It’s difficult to imagine a more humble start for what is today a Taiwanese food behemoth, just it all began in the early 1970s as a part-cooking-oil-retailer-part-restaurant. Din Tai Fung is now available in over 170 countries. And if you visit one of its restaurants in Dubai, you’ll see filled dining halls, occasional lineups, and dumpling aficionados eating the brand’s trademarks steamed bun, the xiaolongbao.
The newest DTF outlet is a new legal establishment in Bluewaters Dubai for people who enjoy their baos with a side of beer. On the night of our reservation, we made a beeline for The Wharf, which is situated next to Ain Dubai, and ascended the elevator to the first level, where we found it packed with diners preparing to start their weekend.
We were given two menus, one for food and one for drinks, after we were seated. We selected Tai (Dhs75), a powerful cocktail with sake, pink dragon fruit, and a lemon slice coated with glitter, and Fung (Dhs75), a fruit drink with créme de violette-liqueur, blueberries, lemon, and strawberry puree.
Although we’re familiar with the dinner menu, there’s so much tempting dishes that we spent a lot of time narrowing down our order (made slightly simpler by the mark sheet).
The wok-fried lobster with almond brittle (Dhs235) was the first course of the night at Din Tai Fung, which is famed for its dumplings. The lobster, created just for the Din Tai Fung Bluewaters location, is beautifully prepared and crispy, and topped with a little sweet almond brittle to balance off the fiery undertones. It is a take in of shape and flavour that seafood lovers should not pass up.
After being more unhappy by the palate power of the black truffle egg fried rice (Dhs85), we made a mental note to try the noodles next time. If we were to leave you with one bit of suggest it would be to eat your meals while they’re still hot to get the most out of the amazing flavours.
For dessert, we were told to try the chocolate xiaolongbao (Dhs34) with Nutella and Hershey’s. And that was indeed a sinful joy of gooey chocolate. A fitting conclusion to bao out on.
What’s On Verdict: A fantastic consuming experience with extra perks means we’re even more excited about Fung.
