Ding Tai Fung (Tampines Mall)

One of the more popular Chinese Restaurant chains around, Ding Tai Fang is ranked by the New York Time's as one of the World's Top Ten Best Restaurants. The question is whether its really good enough for such a prestigious title.

I guess the first question that comes to mind is: "Why give a contact number if they can't accept reservations?" Maybe for business purposes or general complaints but it certainly doesn't facilitate me in the least.

You can get to the restaurant very easily, simply go up the escalator and voila! The restaurant is right in front of you. The question is if you should go in or hold out for a different location for food. In this situation, i chose to enter with my gf for a meal since she's never tried it before.

The place was actually packed when we came and so we had to take a number and wait outside. Apparently, in my absence, this place has become a choice location for many heartlanders to have their meals. Is it really that good?

Makes you wonder what these people are doing doesn't it? Their actually making Xiao Long Baos for our consumption but i'd like to liken their particular sneaky looking gesture to a dissection on an operating table. Oooo...whets your appetite no?

Appetiser - The appetizer is not free just in case you thought otherwise. This little dish is about $5 if i remember correctly and its a mixed bag of tastes. Its sour, spicy, sweet and salty all at the same time but surprisingly gave me a bigger appetite. Still, its a little too oily and a little too expensive for a starter.

Fried Rice with Prawns - I ordered fried rice for myself as i remembered it being pretty good in this restaurant and indeed, its still nicely done. It comes with a generous amount of prawns as you can see and still has the concentrated egg taste in the rice. Fragrant and tasty but my gf found it a little too salty for her tastes and that is true as well. At $10 for this dish, it does come off as overpriced though.

Dan Dan Mian - We were actually asking the waitress for a recommendation and she recommended their famous Dan Dan Mian which i have never tried before. It came as quite of a shock when we tasted it though, it was salty and the paste tasted like a mixture of peanuts, sweet sauce and chilli. The noodles (la mian) were springy but lacked any taste on their own. In short, not something i would order again.

Xiao Long Bao - Their famous Xiao Long Bao tasted as it should be but i did find the the gravy in the buns to be insufficient and not hot enough. The meat was average but good enough and the skin of the buns can be stretched without bursting open which are all the makings of a good dish. Coupled with vinegar, this tastes much better but i honestly expected better.

Bill: Total bill came up to about $35 for 2 people which is a little too much for the average food we had.

I could not say the food here was very bad but i have to say i am not impressed nor satisfied with their current food standards because i remembered them as offering better food at a much lower price. Now, i do believe i won't be back for a second try and my gf certainly expressed her disappointment at their lackluster 'delicacies' as well.