I was interested in trying Din Tai Fung when it first opened in the neighborhood.
I had read that the first Din Tai Fung had opened in Taiwan but now there were over 170 locations around the world. The long lines kept me away till now. I ordered online and was given a pickup time 45 minutes later.
Order was ready 7 minutes early. I noticed there was street parking right in front of Din Tai Fung but those spots are normally taken.
There isn’t any nearby bike parking but during the apocalypse I found spots you can’t normally use.
Kurobuta pork fried noodles had a nice soy sauce based flavor. Taste like lo mein. Fat noodles absorbed the sauce well. Tender pork cut into thin strips also absorbed some of the sauce. I enjoyed the flavor of this dish but ratio of pork to noodles was too low for me. You get much more meat in the noodle dishes at the nearby Shanghai Cafe.
Red bean rice cake had a nice red bean flavor. Texture was dense like a brownie. Size was about half the size of sweet rice cakes at Hong Kong style dim sum places like Hong Kong BBQ.
Shrimp & Kurobuta Pork Pot Stickers had a delicious mix of pork and shrimp.
One side had a crispy wrapper while the rest was soft.
Shrimp & Kurobuta Pork Wonton Soup had very tasty pork and shrimp won tons. Broth was a bit saltier than I’d prefer. Won ton wrappers held up well being packaged separate from the soup.
Din Tai Fung has different flavors than the Cantonese places I normally go to. So far the pot stickers are my favorite dish with won ton soup being my 2nd favorite.
Faye of Faye’s Fork and Kirk of mmm-yoso!!! have visited too.
4301 La Jolla Village Dr #2000
San Diego, CA 92122
(858) 375-5988
The take out bags are nicely decorated. Their front door ‘greeter’ is super cute!
You should visit and get your photo taken with the greeter!
You finally made it! We also visited for the first time after they opened their UTC location but I remember ppl raving about their OC locations! I like their famous pork Xiao Long Bao as mentioned in our blog post. Haven’t been to the mall area since CoVid though… Hope they make it through!
Their takeout business seems to be doing ok. I don’t like waiting in line so it took awhile to try them!
I’ve ordered take out from them twice now ! Their packaging has been amazing – they separate out the cold and hot items which I appreciate. I think I’ve used two different delivery companies now (they didn’t deliver in the past to my neck of woods). I’m surprised you didn’t try any of their xiao long baos? That’s awesome order was ready early – did they notify you via text?
Yes they do a great job packing your food. I’ve never had a xiao long bao so I don’t know if I like them. I walked over and just waited for my order. I think they emailed me about the order too.