Ding Tai Fung (Bellevue)

This is the first post in the Summer in the Pacific Northwest Series, which is sort of being run concurrently with the Oh Canada Series (partly due to some overlap).

I guess you could say I'm on a mission.

It's not a difficult mission, really. I'm just trying to eat at every Din Tai Fung in the world, that's all. I've made reasonably progress to date. I visited the original one in Taipei, of course, as well as the one in Los Angeles opened by the family's son. There are franchises around the world, and I've gone to both the ones in Beijing and Shanghai. Heck, I've even been tricked and gone to a knock-off one in Toronto.

And then they finally decided to open a second location in the U.S. I prayed that they would choose the East Coast (why not? There is already so much good Chinese food out west!). Alas, they decided to open in Bellevue, just outside of Seattle.

Disheartened, I really had no idea when I would be able to go.

As it turned out, Bryan's cousin decided to get married in Seattle. Better yet, his aunt (with whom we stayed) actually lives in Bellevue.

It's not hard to guess where I wanted to go for dinner.

Unlike some of the older Din Tai Fung locations (like the original one in Taiwan or even the original one in Los Angeles), this one is prettier and "swankier" inside, with hard wood floors, cute hanging lights, and prettier dishware. It reminded me more of the slightly more upscale ones in Beijing and Shanghai (where Din Tai Fung is regarded as a really pricey restaurant).

Your food comes out on prettier, slightly more stylish dishware. The marinated cucumbers, always a refreshing starter, were great.

The spicy wontons were average and probably worth skipping. After all, if you're coming to Din Tai Fung, you should really be getting their xiao long baos!

Speaking of which, we ordered several dozens of the dumplings. These were solid, definitely serviceable, but we noticed a quality difference between the ones here and both the ones in California (slightly better) and Asia (noticeably better).

The skins aren't supposed to break, but I think we had one or two break on us.

But really, I'm arguably splitting hairs here. The dumplings were still delicious and very, very enjoyable. The soupy pork filling is still very flavorful and satisfying, and people still gobbled it up. If this exact restaurant opened up in Boston, I would still go at least once a week!

Sauteed Green Beans

Other non-dumpling side dishes, such as the stir fried green beans, were all fine. It's nice that they have a variety of offerings on their menu. After all, if you're a local, you may not feel like eating xiao long baos all the time.

Stir Fried Rice Cakes (chao nian gao)

Of course, I think Bryan would differ. He's pretty particular about what he will eat when he's at Din Tai Fung. In short, he only eats the crab roe xiao long baos. He thinks everything else is a "waste of stomach space."

Wonton Soup

Most people aren't like Bryan, so I still think it's nice that they have a variety of dishes. We found most of their dishes, such as the stir fried rice cakes (two photos above) and the wonton soup (above) to be pretty tasty. I would definitely consider ordering a bigger variety if I lived close by and came every week.

However, if I'm only coming to visit it as a destination restaurant, I would focus mostly on the dumplings, which are still their main specialty.

Definitely try the dessert dumplings if you've never had it before. My personal favorite (by far) is the taro dumpling. Often I'll eat the same number of taro dumplings as normal pork ones! Black sesame is also pretty good. We did not try the red bean one here, but we've noticed a difference in sweetness and texture between the Los Angeles and Taiwan ones, so I can't recommend one from a particular restaurant unless if I've tried it, and we didn't try it here.

Overall, I am still very, very jealous of all you people that live in the Seattle area. You are so lucky that Din Tai Fung picked another West Coast city in which to open their second restaurant.

This Din Tai Fung is very popular, just like every other Din Tai Fung in the world. We arrived early, around 5:30PM, so we did not wait in line. By the time we left, however, the line was super long. The restaurant is inside of a mall, so if you do have to wait a long time, I guess there's at least stuff you can browse while you wait?

I still hope that someday, they will come to the East Coast. The odds of Boston may seem low, but then they picked Bellevue over San Francisco, so we can always dream, right?

Din Tai Fung
700 Bellevue Way NE Ste 280
 Bellevue, WA 98004

Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles

This is the fifth post in the Eating the Big Apple series. Other posts include Soba Koh, Sylvia's Restaurant (Gospel Brunch), Torrisi Italian Specialties, and Ippudo.

