Din Tai Fung London is overhyped

The news that popular dumpling chain Din Tai Fung has now opened in London caused a stir all over Europe. Understandably so: we’re more than happy to fly to Asia for their soup dumplings, but you might want to wait a little before booking that return trip to England.

According to a review recently published in the English Independent, the dumpling mecca in London is nowhere near following in the footsteps of its big brother. During the reviewer’s visit, there is a shortage of dumplings, and the dumplings that do appear on the table miss the mark spectacularly.

Too few and too cold

The xiao long bao (soup dumplings) that the Taiwanese chain, which now has locations all over Asia, is known for have to meet strict requirements. Each dumpling has eighteen folds, five grams of minced meat and sixteen grams of dough. In Taipei, that’s the recipe for perhaps the most perfect bite on earth; in London, the amount of soup was wrong or they were too cold. What a letdown.

Besides the dumplings not being as delicious as they are in Asia, a lot also went wrong while ordering during the visit. Since many dishes are served in a steamer basket, the staff often only realise this when they are already at the table and then have to walk back to the kitchen. Awkward.

Give it a year

Still really keen to visit the nearest DTF? Then wait another year. Hopefully, the things that went wrong were just teething problems and will have been ironed out by then. Here’s hoping!

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Din Tai Fung
5 Henrietta St
London