Din Tai Fung University Village
| Address: | 2621 NE 46th St #163, Seattle, WA 98105, USA |
| Phone: | +1 206-525-0958 |
| Site: | dintaifungusa.com |
| Rating: | 4.5 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 10AM–10PM 10AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
JO
Jon Conley
The Best Dumplings, The Best String Beans, The Best Everything Din Tai Fung is worth it. Define "it?" Probably a bill between $85-200, depending on the size of your party. For enough food for three adults, youre probably looking at about $90. Each dumping is basically $1-1.10; but they are expertly created and perfectly cooked that you shouldnt hold back if youre craving quality food. Simply put: this is as good as Taiwanese cooking gets, in my opinion. Its better than Rocking Wok, which is my other go-to in regards to Taiwanese cuisine. The only thing Ive ever gotten which didnt live up to the hype are the pork buns. They simply werent flavorful enough for the price. Everything else has been absolutely amazing. Dont miss the spicy wantons or the xiaolongbao. I would skip potstickers and just get another order of soup dumplings or garlic string beans; or fried rice, or anything! Look, Im going to level with you: is unlikely that youll ever experienced a sad meal here. Its a great place to eat with friends or family, and a great spot to take a date. Seating is a bit annoying; and if the food werent so magnificent, Id ding them a star. You cant make reservations (which is already silly), and they dont text your phone unless the wait is over an hour. We had to awkwardly hover outside, and we missed our table, because the concierge didnt announce to our side of the waiting area, and spoke very softly. When we went back inside, there were dozens of free tables, and plenty of wait staff; so its an artificial wait time, when the restaurant isnt packed (which is rare); an annoying practice which they should nix immediately. Small annoyance aside, this is one of the best Asian restaurants in the city. The wait staff is awesome and the food is impeccable. Absolutely visit this place on an empty stomach.
WI
Will Scott
Finally, a Din Tai Fung in Seattle proper! Din Tai Fung is really the only instance of a swanky mainland China restaurant chain succeeding in the US. The chain, with locations in California, and Beijing / Shanghai, is based around dumplings. As you enter, a show kitchen on the left shows off the dumpling production line. The Restaurant is quite a hit for its consistently good quality, and its name recognition. Be prepared! The wait at peak times can easily be over an hour. They dont take reservations, but once you put your name on the list you can browse the shopping mall until they text you that a table is ready. The ambiance works pretty well. The U District location has a lot of tabled packed into the space, resulting in a relatively high level of chatter in the dining area. It certainly doesnt get in the way of conversation. For food, dumplings are clearly a must. The Soup dumplings are what Din Tai Fung is known for, but note that theyre only available on weekends. Lucikly, the standard pork dumplings are also also not far off from what you would hope for in a XiaoLongBao. The appetizers are all delicious, and mostly work well for sharing. But really, stick with dumpling for the most part and you wont go wrong. The dumpling deserts are amazing if youre in a large enough group to split 10 of them. In particular, I get totally excited about the sesame filled sweet dumpling. Overall, a solid restaurant worthy of its success. Expect $30 per person for a big meal, and come with an appetite for dumpling!
JO
John Xu
For those of you who arent familiar with this place, Din Tai Fung is a pretty big name globally in terms of Taiwanese food, especially Xiao Long Bao. Ive been to one of these in Taipei 101 which was delicious, as well as one in Shanghai. Besides Xiao Long Bao, they have a variety of other dishes as well, ranging from noodles, soups, veggies, and desserts. This specific location is located in university village, a very nice outdoor mall that you can walk around. Parking is very convenient in the attached parking garage, and the best part is that its free. We had a party of 7 people, and got there at 5:30 on a Wednesday so luckily there was no wait, but the restaurant was already close to capacity. We ordered quite a few dishes, including the pork xiao long bao, pork and crab xiao long bao, garlic fried green beans, garlic spinach, fried rice with pork chop, wontons in spicy chili sauce, noodles with minced pork, noodles in sesame sauce, etc... Main disappointment was with the xiao long baos. The ones we got were lukewarm, and fairly tasteless with a weird consistency. Usually theyre too hot to eat instantly and you need to let the steam out so it cools down. However, this was not the case... Ive definitely had better xiao long bao in other places. The other dishes were good, but overall everything was on the pricey side. Definitely dont think this place is worth the hypes and price premium.
RU
Rutillo Chaves
Family dinner, daughters 21st b-day, MON night. Food tasted BETTER than Bellevue branch/SUBPAR. Server attentive. Simple/easy ordering system; selections made/quantity indicated on order form (researched prior to arrival). Ordered food served in no time at all. Sweet and Sour Spareribs - did NOT resemble the photo depicted on website - too dark; almost dry - tasty; nothing "to write home about" Pork Xiao Long Bao, and Pork & Crab Xiao Long Bao - ordered for comparison - "okay"; UNINSPIRING (5-star reviewers must have altered tastebuds) Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic - not bad (only vegetable daughter will eat) - long/"skinny" green beans (chopped short) would be best Wontons with Spicy Sauce - daughters choice - "okay"; addition of chili oil did NOT enhance flavor Pork Chop Fried Rice - pork chop tender/tasty - fried rice "okay"; highly recommend teenagers consume - wont have pimple problems; so GREASY, pimples would just slide off Meal price INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL to food flavor/taste! If you have money to burn, eat here. If common sense prevails and you place value on your hard-earned money, eat someplace else! It was nice for the three of us to eat out as a family, but wife and I will NOT return - just NOT worth it.
BE
Belinda Jin
It was my second time having food in this restaurant. First time had DIN TAI FUNG, was 4 years ago. Since it was super late night, I could still remember that we spent 1 hour to only order Pork & Crab XiaoLongBaos. They were awesome and Tasty. For this reason, my friend and I went back to DIN TAI FUNG in 2016 spring when we were traveling in the University of Washington. We went to the restaurant in the late afternoon about 3 or 4 pm before the dinner time. Luckily, we didn’t wait for so long to get in. We ordered more than food this time. We had Noodle Soup with Pickled Mustard Greens & Shredded Pork, Pork & Crab XiaoLongBaos, Hot & Sour Soup, and Seaweed & Beancurd In a Vinegar Dressing. All the food were tasty, but my favorite food is still Pork & Crab XiaoLongBaos. I love the juicy. Other food was decent. The hot&Sour Soup was a little bit from my expectations. It’s not so hot. About the price, this restaurant is a little bit expensive with a small portion of the food. Other than that everything was great. All in all, if you go to Seattle or visit the University of Washington, you should definitely go to DIN TAI FUNG. You not only can eat awesome Chinese food there, but you also can get an opportunity to see how they hand make the dumplings and XiaoLongBaos in the windows.