I started eating hand-pulled noodles at a very young age.

At that time, I didn't even appreciate how awesome it was. We were fortunate, I guess. In the middle of Toledo Ohio, there was this Chinese couple (who grew up in Korea, interestingly), that opened a simple Chinese restaurant called Peking City.

Sure, the restaurant had its fair share of Americanized Chinese food (hello Orange Chicken!) and (oddly enough) Korean staples like Jja Jang Myeon. But the most beautiful thing? The husband knew how to make hand pulled noodles.

I didn't really appreciate the rarity of this treat until I moved to Boston. All of a sudden, I was living in a city where (at most) you might have one hand pulled noodle shop (if you're lucky) exist for a few years before shuttering (ah, Noodle Alcove, I miss you).

In desperation, I tried learning to make my own. I even took a noodle pulling class in Beijing to learn from the masters themselves (yes, check out the video of the class that I made!). When traveling to other cities, we continued to eat noodles - in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, the Bay Area - even a place that Anthony Bourdain visited.

Thankfully, I need not travel that far for noodles. New York City is pretty close to Boston, and there are tons of hand-pulled noodle shops there. This past year, I visited my first hand pulled noodle shop in Chinatown.

Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles is your typical hole-in-the-wall in Chinatown. Tucked away in a small side street, the friendly, colorful sign beckons you into a reasonably cramped eating space with simple wooden tables and pictures of dishes on the walls.

One of my favorite things about this restaurant is that you can "custom-order" your noodles. You choose between "normal", "wide," or "fat" hand pulled noodles. You can also get knife-cut noodles (not hand pulled, but shaved off of a huge block into boiling water!). You can even order rice noodles (but why would you ever do that? They're not homemade!).

Of course we got a variety, opting for "normal", "wide", "fat", and "knife cut."

They asked us if we wanted to also get some veggies, like the house made pickles. I kind of regret bowing to the pressure at the time. These were frankly kind of average - I actually much prefer my own version.

The noodle soups, on the other hand, were great. The broths are pretty simple - bone-based, clear, and reasonably light. Those that are used to intense, flavorful broths may find this a bit "bland", but I thought it was fine and I didn't mind the "lighter" style soup.  I think most of the offerings use the same basic broth, just with different combinations of ingredients.

How do you know if you have *real* hand pulled noodles? You'll have A LOT of trouble cutting your noodles in half. After all - hand pulled noodles derive from one loooooong noodle that gets pulled and doubled, over and over again.

We tried various methods of trying to cut the noodles, including this interesting "cut from the edge of the bowl using chopsticks" method. I guess it wouldn't be so much of a problem if you have your own bowl and you can just keep on slurping that one long noodle. However, we were with friends, and the four of us wanted to try all four noodle dishes that we ordered, thus the complexities.

I loved the super wide noodles, which had a great, chewy "QQ" bite to it.

That particular wide noodle was paired with a wonton noodle soup, which was pretty good.

The pan fried dumplings, although serviceable, were a disappointment overall. I've had much better dumplings, both in Los Angeles and in China. These were a bit greasy, not super crispy, and overall just a bit too heavy. I would stick with the noodles and skip the fried dumplings.

One of the best ways to enjoy the texture of handmade noodles is to have them in a pan-fried dish. At the end of the day, if you're not a super fast eater, you risk the soup softening the fresh noodles over time. This problem doesn't occur in a pan-fried noodle dish, which is why I often like to order pan-fried fresh noodles instead of soup noodles. [I'm also a particularly huge fan of knive-cut noodles in general, so perhaps I'm biased?]

These knife-cut noodles had awesome texture. In some ways, it almost didn't matter what specific other things came along with the noodles. I was just happy chewing away at the wide ribbons.

Alas, we ordered way too much food, but it was super fun to try so many dishes. Overall, Tasty makes great noodles. Skip the cucumbers and pan fried dumplings. Focus on the various permutations of what they make best - noodles!

Some may argue that their broth is a little less complex than other broths (Bryan still prefers the flavors of the noodle soups at his favorite LA haunt, for example). There's also less variety, as it seems like most of the noodle soups are based on this one broth.

Nevertheless, if you're just in the mood for a simple, well-executed, cheap and satisfying bowl of chewy, hand-pulled noodles (most dishes are $5-$7), Tasty does a fine job of it.

Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles
1 Doyers St
New York, NY 10013

Peking Restaurant

This is part 1 of the Los Angeles Eating Adventures Series. The other posts in this series include Peking Restaurant, Scoops Westside, and Sushi Zo. 


I am absolutely stunned that it has taken me this long to tell you about this place.

Year after year, trip after trip, we always come here whenever we are back in LA. Whether it be with his parents or his high school friends, we never tire of visting this place for a tasty, satisfying lunch.

Simply called "Peking Restaurant" (Bryan and his friends all call it "Beijing"), this unassuming dive in a strip mall in Westminster has been the spot Bryan and his friends visit for authentic, cheap, and fantastic Northern Chinese food.. Bryan grew up eating here (it was really close to his church) and never fails to return every time he is in Los Angeles.

So what makes this place so special?

They make so many things really well. A must-get is the "Roast Beef with Green Onion Pancake" (niu ro juan bing), a scallion pancake wrapped around beef, chopped scallions, and a hoisin-like sweet sauce (see picture up top for cross sectional view). They do a fantastic job on this, and I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it anywhere else. The outer pancake is wonderfully crispy, and the beef inside is flavorful and delicious. It's by far one of their most popular items.

Another signature dish (which we also always get) is their potstickers. Often they will ask you right when you sit down whether you want the roast beef roll and/or the potstickers.

"Yes and yes, please!"

Their potstickers are juicy and flavorful, and the gorgeous crispy bottoms can't be beat. It's hard to find this particular style of potstickers in the US, so it's always a treat to get them here.

Their handmade dumplings are quite authentic and look just like the ones I had in the real Beijing. These are delicious as well, and a nice, lighter contrast to the crispy potstickers.

The spareribs are another favorite of the family, something they order often when we come together.

They make an admirable soup dumpling (xiao long bao). Although not as refined as the ones from Din Tai Fung, they are still quite tasty and perfectly enjoyable to eat.

One of the best things about this restaurant is that you can get handmade noodles in any noodle dish for only an extra dollar. This is definitely money well spent. The texture of the handmade noodles is fresh, chewy, and overall so much better than dried noodles.

Bryan's favorite soup is Da Lu Noodles, a thick, eggy soup filled with seafood and vegetables. It's served with the chewy homemade noodles that we all love. It's warm, comforting, and delicious.

If you're not in the mood for soup noodles, you can opt for stir fried homemade noodles instead. Here, we've ordered a combination dish full of all sorts of goodies like beef, pork, shrimp, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots. Though it's perfectly tasty, this dish doesn't stand out the way some of their other dishes do (aside from the homemade noodles, which are already a huge treat!).

The decor in this family-owned restaurant is simple, but the food that comes out of the kitchen is really special.

On top of all that, the prices are really reasonable! Most of the appetizer-like dishes (like the roast beef scallion pancake and the dumplings) hover around $6-$8 for an order. The main dishes are closer to $10-$12. A family of four can easily get out of there for well under $50 and be really, really satisfied. Please note, they will only accept credit cards for orders over $30. Otherwise, it's cash only.

This place is definitely worth visiting if you are like Bryan, a HUGE fan of homemade noodles and dumplings!


Peking Restaurant
8566 Westminster Blvd
Westminster, CA 92683

Crystal Jade {Shanghai, China}

Dan dan mian with hand pulled noodles

If only franchised Chinese food chains in the US were this good.

Yes, Crystal Jade is a well known restaurant group that actually originates out of Singapore. They have multiple locations throughout Asia, including Singapore, China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou), Hong Kong, Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), Korea (Seoul), Indonesia (Jakarta) and Japan (Tokyo). They make everything from sweet bakery items to savory dim sum dishes.

It may seem a bit weird to be visiting a Singaporean chain while in Shanghai. However, many have claimed that this place has some of the best dim sum (both Cantonese and Shanghainese) that Shanghai has to offer. Not wanting to miss out on some of the best food in Shanghai, we came here for our first meal right after hopping off the plane from Xi'An.

There are multiple Crystal Jade locations in Shanghai, but the one at Xin Tian Di was only a few minutes away via cab (which are very inexpensive in China!), located in the same shopping complex as Din Tai Fung.

