- 10 things that are wrong with Din Tai Fung,
as compared to typical American Chinese restaurants.
I'm Chris, this is Yellow Productions.
I do travel guides that are fun, informative, entertaining.
I love Chinese food and Din Tai Fung
is my favorite Chinese restaurant.
But it didn't used to be because I didn't know about it.
They've recently started opening here in the US
and across the world.
If you've never heard of it, it's a chain from Taiwan
that serves northern style Chinese food.
There are most famous for their xiao long bao.
I'll tell you about that later.
If you're like me, and you're from America
and you've eaten in a lot of Chinese restaurants,
your frame of reference for Din Tai Fung
will fail you a little bit but in this video,
I'm gonna help you if it's your first time coming
to know all the things that you're gonna think
are wrong with it.
But spoiler alert, it's really delicious, you should come.
The first thing that's wrong with Din Tai Fung is the menu.
What are all these things on the menu?
And where are my American Chinese classics?
Where's the broccoli beef?
Where's the orange chicken?
Where's the Kung Pao chicken?
And you know what I don't think Din Tai Fung
thinks very kindly of General Tso,
because his chicken is nowhere to be found,
why is this, what's on the menu?
Well, apparently it's Chinese food
that Chinese people actually eat.
What a concept.
The second thing that's wrong with Din Tai Fung
are the floors and the tables.
They are not sticky at all.
There's something wrong with that.
I am used to going into Chinese restaurants
and hearing my feet go (smacks).
And when I put my elbows on the table,
having to have some effort to take my elbows back up again.
Because how am I gonna know that the diners at that table
actually had a good time before me,
if I can't see the residue from their previous meal.
And not just the tables being clean,
but the things and sauces on the table are super clean
and always full.
Why is that?
Well, because they don't just sit on the table all day.
They actually put those items on the table new
for every guest.
Number three, the waiters and waitresses, they aren't rude
and there is just something wrong with this
because Chinese restaurants have a reputation
not just in the US but around the world
for having really rude waitstaff.
The kind of waitstaff that doesn't pay attention to you,
the kind of waitstaff that makes you ask for things
about three times.
At Din Tai Fung they are quite nice.
Actually, they're so nice they'll go out of their way
to explain how to eat the food here.
They'll make the sauce at the table for you.
And speaking of how to eat the food,
they actually did that while we were shooting this video.
Our waiter came over and explained the way you eat
the xiao long bao, is you put it on your spoon,
you nibble on it a little bit to let the steam out,
you drink the soup, and you put some ginger on it.
And by the way, you should've dipped in that sauce
made earlier and then down the hatch.
But I'm used to going to Chinese restaurants
where I get my food and really wonder
how I'm supposed to eat it.
Okay, now this one is really wrong.
Not only is the kitchen in Din Tai Fung open,
it's actually on display.
You know most Chinese restaurants I think by principle,
hide their kitchen way back in the back
that you can't see anything in there
'cause they don't want you to have any idea what's going on.
But Din Tai Fung puts it right up at the front
and actually makes a spectacle for you to look at
but really isn't it more exciting to wonder
what's going on back there?
Number five, when the food does finally come to your table,
it's not greasy or oily.
You know I think most Chinese restaurants have a requirement
about how much grease and oil has to go into their food
but Din Tai Fung after you eat it,
it actually leaves you feeling fairly light and fairly fresh
and not weighed down by a ton of oil and grease.
And number six, Din Tai Fung is really consistent.
Every time you order it, the food comes out the same.
It has almost no difference to what chef is in the back.
Traditionally Chinese restaurants, you go there
and wanna order an item and they're like,
yeah that chef that makes that item isn't here today.
So you'll have to come back tomorrow
when they're actually working.
Number seven, the tea cup and the tea pots,
they aren't chipped.
Actually they're not even
the traditional American Chinese restaurant tea cup
and tea pots.
It's a unique tea cup and the tea pot,
it's a whole thermal canister that keeps the tea really hot
and warm the whole time you're eating there, so strange.
The eighth thing that's wrong with Din Tai Fung
is the very orderly seating process.
Now if you've been to like Dim Sum restaurants
in Los Angeles, New York City,
you'll know what I'm talking about.
The mob at the host or hostess desk,
where they're calling numbers and shouting like crazy
to get seated.
At Din Tai Fung people stand in line
and you can actually make reservations on Yelp
for many of their locations.
Number nine, the restrooms at Din Tai Fung,
they're actually clean.
They actually clean them not just once a day,
but every 15 minutes.
And the last thing that's wrong with Din Tai Fung,
when you get the bill, there's no fortune cookie.
How am I gonna know whether to play the lottery tonight,
whether I'm gonna win and what my numbers are?
But what the bill does come with,
it comes with a pen that actually works
and isn't chained down.
Hey, by the way,
if you didn't pick it up through all of this,
these things that are wrong,
they're totally sarcastic, Din Tai Fung is really delicious.
And you know what I'm not saying that
other Chinese restaurants aren't too,
those ones are great too but Din Tai Fung is really good.
And so if you've never eaten here, you should check it out.
And by the way speaking of Taiwan
since this is a chain from Taiwan,
if you've never seen my travel videos from Taiwan,
well you might wanna check them out.
Right here is a video all about Taiwanese night markets
where you can see all about more tasty food in Taiwan.
As usual, I won't say goodbye
because I'm gonna go ahead and see you in this video.