Din Tai Fung
I have no Idea why it has taken me so freaking long to post a review of this restaurant up; I went here January 21st. Maybe it was because it was the very last day I was going to be hanging out with Michael for three months (he joined the Marines and is at boot camp right now.)?
Regardless it is time I finally write this review.
Michael's mom has been wanting to go to a Dim Sum joint in Bellevue for a little bit now and what day then this day to go out to the land of rich bitches and get our grub on.
I haven't been to Bellevue Square for quite sometime now and it has change dramatically! For instance the mall is now a collection of three buildings called the Bellevue Experience and one of the buildings has expensive carpeting! I know because walking on it felt like walking on pillow of clouds... and that's with shoes on!
Upon arriving at Din Tai Fung I realize that I have seen an article on this before.
It didn't take us long to get seated; we got there just early enough to only wait ten to fifteen minutes.
As soon as we looked at the menu we realized that this wasn't going to be a Dim Sum experience that Michael's Mom, Eileen once claimed. It wasn't until later that this is actually called a Xiaolongbao or a Dumpling House. The main difference is that the dumplings have little pockets of soup cooked with it and although some of the dishes they offer mirror that of their Dim Sum counter part it is actually very different in flavor.
Take for instance their Shu Mai, because of the soup pocket underneath the ground pork it taste different yet still has enough of the same familiar taste that make it undeniably Shu Mai.
We got two Juicy Pork Dumplings, two Shrimp & Pork Dumplings, and each tray came with 10 pieces of dumplings!
We also ordered Shrimp and Pork Wonton in Spicy Sauce and I somehow was able to tolerate the heat, LOL.
The low light has to be their Pork Chop Fired Rice. It was okay but it has nothing over say BBQ Pork Fried Rice you would get at other Chinese Restaurants.
Overall this was a very satisfying experience to say the least. Question is would I ever go out of my way to come back here? I can't say for sure because this is my first experience with this type of food. One of the biggest hindrance would have to be the fact that the final bill came out to about $120! I could feed the same four people; Eileen, Michael's sister Joey, Michael, and I for half that price at least! However I really did felt like it was some quality made stuff, especially since we saw a literal army of people preparing dumplings from scratch.
That's why I need to check out some joints nearer such as Ping's Dumpling House or even Hard Wok Cafe which isn't necessarily Soup Dumplings exclusive.
For the time though I have to disagree with what The Stranger says and I would be more than willing to come here again... as long as it's ahead of the rush that is.
By the time we left the joint there was a huge line that had developed while we were getting our grub on. I can't imagine how long they had to wait. It also doesn't help things that the waiting area is next to a sky bridge entrance so the people waiting got a nice dose of cold air very often.
Oh, and this is also a sign of how rich bitch Bellevue is. We walked pass a group of five 12 year old girls and all of them have iPhones! Bet you anything it's the latest version and they don't have unlimited data! Sheesh!
-Peace
Regardless it is time I finally write this review.
Michael's mom has been wanting to go to a Dim Sum joint in Bellevue for a little bit now and what day then this day to go out to the land of rich bitches and get our grub on.
I haven't been to Bellevue Square for quite sometime now and it has change dramatically! For instance the mall is now a collection of three buildings called the Bellevue Experience and one of the buildings has expensive carpeting! I know because walking on it felt like walking on pillow of clouds... and that's with shoes on!
Upon arriving at Din Tai Fung I realize that I have seen an article on this before.
It didn't take us long to get seated; we got there just early enough to only wait ten to fifteen minutes.
As soon as we looked at the menu we realized that this wasn't going to be a Dim Sum experience that Michael's Mom, Eileen once claimed. It wasn't until later that this is actually called a Xiaolongbao or a Dumpling House. The main difference is that the dumplings have little pockets of soup cooked with it and although some of the dishes they offer mirror that of their Dim Sum counter part it is actually very different in flavor.
Take for instance their Shu Mai, because of the soup pocket underneath the ground pork it taste different yet still has enough of the same familiar taste that make it undeniably Shu Mai.
We got two Juicy Pork Dumplings, two Shrimp & Pork Dumplings, and each tray came with 10 pieces of dumplings!
We also ordered Shrimp and Pork Wonton in Spicy Sauce and I somehow was able to tolerate the heat, LOL.
The low light has to be their Pork Chop Fired Rice. It was okay but it has nothing over say BBQ Pork Fried Rice you would get at other Chinese Restaurants.
Overall this was a very satisfying experience to say the least. Question is would I ever go out of my way to come back here? I can't say for sure because this is my first experience with this type of food. One of the biggest hindrance would have to be the fact that the final bill came out to about $120! I could feed the same four people; Eileen, Michael's sister Joey, Michael, and I for half that price at least! However I really did felt like it was some quality made stuff, especially since we saw a literal army of people preparing dumplings from scratch.
That's why I need to check out some joints nearer such as Ping's Dumpling House or even Hard Wok Cafe which isn't necessarily Soup Dumplings exclusive.
For the time though I have to disagree with what The Stranger says and I would be more than willing to come here again... as long as it's ahead of the rush that is.
By the time we left the joint there was a huge line that had developed while we were getting our grub on. I can't imagine how long they had to wait. It also doesn't help things that the waiting area is next to a sky bridge entrance so the people waiting got a nice dose of cold air very often.
Oh, and this is also a sign of how rich bitch Bellevue is. We walked pass a group of five 12 year old girls and all of them have iPhones! Bet you anything it's the latest version and they don't have unlimited data! Sheesh!
-Peace