It's great to be really hungry if you're going to be visiting this place, because you'll have a hard time narrowing down what you want to order! Come with a group of friends, if possible, so you can share a bunch of things!

We were very very impressed with the food here. This is a great place to visit if you want to try a variety of dim sum items, all executed with expert precision, quality, and care. The xiao long baos (soup dumplings) had a nice, thin skin that did not break at all. These were light years better than any dumpling we'd ever had in  Boston, and definitely closer in rank to the likes of Din Tai Fung and Jiai Jia Tang Bao. Similarly, the daikon pastries and steamed buns were also delicious.

We also tried this new type of  . . . sandwich? . . . that we'd never had before. It reminded me of Peking duck in some ways, but made with pork instead. First, they brought out a plate full of the barbecued pork, cucumbers, and fried tofu crisps? I'm not sure what the last ingredient was. Help! Does anyone know? 

The waitress then brought some flat steamed bread that had the consistency of Chinese mantous (steamed bread). She proceeded to construct a "sandwich" for us, placing pieces of pork, cucumber, and crispy tofu skin in between the bread.

The resulting little "pocket" was by far my favorite dish of the evening! I loved the interplay of textures between the soft, warm bread, the layered tofu crisps, the crunchy cucumbers, and the chewy pork. The flavors came together nicely as well, with the sweet and rich pork contrasting nicely with the light and crisp cucumbers. I really could have ordered two of these.

We also got a side dish of tofu noodles, edamame, and mustard greens, which was forgettable. We basically ordered this in a vain attempt to be healthy. I'd skip this unless if you are really feeling guilty about all the rich foods you've been eating!

Another favorite was the wontons in spicy chili sauce (hong you chao shou). I love the spicy kick of the hot oil, and the pork dumplings were juicy and flavorful as well.

Finally, we tried the hand pulled dan dan noodles (pictured up top). These had good texture, although we both decided that we didn't love the thick, sesame-like flavors of the dan dan mian. It's probably a matter of personal preference, but I found it a bit rich and heavy for my tastes.

In general, you really can't go wrong with Crystal Jade. Some claim that it's still not quite as good as the best dim sum in Hong Kong or Singapore, although in the same breath they say that it comes quite close. Having never really done that comparison, I can't comment on that. What I can say is that the dim sum is excellent, probably better than most, if not all, of the dim sum that is available in the US.

Plus, I think "close" to the best dim sum in the world is reason enough to visit, n'est-ce pas?

Highly recommended.

Notes: Apparently this place is very popular and can sometimes be super crowded. Definitely try to make a reservation if you can, or arrive a bit earlier. The menu is written in English (which is helpful!) and the service is excellent. You can easily reach Xin Tian Di by cab or by subway (Xin Tian Di stop on Line 10 or South Hangpi Road on Line 1). Check rail times! Line 10 just opened in April and has limited hours. We learned the hard way that it closes pretty early (like 8 PM or something) and got stuck having to hail a cab from another random station!

Crystal Jade
2/F South Block Xintiandi Ln
123 Xingye Lu
Shanghai, China 200031
上海市卢湾区兴业路123弄

This is part 11 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. 

Other posts in this series: 

part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing

part 2: Xian'r Lao Man (handmade dumplings)

part 3: Made in China (Peking duck)

part 4: Noodle Bar (hand pulled noodles)

part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling (handmade dumplings)

part 6: Da Dong (Peking duck)

part 7: Jia Jia Tang Bao (Soup dumplings / xiao long bao)

part 8: Yang's Fry Dumpling (Pan fried steamed buns / shen jian bao)

part 9: Din Tai Fung (dumplings)

part 10: Eating At the World Expo 

China: Lost in Translation

Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks

Da Dong {Beiing, China}

How often do you get to eat some of the best Peking duck in the world four times in one week?

I personally don't love Peking duck (if you haven't picked up by now, I'm not a huge meat eater), but it's one of Bryan's favorite foods, so while we were in the mecca of Peking Duck Land, it seemed imperative that we at least check out the best places.

There are several of those.

We only had a week in Beijing.

So guess what? We ended up eating Peking duck almost every night.

I already described in a previous post Bryan's favorite Peking duck restaurant in China. Although I agree that Made In China has a beautiful ambiance, excellent duck, and superb service, I personally enjoyed my experience at Da Dong the most.

