Din Tai Fung - Lincoln Square, Bellevue. Opened in the beginning of November, this is the first location in North America
We happen to go to Lincoln square and decided to try it out. The wait was 2 1/2 hours! My suggestion is to go and put your name down first, then do your shopping and come back.
The menu list, they were so busy that they did not have any buns that day.
The dumpling soup. The skin is thin and the filling of mostly vegetable. The soup tastes like it was made with chicken bullion, or chicken stock. This was so so.
Steamed beef and noodle soup. The Beef is steamed in a light herbal soup then poured over the noodle when served. Beef was very tender and the soup was unique. Portion size is small for a $8 dish.
The steamed dumplings. We waited FOREVER for these to arrive, a good 20 minutes to half an hour Thankfully the waitress was very apologetic for the wait and kept checking up on the order for us.
The sign of a good dumpling is that it does not break when you pick it up. Yes, dumpling passes the test with flying colors. Was it good? Yes it was, the skin was very thin and the inside was juicy, however as my foodie partner pointed out, the skin has a slightly undercooked texture to it, and was too doughy for his tastes. He likes the flavoring of the filling as it is not overly seasoned. I liked the thinness of the skin and the flavor of the dumpling as a whole, but given that 1 order costs$9.50, I would have liked a bit more filling.
Stir fried rice cake. Pretty standard, but the the rice cake was a bit under cooked because it was not cut evenly.
What we liked:
- Attentive wait staff. Our waitress was very attentive and kept following up with our orders. I can't say the same for the hostess at the front of the restaurant which was very disorganized.
- Large and spacious dining area. Floor to wall glass windows, and classic decor.
- Freshly made dumplings. There is a difference when the dumplings are never frozen.
- The 2 1/2 hour wait time. This was excessive. I would suggest that you come back after a few months when the novelty has worn off.
- Portion sizes were very small given the price point. Our bill came to $50 and my boyfriend was still hungry afterward. For the same price he could have stuffed himself at the cheesecake factory across the street.
- Some of the items we tried were just average, and doesn't warrant the expensive price.
