Comments on: Din Tai Fung opens at World Square, Sydney! http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/ The slightly eccentric eating and cooking adventures of a Sydney girl who loves cakes, cooking, Nigella Lawson and eating. She eats, breathes and dreams food and indeed will never get cable TV as she'd quit working and watch the Food Channel all day long. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:39:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Din Tai Fung - World Square « I Am Obsessed with Food http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-7075 Din Tai Fung - World Square « I Am Obsessed with Food Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:58:41 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-7075 [...] I finally made it to Din Tai Fung! After reading Helen’s review on Grab Your Fork, and Not Quite Nigella’s review, I couldn’t wait to try this place [...] [...] I finally made it to Din Tai Fung! After reading Helen’s review on Grab Your Fork, and Not Quite Nigella’s review, I couldn’t wait to try this place [...]

]]> By: Not Quite Nigella http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6740 Not Quite Nigella Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:33:12 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6740 Hi Maria-eeek you poor thing waiting out in the cold! It's good it was fast and I agree, they love checking the docket :lol: Yes as Shanghai night's are less delicate, they've got a bit more punch and flavour to them. You're welcome, I'm glad that you like them! :) Hi Maria-eeek you poor thing waiting out in the cold! It’s good it was fast and I agree, they love checking the docket :lol: Yes as Shanghai night’s are less delicate, they’ve got a bit more punch and flavour to them. You’re welcome, I’m glad that you like them! :)

]]> By: Maria T http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6723 Maria T Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:23:54 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6723 My bf and I braced the cold for this and were starving by the time we got in there! Service was speedy and efficient. They mustve checked our docket a million times! Chicken chop was pretty damn good. You were right, the noodles were left behind and the xiao long bao were good, but I think i prefer big juicy soupy dumplings! I bought a single, bigger taro bun and in retrospect, wish I bought the mini ones! Too much skin to filling ratio. Fascinating experience overall! Thanks for inspiring me to visit all these great places. I am always at a loss as to which place to try! My bf and I braced the cold for this and were starving by the time we got in there! Service was speedy and efficient. They mustve checked our docket a million times! Chicken chop was pretty damn good. You were right, the noodles were left behind and the xiao long bao were good, but I think i prefer big juicy soupy dumplings! I bought a single, bigger taro bun and in retrospect, wish I bought the mini ones! Too much skin to filling ratio. Fascinating experience overall!
Thanks for inspiring me to visit all these great places. I am always at a loss as to which place to try!

]]> By: Not Quite Nigella http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6657 Not Quite Nigella Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:04:23 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6657 Hi kaydee-it's a pity you experienced that, is it that you ordered something different from the other tables? We had some dishes that came out straight away and some that took longer. What did the manager say? And we always and I mean always get charged for Chinese tea. Hi kaydee-it’s a pity you experienced that, is it that you ordered something different from the other tables? We had some dishes that came out straight away and some that took longer. What did the manager say? And we always and I mean always get charged for Chinese tea.

]]> By: kaydee http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6626 kaydee Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:46:59 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-6626 Hmm. I was so looking forward to going to Din Tai Fung, both from your review and the recent one in the SMH. Unfortunatly it did not live up to expectations, both in food quality and service. Don't get me wrong, the food was nice, but definitely not outstanding. The service was what I have come to see as sadly 'typical' chinese restaurant service - bring the chinese patrons their food first, and then make the caucasians beg for theirs (we were at a shared table, so this was VERY obvious). We spoke to what appeared to be the head waitress of our section, and she bought the manager over which was a nice suprise (I've never even seen this occur in an Australian restaurant, so it did raise our opinions). I could make excuses (it was midday on a weekday), but I won't. I expected more from them, that's for sure. Oh, and they charged for chinese tea ... I haven't seen that before! Hmm. I was so looking forward to going to Din Tai Fung, both from your review and the recent one in the SMH. Unfortunatly it did not live up to expectations, both in food quality and service. Don’t get me wrong, the food was nice, but definitely not outstanding. The service was what I have come to see as sadly ‘typical’ chinese restaurant service - bring the chinese patrons their food first, and then make the caucasians beg for theirs (we were at a shared table, so this was VERY obvious). We spoke to what appeared to be the head waitress of our section, and she bought the manager over which was a nice suprise (I’ve never even seen this occur in an Australian restaurant, so it did raise our opinions).