Unlike Made In China, which is beautiful, high-class, and quite westernized in many ways (it IS in the Grand Hyatt Hotel after all), Da Dong feels like the authentic Asian deal. It's bright, loud, and the service is fast. The space is still very nice, but you don't feel like you have to step lightly, use low voices, or keep your elbows off the table. For me, that meant I felt more comfortable in my casual outfit (Domo!) and much more at ease in general.

The menu itself is HUGE (literally, look at the picture!) and is filled with mouthwatering photos of TONS of dishes. Even though their duck is very famous, they actually have a diverse menu full of many interesting dishes. All the dishes are plated beautifully, and the menu is truly a delight just to peruse. Thankfully, it's written in English too!

Of course we ordered a Peking duck. Their ducks are unique in that they are super lean. Unlike most Peking duck, which is fatty, Da Dong's signature dish is the "Extra-lean Peking Duck." The duck is refreshingly flavorful and crisp yet not fatty at all.

Bryan still preferred the duck at Made In China, which was a bit juicer (ha ha, probably due to extra fat?). However, the duck here is still VERY GOOD and definitely a joy to eat.

What's also cool is that their servers teach you how to eat Peking Duck if you've never had it before. For example, in Beijing you are supposed to dip the skin in sugar and eat it plain. No wrappers, no sauce. You then make little "rolls" with the wrappers using duck meat from either the breast or the leg. Add hoisin sauce, scallions, cucumbers, or whatever you fancy. There are a number of different types of wrappers you can make. For example, you can also use the mashed garlic, pickled vegetables, or any other combination of the condiments that they bring you.

Here's Bryan willing to get his hands dirty to dig into his favorite food. [Bryan usually HATES getting his hands dirty and won't even eat oranges if he has to peel them.]

They also gave us these fun little sesame puffs. The puffs were completely empty inside so you could fill them with some duck and veggies to make a little sandwich.

As I mentioned earlier, Da Dong has an amazing selection of other types of food, which is actually the main reason I like Da Dong more than the other Peking Duck places we tried. As I flipped through the menu I wanted to order everything but knew I couldn't. Next to me I saw a table of 10 who had ordered up a storm. I was so jealous!!

We ordered just a few extra dishes. Each dish is presented beautifully and is surprisingly really reasonably-priced. I think all of our side dishes were well under $10 US each.  Above, a beautiful braised eggplant.

Fun little tofu starters. The yellow one is more of a tofu custard with a spicy/savory meat sauce inside. The white one is traditional silken soft tofu with a savory black sauce inside (seaweed maybe? I can't remember). Both were absolutely delicious.

Of course, you end with a bowl of delicious, creamy duck soup.

I was already super pleased with this place when they brought out the free desserts!

I almost cracked up at the over-the-top presentation. You can't really tell from the picture, but there's DRY ICE below the grapes. As they bring you your plate, white wisps of gas billow out, surrounding the grapes in this sort of unreal glow.

And it's STILL not over! Next came the free sweet corn ice cream. I know this may sound gross to some of you, but it was FANTASTIC! I love the sweet creamy taste of corn already and I love ice cream, so it was inevitable that I would totally love this dessert. I ate both mine and Bryan's, heh heh.

Overall, my total experience at Da Dong was super fun and relaxed. Not only is the Peking duck excellent, the entire experience is fun. From the front row "show" of the duck carving to the beautifully presented dishes and the wacky desserts at the end, I just had a great time there.

I think I also felt relaxed because the prices are so reasonable. True, the duck costs about the same as the duck at Made In China (around 200RMB a duck, or $30 US). However, the rest of the dishes were really reasonable, and you get so many random freebies it's actually an excellent value.

Definitely check this place out if you have time while you're in Beijing. It was one of my favorite restaurants there, and I would happily go back with a large crowd to sample all the other dishes if I had a chance. I believe they have several locations throughout Beijing. We went to the one in Chaoyang, which was near our hotel.

This is part 6 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. 
Other posts in this series: 
part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing
part 2: Xian'r Lao Man (Dumplings)
part 3: Made in China {Peking Duck}
part 4: Noodle Bar
part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling
China: Lost in Translation
Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks