Cravings for Beef Noodle Soup

The packaging and the reality

The last few years I lived in Hong Kong, my office was above a gourmet supermarket called CitySuper, which stocked food like fresh oysters, truffles and foie gras, but also miso paste, tomato sauce and rice. 

One treat I used to get was a box of the Regent Taipei's signature beef noodle soup from the frozen section of the store.

Inside was a vacuumed pack of frozen stock with slices of braised beef, and another of noodles.

The directions were to heat up the broth still in the packaging in boiling water, while cooking the noodles in another pot.

The best home version of beef noodles

Once they were ready then to combine them together and the result was so delicious that it was like a hug in a bowl. The broth was clear and yet so flavourful, the noodles soaked up the taste, and the beef slices were very tender.

A few weeks ago at T&T Supermarket I saw the store's own brand of stewed beef noodle soup and in the freezer section for $9.99 and I finally tried it today.

I briefly heated up the frozen broth in its packaging in warm water before emptying the pot and putting the block of stock back in it to melt over the stove. Once it was simmering, I put the packet of noodles in for a few minutes before pouring them all into a bowl.

First, the picture in the packaging is a bit misleading, as there are four small pieces of beef, but in reality there are only three! So the ratio of beef to noodles is quite low. 

Second, the broth is quite salty and tastes flat, not having much flavour. The saving grace are the chunks of tender beef and the chewy noodles.

Sadly this pack did not satisfy my beef noodle cravings -- will have to head to Din Tai Fung for that!

Din Tai Fung is Finally Open in Vancouver

The signature xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung didn't disappoint

Din Tai Fung Vancouver just opened up over a week ago and it's generated a lot of buzz to say the least. We have been anticipating its opening for at least a year and it has finally opened its doors on Alberni Street. Despite a few kinks to iron out, the Taiwanese restaurant chain has lived up to the hype.

I managed to snag a reservation during the soft opening phase by entering my email in the newsletter and we arrived this evening to try dinner here.

Sweet and sour baby back ribs were superb

For years Din Tai Fung has resisted opening in Vancouver, with supposed claims there was too much competition here (Chinese food is already excellent), they typically open in a shopping mall, or it just didn't make sense financially to set up shop here.

But perhaps they did finally find the right place -- a massive space on the second floor of a hotel/serviced apartment in downtown Vancouver. Perhaps if Din Tai Fung opened in Richmond it would be too much competition. There aren't many Chinese restaurants downtown, though Din Tai Fung happens to be a few stores down from Kirin!

We arrived a few minutes early and the reception area was absolutely chaotic with lots of people waiting around. I checked in with one of the three staff there who said it would take 20 minutes to be seated. Excuse me? That wasn't the answer I was expecting...

Sweet and crunchy Taiwanese cabbage

When tables were ready, staff would wander around to the different groups standing around, asking if they were so-and-so to take them to the dining room. It seemed inefficient and tedious, but perhaps they didn't want to go through the number-calling or name-calling route.

In the end we waited less than 10 minutes and were seated in the main hall where down at the end was a giant pane of glass where cooks in white uniforms and caps rolled out dough or wrapped dumplings. Later did I find out the restaurant was massive because down another hall there was yet another large dining space and a smaller "patio" one that was sort of enclosed.

Staff were friendly and asked if we needed instructions on how to order, but since we had eaten at other Din Tai Fung locations, we knew the drill. Was surprised to find there was no picture menu; diners had to scan a QR code to see pictures of the dishes.

Vegan dumplings choc full of vegetables

Disappointed to see no hong shao kaofu on the menu, though every other table had spicy cucumbers, as influencers had pronounced it an "iconic dish"... if that was the case, what would the xiaolongbao be described as?

We made our order on a slip of paper, and then waited. And waited. And waited... almost half an hour before our sweet and sour baby back ribs arrived. But boy were they delicious. The meat was so tender and the thick sauce whetted our appetites.

Next came the chicken xiaolongbao, as indicated by a small chicken carved out of a carrot. Both this and the kurobuta pork xiaolongbao have a mouthfeel to them; the pork in the xiaolongbaos in the Din Tai Fung in San Diego was so finely ground they were too smooth.

The vegan dumplings wrapped in green wrappers were very good, light with various mushrooms, tofu, jicama, wood ear fungus and vermicelli. We also liked the wontons in soup, a small whole shrimp wrapped with kurobuta pork in a savoury clear broth with lots of chopped green onions in it.

Braised beef shank with egg noodles in soup

For vegetables we had the string beans with minced garlic were crunchy, and the Taiwanese cabbage that had a sweetness to it, also with fried garlic slices. 

