We are always on the hunt for the best Xiao Long Bao (XLB), Shanghainese soup dumplings. Much like pizza, everyone has an opinion on the best XLBoutside of Sydeney. When we were going to Sydney we heard that it had a phenomenal regional Chinese food scene, with many amazing XLB options. One of the names that rose to the top on our searches was Din Tai Fung. Din Tai Fung is a chain from Taiwan that has dozens of locations globally, including Asia, Europe, the US and Australia. Despite our best efforts, we did not make it to Din Tai Fung when we visited LA so were very excited to try it in Sydney. There are 10 locations across Sydney and Melbourne, and we ended up visiting a location near the popular center city wharfs, in the Gateway Food Court (Shop G20-G21 Gateway, 1 Macquarie Place, Sydney).
Other locations of Din Tai Fung in Sydeny are proper restaurants, but we went for convenience of location. The Gateway food court is huge, and definitely more upscale than the name may imply. We saw lots of tasty-looking restaurant options as we wound our way to the back and found Din Tai Fung, a somewhat understated wooden kiosk. The array of menu options at this location of Din Tai Fung were somewhat overwhelming: appetizers, many dumpling permutations, soups, more substantial mains, fried rice and even desserts. Naturally, we we were there for the XLB. To order at this location (and perhaps others), you mark on a sheet of paper what you would like to order, pay at the counter, get a buzzer, and the order is soon delivered to your table. In a city as expensive as Sydney, the XLB is a relatively good deal: 4 dumplings in a steamer basket for $6 AUD. We placed our order and grabbed the buzzer, and within a few minutes our order was ready.
The moment of truth arrived: and the dumplings were amazing! The key to the best XLB are a thin skin and a savory broth. On both counts, the Din Tai Fung XLB delivered, the dumpling skin was very thin and not doughy or chewy, with a rich, savory pork meatball and a generous amount of soup both filling. We liked them so much that we had to order twice as much as we initially thought. In XLB the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and Din Tai Fung excelled. Yes, these were the best XLB we ever had. The excellence of the XLB made us so curious to try versions in China, and may have ruined XLB for us in America altogether. Plus, can you beat this mascot?
Eating The World 