Chao p'ai hsiao ts'aiCold appetizer of tofu, and seaweed in vinegar dressing
-> Must order #1. Delectable, delightful - will make you crave for more.
Rating: 9.5/10
Suan la t'angHot and sour soup
-> It's nice and thick, with all sorts of delicacies inside. Tasty!
Rating: 8/10
Hsieh fen hsiao lung paoSteamed crab meat and pork dumpling
-> Must order #2. I usually order the normal hsiao lung pao (xiao long bao, in hanyu pinyin romanization), but this one is damn good as well. The restaurant's raison d'etre - world famous. Somehow, the ones in Jakarta or Singapore is better compared to Sydney's.
Rating: 9/10
Hsia jen jou ssu tan ch'ao fanPrawn fried rice
-> Better than expected. very fragrant.
Rating: 8.5/10
Chi p'ai mienNoodles in soup served with fried chicken
-> The chicken could be a little bit crispier, but the noodle is very nice. Perfect texture. The soup is simple yet delectable.
Rating: 7.5/10
Hsia jou cheng chiaoSteamed shrimp and pork dumpling
-> Delightful. The pastry is firm yet tender to the bite, and the soup inside the dumpling is simply sumptuous.
Rating: 9/10
Strawberry ice-> Just okay. Basically it's just shaved ice + condensed milk + strawberries + strawberry ice cream + strawberry jam. That's a lot of strawberries.
Rating: 6.5/10
As you might have heard, I'm crazy about Taiwanese food lately.
...and notice that I used the Wade-Giles romanization for the food names instead of the Hanyu Pinyin? (for romanization of Chinese characters, the archaic Wade-Giles method is still used in Taiwan - although now it's mostly replaced by the new Tongyong Pinyin, while the Hanyu Pinyin method is used in China and rest of the world)
First thing I would like to praise about Sydney's Din Tai Fung is the service. It's exceptional. Smiling faces, polite gestures, and enthusiastic even though the restaurant is EXTREMELY busy - and they're all Chinese!
How weird, right?
Seriously, the staff are so well-trained and courteous - in fact - you can't find Chinese people that behave this way outside...Hong Kong Disneyland.
Everybody knows that services in Chinese restaurants, especially in China, aren't the most courteous around. But we're kind of used to it, anyway. Even in nice restaurants, the waitresses may be extremely professional, but friendly they are not. Not always, anyway.
Services in Chinese restaurants in Australia are no exception. Remember those horrible yum-cha ah-ma waitresses? Jeez louise, they're rude. Caucasians might be very irritated by this, but being Asian, I'm used to it. I'm always a bit pompous towards those rude waitresses, because my restaurant rule: if you're rude, then I'll be rude.
As always, the queue is horrendous, but don't let that deter you from dining there. The wait is usually not that long - 15 minutes maximum if you're willing to share a table (don't worry, it's quite fine - the rectangular tables are spacious). They set up a free self-service Chinese tea stand for queuing customers (aw, thoughtful!), and you can even decide what you'd like to order while you're queuing, so your food will come faster. Once in awhile, those friendly, cute waitresses will check up on you with smiling faces, offering recommendations, etc. Very nice. And did I say they're cute? heeheehee they are! Very pleasant xiao jies (young ladies), very courteous and polite. Heeheehee. *smitten*
...also, I was quite taken aback when they refer to me as xiansheng (sir). I mean, it's RARE to see a Chinese restaurant staff who would call people 'xiansheng'. Most other Chinese restaurants staff would normally just avoid calling you. They also replied 'hao' when called, or after taking order. 'hao' means 'good', but in this context, it means 'yes, certainly'. How polite!
Maybe some of you thought that I'm making too much of a big deal out of this, but it IS a big deal! Chinese waitresses are good people, really, but courtesy and politeness is just not in their blood. The thing is, some Caucasians would mistakenly attribute this apparent rudeness to having a bad nature, which is not always the case. Chinese waitresses are just....like that. They're a bit odd. But we Chinese customers are used to them.
However, there are some exceptions when things become inexcusable, such as discourteous-ness in 5-star restaurants and hotels in upmarket areas / cities. If they're rude, their manager would get an earful from me.
All in all...I love Din Tai Fung. The Jakarta and Singapore ones are better in terms of food (compared to Sydney), though. The Jakarta and Singapore branches has twice as much menu items...and more interesting desserts...
