Native Taiwanese say that the Din Tai Fung (DTF) in Taipei is a tourist trap, mainly pandering to Japanese tourists. Its soup dumpling is a poor Japanese man’s version of a real soup dumpling from Shanghai. Most people agree that the Taiwanese DTF branch is better than the Arcadia branch. If that is the case, then the Arcadia branch serves a homeless American man’s version of the Shanghainese delicacy. Though still edible, the DTF Arcadia dumplings herald disappointment if you’ve ever had non-touristy shao long bao.

Shao long bao should boast a fine, translucent skin just substantial enough to shore in the velvety heartiness of seasoned meat bathing in its juices. The ones at DTF Arcadia don’t. In fact, the skin stuck to the basket, which is enough to make a dumpling advocate want to chuck the sticky offender at the chef’s forehead. Shao long bao should also be steaming hot; the DTF Arcadia ones were lukewarm and required a 45-minute wait. Worst of all, the filling of the DTF Arcadia shao long bao had a thoughtless, one-dimensional taste that let out a dumpling-curdling scream of “generic!”

I would not begrudge DTF Taipei and Arcadia so much if they were offering fast, cheap food instead. On the contrary, native Taiwanese consider DTF Taipei relatively expensive, and DTF Arcadia ain’t too cheap either. Yet, both restaurants still require lengthy waits. To me, DTF’s 15-minutes are up; it’s time to let a real dumpling house in on the dough to satisfy eager, hungry Americans. For a cheaper, tastier, and faster soup dumpling in Los Angeles, I recommend that you go try the Shanghainese restaurant (I forget the name) next to Dragon Mark in San Gabriel. You might have to bring a friend who speaks Chinese to go eat there, but you’ll be rewarded with truly inspired soup dumplings instead of the muted, monotonous Shanghai souvenirs at DTF Arcadia.

Love the xiao long bao. Other dumplings are good, but not amazing.

After the famous one in Taipei, this restaurant truly follows suit… after probably having hundreds of Xiao Long Bao in my lifetime, this place has the most delicately prepared, succuluent, juicy dumplings with a great depth of flavor.

Appetizer plates are flavorful (try the Shanghai one), and they also have very light versions of traditional Taiwanese comfort food, Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, Pork Chop Fried Rice, and Sauteed String Beans.

The 8-flavor rice and Red Bean dumplings make for a great dessert…

I wanted to review the one on East ZhongXiao Rd. in Taipei, but of course Facebook only allows US and Canadian restaurants. Bogus. Go and see/taste for yourself the best and soupiest little steamed buns (I don’t thing Xiao Long Bao = Dumplings) you’ll ever have. Super prices for an American tourist to Taiwan. Decent dimsum and good old school Taiwanese-style noodles.

Dumplings, thats all you get here. This place has a rep of its own, juicy dumplings. you have to deal with a long wait, especially if youre like me, not very chinese because this place is monsterously crowded and parking is a pain, but you get to enjoy some dumplings served in a little bamboo steamer thing. I would say come here if you happen to be in the area, but don’t go too far out of your way. You might be tempted to rave about this place, but you have to keep in mind that by the time you actually eat you are starving, so the doughy goodness makes you overly extatic. again, try if youre near arcadia.