Michelin Taiwanese Dumplings in London – Din Tai Fung

1 Star Michelin Taiwanese restaurant finally opened at Convent Garden!

Since S heard Din Tain Fung is going to open a new branch in London, S had been looking forward to visiting as soon as possible. Finally, Din Tai Fung opened last December at Convent Garden. S had to come here to cure her home sickness.

Din Tai Fung is located 3 mins walk distance from the Convent Garden underground station which is also at the same street as Flat Iron. S had heard the waiting time was terrifying; the longest waiting time was 5 hours or so. Luckily, S only needed to wait about an hour that day and could walk around Convent Garden to pass the time. The restaurant will send you a message which has the live waiting time and when the table is ready, so you don’t need to worry if you will miss your table.

Once you enter the restaurant, you can look through a big window into the working area to show how xiao long bao is made. It is the same as the original branch in Taiwan. There are 250 seats and 2 floors here, and most of the seats are downstairs.

Since there is no menu on the official website and there are too many items on the menu, S will only post the main menu which is shown at the front of the restaurant and give you guys a general impression of it. The dishes that S would have that day were oriental salad (£4.5), pork chop & egg fried rice (£13.5), hot & spicy soup (£9.8), chilli prawn wontons (£7.8) and 4 pcs of xiao long bao (£6.8).

The first one was oriental salad which was just beansprouts and seaweed mixed with special vinegar dressing. It is a common small dish in Taiwan which you can find anywhere.

Hot & spicy soup is also a common soup dish in Taiwan. It was made from mushroom, black fungus, tofu, carrots and pork with vinegar and spicy bean pasty. However, the flavour here seems to be watered down for western taste but not as strong compared to the one in Taiwan. Therefore, if you’re curious how it tastes like, you should really give it a go!

Xiao long bao is Din Tai Fung’s signature dish due to its 18 folds which requires delicate handiwork. Furthermore, the skin is so thin and you can see the weight of soup inside. The most important is that it tastes exactly like the one in Taiwan! The wait was totally worth it after S had the xiao long bao!

Another popular dish that most people order in Taiwan is the pork chop fried rice. The pork chop was marinated and fried which was a common way to cook pork in Taiwan. The taste slightly differed compared to the one in Taiwan, but it was still really tasty regardless.

Last but not least the must order in Din Tai Fung, chilli prawn wontons!! The wontons looked extra mouthwatering after stirring with the chilli sauce, and wontons were delicious as always. However, they probably alter the chilli taste for western tastebuds, as it’s different from the original chilli flavour.

S was very happy that she could have some home food in the UK, and had something to introduce as Taiwanese cuisine. Furthermore, the Taiwanese fried chicken, Monga, also has a branch in China town too! Overall, even though S is from Taiwan, she would visit again just for their xiao long bao and wontons.

Restaurant info:
Address: 5-6 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8PS
Phone: 2030 343 888 (Not accept reservation)
Opening hours: Mon.-Sat. 11:00 to 22:30 (Sun. is till 22:00)
Site: https://www.dintaifung-uk.com