Ding Tai Fung

Still the same exact menu, workers, and WiFi before the name change.

Both their crab and pork xiao long bao are our go to and certainly not be missed.

Tried a few new items on this trip - dan dan noodles and fried mantou.

Dan dan noodles were cooked well but the dish was just overwhelming heavy. It needed some kind of sweetness or acid to cut the dish. Okay to share but wayyyy too much for me.

Fried mantou - they used the twisty buns - crispy and warm - couldn't go wrong with condensed milk.

Retried their beef rolls - after having them a handful of times in LA, I noticed instead of cilantros, here they used sliced scallions. Reminded me more Peking duck especially with the plum sauce. Overall - thought it was okay. I personally prefer fresh cilantro any day.

Overall - will continue to be our go to for all soup dumplings cravings. Until next year Ding Tai Fung/Xiao Long Bao.

Environment: Very bright and big with tables from 2-a whole party! There's also a private room or two if you plan to have a group event.

Servers: busy as ever. Always serving and serving and serving but they were all nice and patient.

Food:
1. Kaofu (idk the spelling). Soy dishes that are tofu-like were good. Can't eat this in the state's so I'm glad I could have some here!
2. Big bowl of seafood, veggies, and fun see. It was a light dish as the flavors was not overpowering or salty.
3. Xiao Long Bao: lots of juice and the quality of it is much better, I mean...these people have been making dumplings for years at this place
4. Pork chop rice. This was a little sad. The pork was dry and yeah...sad.
5. Fried man tao (bread): loved it. Can only eat this in Canada (no way in my state). Super crunchy on the outside layer and soft on the inside. You can dip condensed milk if you like but I like it plain :)
6. Wonton noodles. Noodles were handmade for sure so...so.....it was....not very good haa. It soaked up ALL the soup before we started eating it and it was still hard and dry. The wonton was really good with a nice mixture of greens and pork.
I would go back to DTF for their xiao long bao (cheaper than the states'!) and their small dishes.

I've been going here for quite sometime. My go to dishes are of course the pork soup dumplings, hot/sour soup, spicy wonton and sweet/sour pork. I've tried some of their other dishes but weren't too impressed.

I always go with my husband so there's only so much we can order for 2 people (usually 2-3 dishes). If we do go with more people, we'd definitely order the other dishes like their dumplings, pancakes, etc.

This place has the best soup dumplings and hot/sour soup in the city IMO.

My family and I went here this weekend for dinner. We ordered the:

* 2 orders of regular XLB
* 1 order of crab XLB
* pan-fried pork dumplings
* pan-fried pork and chive pockets
* stewed beef pancake wrap
* stir fried rice cakes with pickled cabbage and shredded pork
* stir fried string beans with minced pork

All the dishes were really good except the beef pancake wrap. I wish the wrap had more scallions and was more crispier.

Flavour! The only word I could think of while trying the juicy vegetarian dumplings. Very generous with the size and filling. I was taking this place for a "test drive" because I was in the area and wanted some quick takeout. Bright and spacious setting with a modern look and very clean bathrooms. I am definitely going to return for sit down dim sum.

The Bad: chicken marinated with wine, pan-fried dumplings.
The Good: soup dumplings, wonton with spicy sauce.
The Surprisingly Good: beef tendon in chili sauce, shrimp and egg fried rice.

I personally wasn't a fan of neither the pan-fried pork dumplings nor the chicken marinated with wine. The fried dumpling skin was rather thick and the pork was overcooked. The chicken was unusually bland for it to have been marinated. Thankfully, their soup dumplings and spicy wontons did not disappoint. What surprised me were the beef tendon in chili sauce and the shrimp and egg fried rice. The tendons were quite tender considering it's a cold dish and went well with the chili sauce. As for the fried rice, it's such a simple dish that anyone can make but it's hardly ever memorable. Most fried rices taste the same but this particular fried rice just tasted better.

This DTF location is larger than the one at First Markham Place. Finding parking depends on your luck and timing as it shares a parking lot with a few other stores. Service is on the slower side.

Do NOT mistaken this restaurant for Din Tai Fung, the international chain based in Taiwan. I would have given two stars but the obvious play on the name is very disturbing to me as I'm sure it would be to DTF.

The restaurant is fairly large and well lit. The first thing you don't notice as you approach the restaurant is the lack of a line stretching out the door. The second thing you won't see as you enter is the demonstration kitchen where at least a half-dozen employees are busy rolling, filling and folding dumplings. There are large windows and a demonstration area at the back of the restaurant but there was no real activity going on there.

The menu is in English and Chinese while the ordering sheet is in Chinese only. The items do correspond by number so ordering is still fairly straight forward and simple.

I'm not going to break down everything we ordered and ate but suffice it to say that the flavors were weak and the temperatures too cool for my preference. The XLB come six to an order instead of ten and didn't hold the temperature as expected. The soup was sparse and bland. The vinegar on the table was red instead of black.

The best part was that I didn't pay. My brother did!

The restaurant is bigger than the Markham shop and more comforatble to sit and move around.

Xiao long bao is very good but the Shanghai fried noodles is a bit wet and soft. Overall is still fine.

I think this place deserves a review considering I've been eating here almost every other week! I take my family here, I take my friends, I take my dates, and even my out of town visitors! This place has become a home for my taste-buds, the soup dumplings are something I can't go more than a few weeks without.

Recently, I've had the chance to eat at one of the Ding Tai fung in Taipei, and dare I say I think I like the one in Toronto more. The only difference is that the xiao long bao in Taipei had a thinner wrap.

Although the menus differ from restaurant to restaurant, make sure to try the xiao long bao, braised pork belly, braised beef noodles,dan dan noodles, chilli wontons, and rice with vegetables.

I've been coming here since it opened as Xiao Long Bao. Same people. Same food. The place is nice and large and can get quite busy for lunch on weekends. Open till 11 PM, it's good for a later dinner too. I enjoy coming here for the different dumplings.

This visit, we ordered a hot and sour soup, xiao long bao, steamed chive dumplings, spicy oil dumplings and a sticky rice roll (my favourite). Honestly this time all the dumplings' skin were a little dry and got a little hard, so it didn't seem as good. I'll probably still come back and hope it's better next time, because the taste is good. The spicy oil dumplings are very flavourful. Their rice roll was small but good, one of my favourite items at these kind of restaurants.

Price is on the slightly higher end for Shanghai style food, the meal for two ended up around $33. Once again, hopefully the next time it's better again.