushroom and sticky rice, as well as the chicken fried rice, the sesame noodles, and the spicy wontons, and of course the pork xiaolong bao. And for dessert, we got the chocolate xiaolong baos with a side of sea salt, which was honestly a crazy experience. Reservations are open on resi a month ahead of time, but today there was a lot of open seating left, so I would highly recommend checking them out. Now while you can i guess anywho onto the food personally my favorite dish was the baby back ribs it was so sweet and so savory all at once so sweet the meat was a little bit more tender but honestly 9 out of 10 perfection i also often hate spending a lot of money on pointless appetizers but for some reason the string beans with garlic is an absolute must moving on we have the pork shaolongbao which is obviously the star of the show. That's something you don't want to skip out on if you're going to Din Tai Fung. Other options if you're not a pork lover are the crab and pork shaolong gaos, as well as the chicken version, which are equally as great. And I would also highly recommend getting the spicy wontons because that is another Din Tai Fung classic. The craziest part is that all of these dumplings are handmade in-house each day by your dumpling artisan. They train for almost two years to perfect the craft of dumpling making. Let me know if there's a correct term for that. You can really taste the freshness and the true love that goes into making each and every single one of these. And if you're new to the whole experience, there's also a little card that helps you make the perfect sauce to pair with your soup dumplings. Back to the food, sesame noodles were a pass. It felt a little flat, but... to each their own you know spicy wontons i definitely recommend i love anything spicy and the texture of the wonton was great and the spicy sauce that it comes in you can put on top of your fried rice on top of your xiaomai all of that good stuff so definitely get those but the true moment that we've all been waiting for the chocolate shaolong baos let me tell you i've never had anything like this before i didn't know what to expect but it was crazy it really is a soup dumpling but instead of soup you have chocolate and it really just oozes gushes right out of there you have to get the side of seafoam separately and i would definitely recommend paying the extra few dollars to do that the sea salt and like that seafoam balances out the richness and the sweetness of the chocolate from the shaolongbao perfectly the overall experience This experience is really amazing. I had a wonderful time with my friends. I don't know if I would do it again just because I've done it before, but it's so exciting to see that Dindaifeng has reached the east coast and this is a perfect restaurant with a large group of friends or even just for an intimate date with your loved one or a bestie.