We did not have to queue for long as by the time we left office and reach Bishan, it was past the peak dinner time. Also, today being a monday, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to secure a seat at most restaurants.
While waiting for my food, I snapped a pic of the cutlery on the table. I was half expecting the waitress to come over and stop me from doing so but no one did. Looks like they have relaxed the rule that no photography is allowed in their restaturant. With food blogging gaining such popularity, it is a good thing that they allow photography as it would probably be a tedious task to stop all the avid food bloggers from snapping before they tuck into their food.
My cols prob know me too well by now and most food would have to be "documented" by me before they can eat! LOL.. Actually I was really not intending to take photo of all the food as my main aim was to catch up with them as we have not been out to dinner together for a long while. Since the food was placed right in front of me, I obliged in quickly snapping and passing it back to the hungry owners.
The first bowl placed before me was the Noodles with Minced Pork in Bean Sauce, 炸酱面 ($7). Looks yummy but portion seems little. :o
The next bowl was Dan Dan Mian, 担担面($6.30). It is basically dry noodle served in peanut sauce if I am not wrong. Looks good too but it is something that may not satisfy my quest for variety :P
We got something to share too. This is the Golden Crispy Prawn Cake 酥脆腐皮虾饼 ($8.50). For the pricing, it is considered a little expensive but is definitely highly recommended. :)
This was what I ordered for dinner. Glass Noodles with Fried Beancurd and Wanton 油豆腐粉 ($7.80).
Other than the usual handmade noodle 拉面, this is the other kind of noodle that they offer. I find this much lighter than the handmade noodles and it suits me perfectly since I was not really that hungry. Just wanted something to fill the stomach and "thaw" the fingers :P
Closed up of how thinly they sliced the wanton. I am still pretty amazed at how they cut the wanton and how the meat stayed intact given the thinness of the wanton skin.
Being too occupied with my meal, I forgot to snap a pic of the famous Xiao Long Bao 小笼包 ($8.80 for 10 pieces), a must have when you eat at Din Tai Fung. This dumpling in the picture is a actually a "make-up" dumpling as one of them in the original basket was broken, that is, the skin of the dumpling broke and the soup in the dumpling has seeped out. Xiao Long Bao without the soup is not Xiao Long Bao and it was very nice of them to give us another piece to make up for it. :)
2 of my cols ordered the Fried Ricewith Egg 蛋抄饭 ($6.50), seen in the top left hand corner. Each grain of rice is nicely coated with egg which gives it the golden colour. No individual shot of it as it was the last to arrive and i guess they cant wait to tuck into their food :)
Actually we had wanted to order another basket of Xiao Long Bao but opted for something different after looking through the menu. One of them wanted to try the Yam Dumplings 芋泥小包 ($7.80 for 10 pieces)and since no one objected, we ordered a basket of 10.
This is my first time trying it too and was pleasantly surprise at how much yam fillings was packed into the very small dumpling. You would expect that the yam paste will be very sweet but that is not the case here. The yam was very finely mashed and wrapped in the thin dumpling skin. It is very 绵密, that is, dense like a cotton hence eating it while it is still hot is definitely a good idea. :P
We got this basket of Fragant Peanut Dumpling 雪圆 FOC. This is a mother's day promotion that the restaurant has with DBS/POSB Credit/Debit Card. With a minimum purchase of $50, you get a complimentary basket of 6 pieces of peanut dumplings worth $6.80. One of the dumplings in the photo above has already gone into the stomach of my friend! :P I had to hold the rest in order to take this shot. I think the size of the dumplings just makes you want to pick one up and pop into your mouth! :)
Close up of the my dumpling. The white flaky thing is actually desiccated coconut.
Cross-section of the Fragant Peanut Dumpling. Thumbs up! Soft and melt in your mouth mochi, crunchy and fragant peanuts and desiccated coconut. All the wonderful goodness packed in one mouthful! YUM! :)
The service and food standards of Din Tai Fung restaurants have always been excellent.The only downside is that the restaurant do not accept reservation. You will need to get your queue number at the counter. This explains why there are always hordes of people waiting outside the restaurant during meal times. In order to get your fill of the Xiao Long Bao, do be prepared to wait :)
Din Tai Fung
Bishan Junction 8
9 Bishan Place #01-41
Junction 8 Shopping Center
Singapore 579837
Tel: 6356 52
www.dintaifung.com.sg
