[Taiwan] Truffle Soup Dumpling

If you're coming to Taiwan, Din Tai Fung is probably on your list of restaurants to visit.  If not, you should, because it has been voted as the #1 best restaurant in Asia (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/05/17/2003562489)!!

Though I'm not a big Xiao Long Bao (XLB) fan, I've eaten at Din Tai Fung many times.  Recently Din Tai Fung has a new item on their menu, Truffle XLB (松露小籠包)!!!  

It comes at the  jaw dropping price of NT$540 per 6 XLB, equivalent to US$3 per each little XLB.  If you think Sprinkles Cupcake is expensive, think this! Btw, my dad paid for this meal, thanks dad 😉 

The waitress suggested that we take a sip of tea first to cleanse our palette, and not to dip the XLB in any sauce in order to enjoy the truffle true flavor.  

The verdict?  My dad really enjoyed it, he loved the aroma of the truffle.  Chris also liked it, he said "I like anything mushroom" (hmmm… how about eat some cheaper mushroom?) .  As for myself and my mom, we felt the truffle indeed taste expensive, but maybe truffle is an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire? 

Anyway, I don't think Truffle XLB is available in the U.S. Din Tai Fung yet.  If you feel like a splurge, give it a try!

Here are some other items other than XLB:  cucumber (drizzled with olive oil?), and fresh bamboo shoots with mayonnaise.  Fresh bamboo shoot is definitely not available in the States, so here's another "only in Taiwan" dish to try, it tastes very different from the marinated bamboo shoots in Americanized Chinese restaurants.

My brother LOVES the fried rice from Din Tai Fung.  I can't really explain it, but according to my brother, there's whole science behind fried rice, and only very few restaurants do it right, Din Tain Fung is one of them.  The fried rice has just the right texture and every single rice flavored evenly.   Personally, I'm alright without this dish. 

And finally, thanks to my friends Kevin and Vivian for introducing me to truffle XLB~

松露小籠包這種東西…

老實說如果是我自已在菜單裡看到我可能只會訝異的說 "天哪! 怎麼有這麼貴的東西??" 然後就直接跳過吧?

第一次聽到是同學Kevin年初去美國跟我講的, 當時我聽了沒特別在意

第二次是回來後Vivian也提到她瞞著爸媽去偷吃的事 (希望V爸V媽沒看我的網誌…)

連聽了兩次我不禁有種 "沒吃到好沒參與感啊~~"

回家跟oc爸媽講, 越講越覺得都花了那麼多唇舌討論, 不吃一次看看豈不是白浪費了寶貴時光 (??)

同濟的壓力果然很可怕啊~~~