We couldn't not order the braised beef noodle soup, with a tinge of spice. The chunks of tender beef were of the shin shank, with bits of tendon in it, together with house made egg noodles and bok choy. We were pretty much full by this point, but had to try dessert...

The red bean and mochi xiaolongbao were much smaller than the savoury ones, and filled with red bean and had a slightly chewy texture from the mochi. We had 10 pieces and wished we could have split half the order with another flavour, like taro. I already gave this suggestion in the feedback survey. It's quite boring to have to eat three red bean and mochi dumplings.

The bill came to C$172.21 with tax, and including tip just under C$200 for three.

Red bean and mochi xiaolongbao for dessert

Nevertheless, despite the soft opening glitches, the food was already at a high standard and service was friendly. Hopefully the logistical issues will be sorted soon and Din Tai Fung will be the hot spot in Vancouver for a while yet.

Din Tai Fung Vancouver

1132 Alberni Street

Vancouver

 

Din Tai Fung Closes 14 Restaurants in China

The Taiwanese chain is closing 14 restaurants in China

When I was in Beijing, I was thrilled to see a Din Tai Fung open at a mall called Shin Kong Place, and ate there several times after work. 

So I was surprised to hear the Taiwanese restaurant chain known for its xiaolongbao is closing 14 stores in China, but perhaps it is indicative of the country's weak economy and how the Chinese are looking for cheaper places to eat.

The signature xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung

On Monday the company's subsidiary, Beijing Hengtai Feng Catering Company announced it will close all of its 14 restaurants in northern China, including one in Xiamen. The brand's parent company in Taipei confirmed its 18 remaining restaurants across eastern China, run by a Shanghai-based partner, will continue operations.

"We deeply apologise for the inconvenience and disappointment this decision may cause our many loyal Din Tai Fung customers," the subsidiary said in a statement on WeChat. The move will affect some 800 employees.

When China finally lifted Covid-19 restrictions, Chinese residents headed out of the country on "revenge travel", and much like Hong Kong, local restaurants lost a lot of business. And now as the property market crisis trickles down, people are more cautious with spending, and that has adversely affected restaurants.

"The current situation in China is that while there is still traffic, the consumption power is weak, including in the restaurant service industry," said Darson Chiu, a Taiwan-based economist and director general of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

At the entrance cooks make dumplings by hand

"A high-end brand like Din Tai Fung may not be able to meet the consumers' needs as they downgrade their consumption in China's current economic environment.

Indeed. Cheng Zhiwu, a professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, found that some restaurants in Nanjing offered food for a table of 10 guests for 400 yuan (US$56), or 40 yuan per head, down from the previous price of 700 yuan.

Another factor in Din Tai Fung's closures may be because a lot of expats left China, and they made about 20 to 30 percent of the restaurant chain's business. 

It was just so interesting to see a Taiwanese brand become so successful in China despite all the political sabre rattling across the South China Sea. But alas, the slowing economy has forced Din Tai Fung to retreat...

First Impressions of Hong Kong Two Years Later

Nice to be back walking along the promenade again

Woke up at 4am this morning with jet lag and couldn't get back to sleep until around 6am for another two hours. It took me a while to get organised but I finally got out the door and on a whim took the tram going west from Sai Wan Ho.

The streets were much quieter because it was Good Friday, and many people have left for the long weekend. By the time the tram reached Causeway Bay it was 11.15am and I realised Din Tai Fung was there. Vancouver is set to have one towards the end of this year, so I decided to have my dumpling fix.

Xiaolongbao looks a bit smaller at Din Tai Fung

When I got there the shutter was still down, but staff were busy in the kitchen wrapping dumplings. The restaurant actually opened before 11.30am and there were only a handful of us waiting to get the first seats.

As I perused the menu I was shocked that the prices had gone up, and not only that when the food arrived, the dumplings and other dishes looked smaller. Shrinkflation, folks. The food was still good, but for one person it cost HK$230 for pork dumplings, vegetarian dumplings and an appetiser of seaweed and beansprouts with a generous drizzle of sesame oil.

Nearby was Sogo and even though it was lunchtime it was not packed with shoppers despite encouraging its members to collect five times the points on certain products. I managed to score 20 percent off on swimming caps because I bought two.

The next stop was to see Bakehouse, a popular bakery that had opened there after I left. It was completely packed with a queue of people waiting patiently to snap up sourdough egg tarts, pastries, cookies and coffee. Amazing.

Bakehouse doing a bustling business

I then headed to Sheung Wan to buy ferry tickets to Macau in a few days. There were massive lines at TurboJet (the red ferry), while the one for Cotai (blue) was not too bad. Service was brisk with three people servicing counters for tickets to Macau as well as China. 

