Tri-City: Din Ding Dumpling House
My family tried to go to Din Ding Dumpling House with a family friend once, but the wait was so long that we gave up and went elsewhere. Intrigued, my mother, sister, and I tried again by ourselves. This time, the wait wasn't as bad:
It was still packed inside though:
We couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about.
The meal started off with a complimentary cold cucumber and peanut dish:
Not bad, but nothing spectacular either.
We ordered the green bean cold vermicelli with spicy sauce ($4.95), which is one of my sister's favorite dishes:
But it completely fell flat. Despite the chili oil, the green bean jelly itself was extremely bland.
The zhajiang noodle ($9.95) wasn't that much better:
The noodles were a bit on the mushy side.
Even the shrimp and pork wonton with spicy sauce ($7.50), another favorite of ours, was completely lackluster:
The pork xiaolongbao ($8.50) was decent, however:
What really saved the meal was the deep fried rice cake with red bean filling ($4.95):
The mochi outside was both crispy and chewy. My two favorite food textures combined into one magical dessert.
We left the restaurant utterly disappointed and also utterly confused. We couldn't comprehend why there was such a demand for such bland food.
A sucker for punishment, I went back to Din Ding with SY just this month. Now that she works in Fremont, it's easier to meet up in the South Bay after work. She had a tooth removal procedure scheduled for the next day, so she joked that this would be her last supper.
Honestly, I forgot how unimpressed by Din Ding I was before. When we decided to meet there, all I could remember was how much I loved the fried rice cake.
It didn't take very long for everything to come back to me though.
The complimentary cold dish was a shredded potato one this time around:
As a testament to how bad my memory is, we ordered the green bean jelly again. And once again, it was completely flavorless.
We also got the cold sesame noodles ($9.50):
Not quite as bad as the green bean jelly, but my father makes better sesame sauce by far.
SY typically doesn't eat red meat, but she makes an exception for dumplings. We got the shrimp and pork dumplings ($8.50):
One of the better things on the menu, but still not as good as the fried rice cakes. Even SY agreed. We would both go back to Din Ding for the fried rice cakes alone.
Definitely not for the complimentary dessert though:
This mango/peach (?) jello was horrendous. It tasted like scented water. Blech.
I gave Din Ding a fair shot. I went twice and left both times with the same impression. The food, meh. But the fried rice cakes? Amazing.
Would I go back? Actually, yes, I would. The fried rice cakes are just that good.
Din Ding Dumpling House
3213 Walnut Ave
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 797-8122
It was still packed inside though:
We couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about.
The meal started off with a complimentary cold cucumber and peanut dish:
Not bad, but nothing spectacular either.
We ordered the green bean cold vermicelli with spicy sauce ($4.95), which is one of my sister's favorite dishes:
But it completely fell flat. Despite the chili oil, the green bean jelly itself was extremely bland.
The zhajiang noodle ($9.95) wasn't that much better:
The noodles were a bit on the mushy side.
Even the shrimp and pork wonton with spicy sauce ($7.50), another favorite of ours, was completely lackluster:
The pork xiaolongbao ($8.50) was decent, however:
What really saved the meal was the deep fried rice cake with red bean filling ($4.95):
The mochi outside was both crispy and chewy. My two favorite food textures combined into one magical dessert.
We left the restaurant utterly disappointed and also utterly confused. We couldn't comprehend why there was such a demand for such bland food.
A sucker for punishment, I went back to Din Ding with SY just this month. Now that she works in Fremont, it's easier to meet up in the South Bay after work. She had a tooth removal procedure scheduled for the next day, so she joked that this would be her last supper.
Honestly, I forgot how unimpressed by Din Ding I was before. When we decided to meet there, all I could remember was how much I loved the fried rice cake.
It didn't take very long for everything to come back to me though.
The complimentary cold dish was a shredded potato one this time around:
As a testament to how bad my memory is, we ordered the green bean jelly again. And once again, it was completely flavorless.
We also got the cold sesame noodles ($9.50):
Not quite as bad as the green bean jelly, but my father makes better sesame sauce by far.
SY typically doesn't eat red meat, but she makes an exception for dumplings. We got the shrimp and pork dumplings ($8.50):
One of the better things on the menu, but still not as good as the fried rice cakes. Even SY agreed. We would both go back to Din Ding for the fried rice cakes alone.
Definitely not for the complimentary dessert though:
This mango/peach (?) jello was horrendous. It tasted like scented water. Blech.
I gave Din Ding a fair shot. I went twice and left both times with the same impression. The food, meh. But the fried rice cakes? Amazing.
Would I go back? Actually, yes, I would. The fried rice cakes are just that good.
Din Ding Dumpling House
3213 Walnut Ave
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 797-8122
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