Taipei’s Best Xiao Long Bao

The Shanghai-style soup dumplings, or xiao long bao, at Din Tai Fung have a cult following like no other. A refugee of China’s civil war, Yang Bing-yi opened the original location on Taipei’s east side in the 70s. A couple decades later, the New York Times named the dumpling house as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world, and business exploded. Expansion was inevitable; a global empire was born. Today outposts are spread over China, Southeast Asia, the United States and more, each with the same impeccable standards and perfectly made dumplings as the original location. I’ve eaten a lot of dumplings in my life, but I’d cross an ocean for the xiao long bao stuffed with seasoned pork and black truffle shavings. The ground pork is dotted with cubes of aspic that melt and yield a clean and nuanced broth when the soup dumpling is steamed. Beyond dumplings–which come in many shapes and sizes, with fillings such as crab roe, green squash and shrimp–you’ll find plenty of Taiwanese specialties like sesame peanut noodles, spicy pickled cabbage and cucumber, stewed bamboo shoots and tendon noodles. If you come to Taipei and don’t eat here, there’s a serious hole in your itinerary.

Contact

194 Xinyi Rd, Section 2
Taipei, Taiwan
02.2321.8928
dintaifung.com.tw