Dumplings @ Dingtaifeng 鼎泰丰

In Taipei Taiwan, Dingtaifeng (鼎泰丰) is one of the highly regarded restaurants famous for their dianxin (点心), especially their dumplings (小龙包). Queues start at their Taipei restaurants early in the morning and you have to wait in line to enjoy a meal there, especially in their flagship store. I remember the dumplings fondly as one of the best I have ever taken. However, their ventures overseas have not been as successful. The main reason as I see it, is the towering reputation that puts huge expectation on the local chef to deliver the goods.

This is not the first Dingtaifeng restaurant I have visited in China and the previous branches I have visited in Shenzhen were hugely disappointing. The signature dumpling dish (小龙包) was badly made and soggy and the rest of the food after that was a downhill ride with no end. Dingtaifeng opened in a new shopping mall, the Yitian Holiday Plaza in Overseas Chinese Town late last year and I assumed it would be another in a line of mediocre jokes dragging down an illustrious name.

As I was dining alone, I ordered simply. The main event was a pleasant surprise. Instead of expecting to see soggy dumplings that were over done so that the dumpling skin was falling to pieces, the dumplings came freshly done and cooked to perfection. The way to enjoy the dumplings is to pick it up while it is piping hot with your chopsticks, then bite a small hole in the skin and suck out the soup stock from the dumpling insides. And having enjoyed the first sip of the dumpling, proceed to eat the rest of the dumpling. Unlike previous experiences with Dingtaifeng in China, the soup stock was sweet and fragrant and the pork filling was fresh and not overly done. The dumpling skin too had the signature elasticity that the Taipei flagship restaurant served. This is excellent and as close as you can get to the Taipei food experience. Bear in mind, my memory of the Dingtaifeng Taipei experience and taste might be a little cloudy as I was last in Taipei Dingtaifeng four years ago.



I also ordered their spicy dumplings in chilli oil (红油抄手). Like the xiaolongbao (小龙包) earlier, the spicy dumplings were well done. They have also added a single shelled shrimp to the fillings for each dumpling and the shrimp was fresh and sweet as well. At the same time, the spicy chilli oil sauce was more fragrant than spicy, allowing you to enjoy the taste of the dumpling and the fillings without having your tastebuds overpowered by chilli.



To top off my meal, I had the stewed pork on rice (卤肉饭). This was, in my opinion, unremarkable. But the amazing thing is that because it is unremarkable, it tasted just right to finish up the meal. The stewed pork was mixed with pickled raddish and the total taste is not overpowering but made the rice more interesting.



In all, this was a surprise. After suffering through a number of mediocre restaurants in China bearing the Dingtaifeng name, having a restaurant with the food served finally worthy of the name is a pleasant surprise. I would highly recommend trying this branch.

The address:
Dingtaifeng, Basement Two, Yitian Holiday Plaza, Shennan Road outside Overseas Chinese Town, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 鼎泰丰 深圳南山深南路华侨城益田假日广场负二楼
Google Map Directions