Din Tai Fung

As soon as this place opened, my Facebook Newsfeed was invaded by posts about this Taiwanese restaurant. I know I'm a little late to the game (we did eat there before Xmas, I'm just late with the post), but better late than never. If you've never had xiao long bao (steamed soup pork dumplings), then you've never lived. Honestly one of the most unique dishes I've ever had and when done right amazing. However 99 out of 100 places eff it up.

We waited in line on a Thursday afternoon for 45 minutes to get into the place. While waiting we could see in the window to see the workers in action. Wait a second, they don't look Chinese?!

The place was setup like an assembly line, but I guess when you make people stand in line for an hour, they better get their food fast.

Let's be honest, skip everything that isn't a steamed dumpling. The rest of the food was OK at best and really just filler and a great way for Din Tai Fung to run up your bill because the food is not cheap.

These were decent and came out steamed and hot. They were more like potstickers and not the famous xiao long bao.

Here they are, the little sacs of deliciousness. What makes these dumplings so amazing and unique are the insides.

The inside of the dumpling is filled with pork, shrimp and hot soup. Seriously when you bite into them you better be holding them in a soup spoon because the soup will gush out. The first time I ever had these was when I was traveling for work to New York and someone took me to an authentic restaurant in Chinatown. Best thing ever and was probably the meal that opened my eyes to enjoying local cuisines whenever I travel. Three years later, I still hadn't found anything that compared, until now.

Still being hungry we ordered their fried pork chops. Again, decent, but not worth the price.

I made sure to tear every last bit of meat off of those pork chops. For those of you who haven't eaten with me in person, this is a common occurrence, I'm not afraid to get my hands a little greasy.

Thanks Pert and Calvin for legitimizing my Chinese meal by being Chinese and by being there.

For next time, if I go back I'm going to do a few things differently, first I'll only order one order at a time, they are only good when they are piping hot, otherwise the dumpling skin hardens a little and the soup isn't as flavorful. Second I won't waste my time with any of the other food, I'll just order the dumplings. Third, I might want to eat a little before or after because I'm not about to spend $50 on dumplings alone...

Great flavor and a unique dish that if you've never tried before, make sure to get out to Lincoln Square in Bellevue to try this culinary treat.

- Kyle