On my recent Hong Kong visit my lovely friend took me to Din Tai Fung in Causeway Bay. Their speciality is soup dumplings…too delicious for words.
The founders, Yung Bingy and his wife, began making steamed dumplings to supplement the income from their cooking oil business in Taiwan. Soon the buns became so popular that they gave up selling cooking oil and began their first restaurant in the 1980s.
The New York Times selected the first restaurant in Taipei as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world in 1993. The first Hong Kong Branch was awarded a Michelin Star in 2009 and the Causeway Bay Branch was awarded in 2010.
Din Tai Fung is beneath the fabulous circular walkway in Causeway Bay. These above ground walkways should be in every city. All over Hong Kong you can go from one building to the next without having to cross roads, it is a great way to move around the city.
Causeway Bay is an exciting area of Hong Kong, positively bustling with activity. I believe it is some of the most expensive retail space in the world because of the huge number of people it attracts. I can think of quite a few shopping areas that would love to see this many people walking past their doors.
It is not possible to make a booking at Din Tai Fung, you just have to take your chances. There was quite a crowd when we arrived, but my friend is an expert and he knew just what to do. He was given a menu and we busied ourselves deciding what we would like to eat. Once we had done that and spent a bit of time watching the open kitchen where our dishes would be prepared we were ushered into the busy restaurant.
It wasn’t long before our green beans with pork, dumplings, jelly fish, salt and pepper pork chop ….were served by the super efficient waiters.
Din Tai Fung is a great experience…now I will have to try some of the restaurants in other parts of the world…in the name of research of course.
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