South Bay: Din Tai Fung
For Christmas last year, CK and AG got my parents a gift card to Din Tai Fung. While we've been to Din Tai Fung in Taiwan, we'd never attempted to go to the one in the Valley Fair Mall because of the utterly ridiculous wait time. But since we had a gift card, we bit the bullet and made an outing of it. Of course we invited CK, AG, and UK so that they could suffer the wait with us.
We arrived at Din Tai Fung around 20 minutes before they opened at 11:00 am on a Monday and there was already a line stretching nearly to the end of the mall. On a Monday! Yes, it might have been a holiday, but does everybody and their mama celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by eating at Din Tai Fung?
Once the doors opened, everyone registered their parties and then dispersed throughout the mall to kill time before their turn to be seated:
We didn't actually get called in until almost two hours after Din Tai Fung opened. Two hours!!
By the time we got to our table, we were a bit over the whole thing. But we were on a mission to use up the gift card in one go, so we gritted our teeth and carried on. For the seven of us, we ordered two steamers of kurobuta pork xiao long bao ($9 each):
Two steamers of the crab and kurobuta pork XLB ($11.50):
Two steamers of the shrimp and kurobuta pork shao mai ($11.75):
Two steamers of the steamed cod dumplings ($9.75):
Two orders of the shrimp and kurobuta pork wontons with spicy sauce ($12.50):
Two orders of the noodles with sesame sauce ($10.50):
And an order of the tofu puff and glass noodle soup with kurobuta pork roll ($11.75) at the request of my mother:
Honestly, we weren't super impressed. I've had both hit and miss experiences at Din Tai Fung in Taiwan. When it's on point, it's really on point. The Din Tai Fung in the SOGO department store in Taipei felt luxurious. I could tell it was meant to be a fine dining experience. The service was almost too attentive and the food meticulously presented.
The only word we could think of to describe the Din Tai Fung in Santa Clara was "sloppy." Now, it might seem like we're nitpicking, but after dining at the one in SOGO, the differences were glaringly obvious, from the wet tables to the dumplings that were tossed into the steamer without a care as to where they landed.
It just wasn't worth all the hype. And definitely not worth the wait. The food was alright with the only stand out being the wontons. The decision never to go back again was unanimous.
...Unless we get another gift card, of course.
Din Tai Fung
2855 Stevens Creek Blvd #1259
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 248-1688
https://www.dintaifungusa.com/
We arrived at Din Tai Fung around 20 minutes before they opened at 11:00 am on a Monday and there was already a line stretching nearly to the end of the mall. On a Monday! Yes, it might have been a holiday, but does everybody and their mama celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by eating at Din Tai Fung?
Once the doors opened, everyone registered their parties and then dispersed throughout the mall to kill time before their turn to be seated:
We didn't actually get called in until almost two hours after Din Tai Fung opened. Two hours!!
By the time we got to our table, we were a bit over the whole thing. But we were on a mission to use up the gift card in one go, so we gritted our teeth and carried on. For the seven of us, we ordered two steamers of kurobuta pork xiao long bao ($9 each):
Two steamers of the crab and kurobuta pork XLB ($11.50):
Two steamers of the shrimp and kurobuta pork shao mai ($11.75):
Two steamers of the steamed cod dumplings ($9.75):
Two orders of the shrimp and kurobuta pork wontons with spicy sauce ($12.50):
Two orders of the noodles with sesame sauce ($10.50):
And an order of the tofu puff and glass noodle soup with kurobuta pork roll ($11.75) at the request of my mother:
Honestly, we weren't super impressed. I've had both hit and miss experiences at Din Tai Fung in Taiwan. When it's on point, it's really on point. The Din Tai Fung in the SOGO department store in Taipei felt luxurious. I could tell it was meant to be a fine dining experience. The service was almost too attentive and the food meticulously presented.
The only word we could think of to describe the Din Tai Fung in Santa Clara was "sloppy." Now, it might seem like we're nitpicking, but after dining at the one in SOGO, the differences were glaringly obvious, from the wet tables to the dumplings that were tossed into the steamer without a care as to where they landed.
It just wasn't worth all the hype. And definitely not worth the wait. The food was alright with the only stand out being the wontons. The decision never to go back again was unanimous.
...Unless we get another gift card, of course.
Din Tai Fung
2855 Stevens Creek Blvd #1259
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 248-1688
https://www.dintaifungusa.com/
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