I could make excuses (it was midday on a weekday), but I won’t. I expected more from them, that’s for sure.

Oh, and they charged for chinese tea … I haven’t seen that before!

]]> By: Not Quite Nigella http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-4479 Not Quite Nigella Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:51:34 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-4479 Hi John-Thanks for the review and for the recommendations! :D Hehe yes the idea of a steamer full of dumplings is much nicer than 4 lone ones. The kerfuffle over the bill would certainly leave a bad taste in the mouth, much like bad service. Hi John-Thanks for the review and for the recommendations! :D Hehe yes the idea of a steamer full of dumplings is much nicer than 4 lone ones.

The kerfuffle over the bill would certainly leave a bad taste in the mouth, much like bad service.

]]> By: John http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-4455 John Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:13:07 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-4455 How very wonderful that I just happened to come across this site while searching for a place to post review. The Good: We tried their chicken with egg fried rice and the beef stew soup, plus, Of course, the xiao long bao. The fried rice was better than expected in a sense that most of the time you get a fried rice that's either too oily, too salty, too much soy sauce, too ... but this one is just perfect. It's taste just about right with a good balance of flavor and oil. The Fried chicken is delicious; crispy on the outside and juicy and tender inside. The Beef stew soup was slightly too light for my taste, though the beef was quite tender. Xiao long bao, well taste wise it was alright, still can't quite convince myself why it is world famous. However, I agree that this is the first place that i was able to pick up the bao without breaking the wrapping, but personally, I think I am paying for the place and not the food... By the way, WHY does every xia long bao type picture contains like 10-12 baos when they are sold by 4-6? Business strategy from a psychological perspective? NOW THE BAD, and I REALLY MEAN IT: First, this is my first visit and I already share the same experience with the site admin. We order the beef stew soup and guess what came out? yep, beef stew soup WITH NOODLE, hmm. I didn't want to order the noodle because I failed to see why adding noodle should cost $5 more... And then, the bill was $36.00 and we gave a $50 bill. Somehow there was a mistake and the change was only $4. So of course we point it out immediately, and I think to myself: "honest mistake, no biggie". Boy was I wrong... we end up spending the next 10 min waiting for the staff to figure out what went wrong and several times we were asked and confirmed about how much we put down and who we gave the bill to... so my girl pointed out someone and then we get the "she said you didn't give it to her". The manager (or seems to be) were also involved, and we finally got our correct change back, after long agonizing wait. The way things are handled in this situation would have never happened in any sophisticated restaurant. The customer should never feel like they were treated unjust, certainly not when the $ involved was as little as $10. Also, how does someone mistake a $50 for a $40? that's ONE bill vs TWO bills, not to mention the different color. Anyway, certainly would never go back again as we were extremely upset afterward. How very wonderful that I just happened to come across this site while searching for a place to post review.

The Good:
We tried their chicken with egg fried rice and the beef stew soup, plus, Of course, the xiao long bao. The fried rice was better than expected in a sense that most of the time you get a fried rice that’s either too oily, too salty, too much soy sauce, too … but this one is just perfect. It’s taste just about right with a good balance of flavor and oil. The Fried chicken is delicious; crispy on the outside and juicy and tender inside.

The Beef stew soup was slightly too light for my taste, though the beef was quite tender.

Xiao long bao, well taste wise it was alright, still can’t quite convince myself why it is world famous. However, I agree that this is the first place that i was able to pick up the bao without breaking the wrapping, but personally, I think I am paying for the place and not the food…

By the way, WHY does every xia long bao type picture contains like 10-12 baos when they are sold by 4-6? Business strategy from a psychological perspective?

