Raffles City Shopping Centre,
Singapore.
For lunch, we decided on Din Tai Fung for some traditional la mian and xiao long bao. It was our 3rd, or 4th time there, and their xiao long bao is a must-order each time we visit. Just don’t order the shao mai. The last time we did, it looked like a crumpled orange dumpling, which didn’t appeal to the sight, and of course the palate. Lesson learnt, so we settled for our la mian and the standard xlb fare. Joy had the noodles with vegetable pork dumplings while Paul had his with pork dumplings.
Service was quite prompt, since we needn’t flail our arms desperately to get their attention. We were shown the table only 10 minutes after arriving, but were given the menu and checklist to check our items that we wanted to order.
The waiting time for food was short, and we ate the xlb first. As usual, we were extra careful with it as we juggled it with whatever minimal chopstick skills we had, careful not to rip the skin and waste the soupy goodness. Thankfully, we managed to get the little gem nestled on our spoon without much effort. There are steps for eating this, together with the vinegar and ginger slices. I didn’t want those, because I like mine in its unadulterated state. Taking a bite into top part of the bao, we sucked up the meaty broth within. It was so good. The stock was strong, fragrant and extremely appetizing. No prizes for guessing what went next. The whole xlb went down in one swoop.
Paul mentioned something about the xlbs here – he can only stomach so many of them. Maybe 5? Or maximum 6. These beauties are so chockfull of flavor and pack much punch with their tasty pork fillings; it gets overwhelming when he tried eating too much. We had the 6-in-a-basket, so it’s just three each. Just nice to get the best out of the serving, and we wouldn’t overeat.
La mian is the usual standard, with fragrant, clear soup that doesn’t have that noodle smell which I hate, fortunately. Crystal Jade soup noodles have that artificial smell/ taste and I know the noodle is the culprit. The vegetable dumplings are good for those whom love their veggies, as the vegetable smell is quite pungent. The pork dumplings were “springy” and had generous servings of pork housed within each dumpling. We were glad it didn’t disappoint.
We will go back again, but not sure when exactly. No idea about the other food items on the menu too. They looked like standard Chinese restaurant fare, with vegetables, tofu and fried rice. We love the xlb here, and it will make its appearance on our table the next time we visit for sure!
Total bill was $33 (incl. GST & Scv Charge)]
In conclusion,
Food: B
Service: B
Ambience: B-
Value-for-$: B+
Overall grade: B
Apples given:
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