There weren't as many mainlanders in the city, though today is Friday. My friend and I saw a group of young people wearing the same cap with a small Winnie the Pooh stuffie on it! How ironic.

She took me to a bookshop called Mount Zero in Tai Ping Shan that will be closing at the end of the month. It has been accused by the authorities for several minor violations, including illegally occupying a space outside the shop. It's a tiny place and there were lots of people standing in front or trying to get inside to take a look. 

After that we made our trek east, walking through Central, then Admiralty towards Tamar where there were a lot of people waiting to look at... glowing eggs. It's an exhibition put on by Team Lab from Japan. There are giant eggs that you can touch and apparently make sounds and these things go all the way down the grass at Tamar into the water too. We had to fight the crowds to get to the waterfront.

Mount Zero bookstore closing soon

Almost two hours later we made it to Fortress Hill and enjoyed a Japanese meal that included grilled fugu or puffer fish, and yakitori skewers of beef, chicken, mushrooms, scallops, shishito peppers, and sweet potato, and boiled edamame washed down with sake.

Hopefully that long walk will keep jet lag at bay!

San Diego: Din Tai Fung

Love this xiaolongbao guy who greets everyone at the door!

The only place I booked ahead of arriving in San Diego to make sure we got a table was at Din Tai Fung! There are none of these Taiwanese dumpling chain restaurants in Canada and the last time I ate at Din Tai Fung was in Hong Kong almost a year ago.

Xiaolongbao with kurobuta pork

We drove about 25 minutes south to a shopping mall called Westfield UTC on La Jolla Drive. It's a huge mall complex with Nordstrom's and Macy's, and I later heard in the last few years the mall has blinged its way up the luxury brand ladder with boutiques like Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Michael Kors alongside H&M, Zara and Apple.

The mall is an outdoor shopping format, taking advantage of the weather and giving people lots of space to walk around and grab bites to eat in kiosks and restaurants scattered all over the shopping space.

Din Tai Fung has its format well established, from greeting customers outside the restaurant -- all members of the party must be present before they can be seated -- and watching the kitchen staff making dumplings right by the window. Some don't want to be photographed or videoed (despite wearing masks and head coverings) that they turn their backs slightly to the window.

Vegan dumplings with so many foldes

Over 10 years ago I visited the branch in Arcadia in Los Angeles and was impressed by the Mexicans deftly making xiaolongbao, but here the wait staff were both Asian and non-Asian which threw me off a bit. Almost all of them wore black masks along with their black uniforms, women had their hair in simple buns.

The interior is very contemporary and hardly Asian -- there are elongated booth seatings for up to four that slightly curves in on each side -- another two people can sit on the outside.

The menu is not like Hong Kong's -- was surprised to find there was no kaofu or braised wheat gluten with mushrooms and edamame, but mostly spicy dishes were there like cucumbers in chilli sauce. We ordered the seaweed and beancurd in vinegar dressing and wood ear mushrooms with vinegar dressing.

Sauteed string beans with garlic

These arrived very swiftly, followed by a slew of dumplings. The signature xiaolongbao with kurobuta pork had the memorably thin wrapper, but the filling was too pureed for my taste; it did not have a meaty, firm texture.

A new one for me was chicken dumplings with so many folds, but seemed thin with the filling and also quite pureed. The vegan dumplings were not quite what I remembered. Biting into it you couldn't quite identify everything in there by sight, though the description said there were glass noodles, bok choy, dried bean curd and shiitake mushrooms and spinach juice to dye the wrapper green.

We also had a portion of wontons in soup, sauteed broccoli with garlic and sauteed string beans with garlic, potstickers, as well as the fried rice with chicken which was very good. The vegetables were parboiled before being stir-fried to stay so crispy and fresh looking.

Fried rice with large pieces of chicken

The staff were very friendly and knew answers to all our questions. One person traveling with us has an allergy to sesame seed oil and the waitress immediately pulled out her copy of the menu with items highlighted in pink that had sesame seed oil. Impressive.

We thought we didn't have room for dessert, but we couldn't pass up the taro xiaolongbao; we could also rest our stomachs for around 10 minutes waiting for them.

They definitely hit the spot, 10 pieces and here the filling was rightly pureed, smooth and creamy, but no dairy, encased in a thin wrapper. Glorious.

Afterwards we rolled out of there, and there were many more people waiting outside for their turn to fill their stomachs with dumplings...

Taro xiaolongbao for dessert

Din Tai Fung

4301 La Jolla Village Drive

San Diego, CA

92122

(858) 375 5988