Din Tai Fung

When Din Tai Fung first opened in London, it was like Disneyland. Not because it was full of RADA applicants dressed up as Donald Duck or giant teacups, but because the most notable thing about it was the queue. It was walk-in only and a long line of xiao long bao enthusiasts would snake up Henrietta Street, toe-tapping and questioning how fluffy a pork bun has to be to justify a two-hour wait. But these days, you can book, which makes Din Tai Fung one of the best places in London for a quickfire, day or night dim sum moment. 

Now would be a good time to mention that this huge, 250-seater restaurant is part of a global dumpling empire. One that includes over 150 restaurants, a committed legion of adoring fans, and a meticulous, 18-fold xiao long bao method that results in the world’s most delightfully chewy vehicle for spicy crab soup. Across the two floors in Covent Garden, friends, colleagues, and toddlers in highchairs merrily nibble through the soft dumpling dough and sip their problems—and that pesky cold—away.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Thanks to the sheer size of the simple, wooden-walled space and the speedy service, this restaurant is a revolving door of hungry Londoners who are in and out in less than an hour. Towers of bamboo steamers are raced across the restaurant, the sensationally squidgy buns will land on your table before your jasmine tea has cooled down enough to drink, and in the glass-fronted dumpling preparation area, the hands of the xiao long bao maestros move at double time. 

The dim sum ranges from shining soup pocket prawn shao mai to crispy wontons, but it’s undoubtedly the steaming soup sensation xiao long bao that warrants the life admin involved in making a reservation. Stop by solo for five pieces of the earthy truffle ones to congratulate yourself for surviving another hump day, or schedule a quick catch-up to swap and slurp land and sea style, with a medley of crab and pork options.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

They’re the ultimate feat of steamer engineering and a faultless thin dough tease. When you’re 99% sure the slick, chewy dough is going to split, crisis is averted, and the fragrant broth and flavourful fillings are kept safe inside. Larger dishes like the special noodle soup with tough braised beef tend to not be, well, special. Although you can’t go wrong with the highly snackable sautéed string beans with crunchy flecks of salty dried shrimp. But ultimately, there’s one reason why you should go to Din Tai Fung. Because it’s the magical kingdom of xiao long bao. 

Food Rundown

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Sautéed String Beans With Minced Pork And Dried Shrimp

One of our favourite genres of food is Vegetable / Fruit Glo-Up. Case in point: these string beans that avoid any soggy woes, and are loaded with salty flecks of dried shrimp and crispy minced pork confetti. The kind of delightfully oily, crunchy snack that your chopsticks keep returning to.

Crispy Pork And Vegetable Wontons

Sincere apologies to the juicy pork inside, but let’s not lie to ourselves, you order these wontons for the supersonic snap of the outer fried wrapper. We stan any dumpling that gives your incisors a work out and can survive—and thrive—after a triple dip in the accompanying soy sauce.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Crispy Golden Prawn Pancake

Two bites into this you’ll start googling whether it’s okay to put prawns in a blender, because you’ve decided this is low-key pancake goals. The teeny tiny bits of prawn are layered throughout the softest part of the pancake, creating little pockets of fishy goodness, while the outer layer is gloriously fried.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Chilli Crab And Pork Xiao Long Bao

The ultimate xiao long bao. A lot of the classic filling options—pork, chicken, beef—are warming and have that signature translucent skin, but lack a proper punch of flavour. Not on the chilli crab’s watch. The crab brings the sweetness, the chilli brings the heat, and the pork brings that meaty warmth that reminds you of fireplaces and chunky scarves. If you only get one type of xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung, make it this.

Mushroom And Truffle Xiao Long Bao

This is another xiao long bao where the soup says more than ‘I am a sippable hug’. Featuring no fewer than four types of mushroom, and a liberal dash of white truffle oil, it has that luxuriously earthy flavour that stays with you—in the best way possible.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Prawn And Pork Shao Mai

This is a health and safety announcement for tongues everywhere. You might not realise that beneath the chewy, slightly sweet prawn at the top of this shao mai, is a tiny pocket of very hot soup. Outside of tongue incineration potential, these are worth an order if you’re in the mood for a slightly thicker dough dumpling than the xiao long bao.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Chilli Crab And Pork Buns

A beautifully bouncy and defiantly squidgy bun, that arrives steamed to perfection. The combination of Taiwanese flour, a sweet meets spicy chilli sauce at the centre, and the elastic chew of every bite makes it a no-brainer order. If you don’t smile when they have their bamboo lid reveal moment, then we simply can’t be friends.

Special Noodle Soup With Braised Beef

The beef is pretty tough and the stringy egg noodles tend to knot together, but the real issue with this dish is that the special noodle soup is a bit of a snooze. It tastes vaguely of tomatoes, oyster sauce, and the gooey fat lingering on the slices of braised beef. It’s a no.