NOW THE BAD, and I REALLY MEAN IT:

First, this is my first visit and I already share the same experience with the site admin. We order the beef stew soup and guess what came out? yep, beef stew soup WITH NOODLE, hmm. I didn’t want to order the noodle because I failed to see why adding noodle should cost $5 more…

And then, the bill was $36.00 and we gave a $50 bill. Somehow there was a mistake and the change was only $4. So of course we point it out immediately, and I think to myself: “honest mistake, no biggie”. Boy was I wrong… we end up spending the next 10 min waiting for the staff to figure out what went wrong and several times we were asked and confirmed about how much we put down and who we gave the bill to… so my girl pointed out someone and then we get the “she said you didn’t give it to her”. The manager (or seems to be) were also involved, and we finally got our correct change back, after long agonizing wait. The way things are handled in this situation would have never happened in any sophisticated restaurant. The customer should never feel like they were treated unjust, certainly not when the $ involved was as little as $10. Also, how does someone mistake a $50 for a $40? that’s ONE bill vs TWO bills, not to mention the different color. Anyway, certainly would never go back again as we were extremely upset afterward.

]]> By: LEMONPI :: blog.lemonpi.net » Din Tai Fung - World Square http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-4107 LEMONPI :: blog.lemonpi.net » Din Tai Fung - World Square Sat, 24 May 2008 00:56:22 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-4107 [...] about a world famous dumpling chain finally opening in Sydney that caught my eye. Rather, it was Lorraine’s enthusiastic post about her visit to Din Tai Fung, that made me want to check the place out as [...] [...] about a world famous dumpling chain finally opening in Sydney that caught my eye. Rather, it was Lorraine’s enthusiastic post about her visit to Din Tai Fung, that made me want to check the place out as [...]

]]> By: Hunting the Elusive » Restaurant Review: Sydney’s Din Tai Fung http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-3939 Hunting the Elusive » Restaurant Review: Sydney’s Din Tai Fung Sun, 18 May 2008 14:10:31 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-3939 [...] by a good review from Not Quite Nigella, which was linked to me by IRC peeps, I visited Din Tai Fung with my family (five people). Din Tai [...] [...] by a good review from Not Quite Nigella, which was linked to me by IRC peeps, I visited Din Tai Fung with my family (five people). Din Tai [...]

]]> By: Not Quite Nigella http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-3930 Not Quite Nigella Sun, 18 May 2008 04:26:15 +0000 http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/05/17/din-tai-fung-opens-at-world-square-sydney/#comment-3930 Hi Maria-I appreciated the masks and caps too and I also love open kitchens, less chance that someone will pick something up of the ground! Ultra cleanliness is never a bad thing as far as food preparation is concerned. That's not good when they're not friendly, although I have found Japanese restaurants more polite than Chinese, at least here. I always think that if you're i the service industry, you should be polite and friendly, it's really part of the job. If that's not your personality, get a job where you don't have customer contact, simple as that! Service can really make or break an evening. Hehe yes a production line is best for dumplings. I used to make them all the time but yes I have to agree that it's a lot of work but the reward of dumplings in the end is worth it, even if it doesn't feel like fun at the time :lol: The chicken chop was good with the chili and soy. Mmm I could go for some now! :) Hi Maria-I appreciated the masks and caps too and I also love open kitchens, less chance that someone will pick something up of the ground! Ultra cleanliness is never a bad thing as far as food preparation is concerned.

That’s not good when they’re not friendly, although I have found Japanese restaurants more polite than Chinese, at least here. I always think that if you’re i the service industry, you should be polite and friendly, it’s really part of the job. If that’s not your personality, get a job where you don’t have customer contact, simple as that! Service can really make or break an evening.

Hehe yes a production line is best for dumplings. I used to make them all the time but yes I have to agree that it’s a lot of work but the reward of dumplings in the end is worth it, even if it doesn’t feel like fun at the time :lol:

The chicken chop was good with the chili and soy. Mmm I could go for some now! :)

]]>