Being long time California residents my wife and I have dined many times at Din Tai Fung restaurants. In fact it was while enjoying another fabulous lunch at their South Coast Plaza location early this year that we found out the first Din Tai Fung on the East Coast would open on Broadway, Manhattan, NY around July. WHOO HOO ! We had just started planning our 2 week vacation centered around the US Tennis Open in Sept so it would be a big thrill to dine at this new location in Manhattan.
AND WE DID ! In the 2nd week of our vacation in New York, NY we decided it was time to have lunch here. On Thurs, Sept 12th we took the subway from near our apartment in Upper Manhattan and walked along Broadway looking for a big restaurant. WHAT’S THIS ! Pretty soon we saw a pretty little building at street level with Din Tai Fung written on it. We approached the young female hostess guarding the entrance. Can we put our name down for a table ? Now back in California it is virtually impossible to nail a reservation at any Din Tai Fung restaurant so we always turn up early and put our name down at the hostess desk . . it’s usually a one to 2 hour wait until they text us.
OH NO ! The young hostess told us no reservation no entry . . we do not take walk-ins. That put us in a bit of a bind . . . if it’s not today then it may not happen. INITIATIVE ! My wife quickly jumped on Yelp to make a reservation and somehow scored one within 15 minutes. WE’RE IN ! The hostess said we could go downstairs to the reception desk. EYE POPPIN’ ! Every Din Tai Fung we have dined at in California has a certain beauty, a style that fits in with the locality. The opulence on view here was almost over the top . . unlike anything we had seen before. A charming hostess named Molly escorted us through the center of the enormous restaurant adorned with pretty Chinese lanterns to our table.
Now even though this is an extremely beautiful restaurant . . the food, drinks and service will be no different to any other location. AND IT WAS SO ! A server named Yi politely introduced herself . . . we asked for glasses of cold water and an Allagash White ( Belgian-style wheat beer ) on tap. And we were going to order pretty much the same 6 items on the menu that are our favs. A food runner brought us a carafe of cold water and glasses very quickly. A lovely server named Mariah delivered my ice cold Allagash White . . a very refreshing beer ! Around this time the acting manager named Jerel stopped by to thank us for choosing this restaurant.
Now even though this subterranean mega location is humongous and was totally packed out . . there was ample space between all the tables so nobody felt squeezed in. KEEPIN’ IT CLASSY ! Of course here we were handed real printed menus . . not menu receipts. When Yi our server returned we placed our lunch order for 1 x Shrimp & Pork Spicy Wontons, 1 x String Beans with Garlic, 1 x Shrimp & Pork Dumplings, 1 x Shrimp & Pork Potstickers, 1 x Noodles with Sesame Sauce and 1 x Pork Shanghai Rice Cakes. The service at every Din Tai Fung is always fast, efficient and very polite . . just the way we like it. WHAM BAM !
Before we knew it a procession of food runners delivered our lunch items one after the other. We like to see everything in front of us. IT’S ALL GOOD ! The String Beans with Garlic is always a stand out, the Noodles with Sesame Sauce is irresistible and the Pork Shanghai Rice Cakes are too good to be true. We had half of everything boxed to take with us. We don’t waste food this good. We loved our lunch experience at this beautiful restaurant. MAKE YOUR RESERVATION SOON !
