Din Tai Fung

The long awaited Din Tai Fung at the Del Amo Mall in Torrance is finally open. They were supposed to open in September but didn't make that deadline. Instead, they opened November 7th. As the saying goes, "better late than never".

Sandi and I dashed to the mall yesterday for a very early dinner. For those of you already familiar with the restaurant, you know it is common to have a line of people waiting to get in. We were there before 4:30 on a weekday and there were just 3 people ahead of us. Of course work hasn't gotten around yet since they just opened.

We had to order their famous Pork Xiaolongbao. These are dumplings that have soup inside. You have to know how to eat this properly or you get splattered from the soup all over your face and your outfit. Our friend Ana taught us the proper way. First you pour vinegar and soy sauce on the little dish with shredded ginger. You pick one of the dumplings with your chopsticks and dip it in the sauce. You then lay it on the spoon and bite the very tip off, then immediately suck or drink the soup. Then and only then can you consume the dumpling. Try not to cross your eyes after that first sip as the old wives tale says; if the wind blows while your eyes are crossed, it will stay that way! I don't believe it because Ana used to cross her eyes all the time from ecstasy and she still has perfect eyes.

We ordered the other entree we couldn't do without. Shrimp and Pork Wontons with Spicy Sauce. It is so good especially after you mix in all the sauce. We had to have noodles so we had the Shredded Pork Fried Noodles. It was delicious. Sandi thought it was a bit greasy but I liked the grease! We had no problems finishing everything. There was nothing to take home.

The most exciting thing was the arrival of their new dessert which they already had in the Philippines. The Chocolate & Mochi Xiaolongbao. They are warm dumplings with chocolate inside. Best way to eat this is to eat it with your hands. You first pick it up and stretch it open and you see the chocolate ooze out.  You can then pop half in your mouth and savor the chewy mochi and the very good dark chocolate. You can almost hear the angels playing the harp. We thought we were in heaven! Note that if there are 3 of you, you should have 2 orders because it will be hard to eat just one or two.

As we left, we saw the "surgeons" making the chocolate xiaolongbao. There were more people in line by the time we left. I don't know what the lunch crowd is like but I'm sure I will soon find out. It will be nice not to go all the way to South Coast Plaza to eat at Din Tai Fung since we now have one just around the corner.