There's no shortage of Din Tai Fung articles on this blog (Taipei original Sydney London Hong Kong Orange County Bellevue Arcadia Shanghai Beijing). Still, I thought it would be a good idea to give a brief update of our experience dining at Din Tai Fung in Taipei in 2024.
First, the original Xinyi location is no longer seating customers. It is purely a take-out business. You can walk up and order and pick up takeaway, but there is no seating. They recommend everyone go to the Xinsheng location, which is about a 10 minute walk away from the old location.
The new location is also multiple floors (similar to the old location), but it has an elevator and is much more disability friendly. The old one had these tights staircases that you would have to walk up.
The menu is pretty much the same. Of course, the menu in Taiwan has several extra dishes that we can't get in Hong Kong, such as certain local seasonal vegetables, such as stir fried fiddlehead-like greens (see above) or fresh bamboo shoots with mayo.
In general, the prices are also significantly lower than what we pay in Hong Kong. Ah, Taiwan is such a good deal!
One of my relatives is gluten-sensitive, so Din Tai Fung was able to make a version of their Beef Noodle Soup with rice vermicelli instead. He loved it.
Swag!
And the super cute SWAG! I couldn't resist, I bought the mug on the left. My nephew got the plushie dumpling guy. I might have to go back and get the plushie dumpling sometime. Gah, why is everything so cute??
But What About the Lines?
All in all, we were extremely impressed with the efficiency of Din Tai Fung's entire operations. Yes, the lines are long, but the restaurant does a fantastic job of managing it all. Be prepared to wait 1-2 hours depending on the time of day. If possible, plan ahead.
We were lucky. Our uncle and aunt live really close to the restaurant. So . . . they stopped by about an hour before our planned lunch to grab a ticket, and then told us when to show up.
If you don't have a relative that lives next to the restaurant? No worries! One time I grabbed a ticket at 11AM and then we went to the nearby Dongmen Market (which is awesome) to explore until our table was ready. Dongmen Market has a dizzying array of fresh local Taiwanese vegetables, fruits, and all sorts of other fun things. I actually love wandering it, even if I am not waiting for dumplings!
Although you can't grab a ticket online, you can monitor the progress of your ticket on the Din Tai Fung app. You can also check out wait times at all of their locations throughout Taiwan, which is quite handy.
It's crazy, but I went to Taiwan four times in the past year and a half. Perhaps not a surprise, but I made sure to eat at Din Tai Fung (usually this Xisheng location) every single trip. I love it. I guess dumplings is comfort food for me, and I think Din Tai Fung makes one of the best and most consistent dumplings in the world.
Din Tai Fung Xisheng Branch
No. 277, Section 2, Xinyi Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100
