Din Tai Fung, Empire Gallery | Worthy Book

I'm going to write it this post as soon as possible as I have a knack for procrastinating and dragging things. I have so many things on my hand right now. Busy time of the year for me!

So, recently I have been invited to a food review as a blogger. It's been sooooooooooooo long since my last blogger event. This is actually my first blogger event of the year. Yes, it's been really too long. Plus, I haven't been blogging much lately for any review. So, it's actually kind of a surprise for me to get the e-mail from them. *lol*


Thanks to Worthy Book for inviting me. They also gave me a copy of the book itself which I think is quite nice of them. I never really heard of Worthy Book actually until they approached me. I gave it to my mum after I came back from the review and she has already bookmarked like 1/3 of the book. *laughs* So excited to use the vouchers. Hahaha.

So..... What is Worthy Book you say?
It is basically a book filled with vouchers. It's actually pretty cool and very useful for people who eat outside frequently, IMO. You don't really need to think too long when you're wondering what to eat tonight and you can even save tons of money by using these coupons. Plus the content is very informative, easy and pretty to look at. 
They have TONS of restaurants' voucher in there, so do not worry, there's like 180 vouchers to choose from. So just pick what you like and start enjoying the food and  save up some moo-lahs too. 

If you're interested, you can go to this Issuu page to see the contents of the book. I'm really impressed by the fact that they utilized Issuu actually. Normally I use it to browse through handcraft's magazine.

Worthy Book Website | http://www.worthybook.sto.my/
*Please note that you cannot print the book out on your own, it will not work okay. I know there will be people thinking like this. So FYI first before anybody ask funny questions*

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They actually gave me a printed doc on their profile which I think is very useful! So, I'll just probably tell you some of the things I find interesting lah okay. To sum it all up.
So Din Tai Fung actually started quite long ago, like in the 1970s and in year 1993, The New York Times actually rated this restaurant among the top ten restaurants in the world. As in the recent year 2013, DTF ranked No 1 int he "101 Best Restaurants in Asia" list (released by US-based food website called The Daily Meal). This is quite a feat actually. 
DTF has branches around the world including Japan, US, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, China, HK, Indonesia, Australia and Thailand. So it's pretty much in the global zone. 

I've actually eaten Din Tai Fung before but the last time I went there was long time ago. But I get to try a lot of dishes and now I know which one is worth ordering and you guys can try it out too. So, I'll be starting out with the appetizers first.

Din Tai Fung House Special, RM6.90
I'm not really sure what this is actually but it seems like a Chinese-styled salad. This appetizer has a really strong taste plus it taste sour and vinegar-ish and a bit spicy too. Quite a nice start in my opinion to just increase our appetite.

Stewed Wheat Gluten, RM7.90
I normally see this when I eat chinese vegetarian dish but I never actually ordered them because of the fact that they look like tofu and I don't like eating tofu. LOL. So, to my surprise I actually find this likable since it's a little sweet but I think it's a bit tad oily for me. 

Fragrant Pork with Crushed Garlic, RM15.00
The texture of this dish... I think I have to describe the skin texture as a bit doughy on the outside and very crunchy on the inside. Perfect for snacks.

Spicy Sichuan Chicken, RM15.90
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This is actually served chilled. I thought it was a bit weird because I rarely eat cold chicken. This dish has a really strong taste and is very flavorful because of the sauce and also quite spicy. It's very good I think, really like this. 

Spicy Pickled Cucumber, RM6.90
........As for this, I think I'll just have to describe it as just "crunchy" and a bit "salty".... lol, it's just cucumber, I don't really think I need to explain much. Well, the chef has really good hands since he can arranged them so nicely on the plate.

All of the appetizer above are served cold.

They also taught us the right way to enjoy XLB which is to add 3 parts of vinegar with a dash of soy sauce on our grated ginger. But of course, this can be based on your own personal preference too. You should eat the XLB first and then eat the ginger to balance the taste. 
As for me, I actually prefer to eat the XLBs together with some soaked ginger, it just taste so much better like this. 

Pork XLB, RM11.20/6 pieces, RM17.80/10 pieces
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Best eaten when served when it's all hot and steamy! The skin has perfect thickness and the soup is just really delicious and I love this! "Steamed to perfection" as they said. 

Steamed Shrimp and Pork ShaoMai*
The flour skin on this one is a bit thick and very doughy, so I didn't like this that much.

Steamed Vegetable and Pork Dumpling*
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I would never thought vege dumplings will taste as good as this. It's a pleasant discovery. They actually used Xiao Bai Chai for the filling and I think they are an absolute delight!

Crab Roe and Pork XLB, RM16.20/6 pieces, RM25.80/10 pieces
I prefer the pork better and I don't like really like the crab-by taste this one has.

Hot and Sour Soup, RM10/S, RM15/L
The soup is very appetizing and it actually reminds me of the oyster noodle I normally ate in Shihlin. :P

Noodles with Minced Pork in Bean Sauce, RM15.50
I actually really like to eat this particular Chinese noodle dish. Normally I'll order this in a Chinese restaurant if I'm craving for noodles. So I'm kind of a fanatic for jajangmyeon. But unfortunately, I didn't take a liking to their version of the noodle because it tasted quite bland. Maybe it's because it wasn't mixed very well and it was served separately on small individual plates for all the bloggers. So, I'm not going to be so hard on it. Maybe will try this the next time I have a chance.

Spicy Vege & Pork Wanton*
Tasted the same as the vegetable dumpling except for the fact that the flavor in this one is stronger since it's enhanced with the sauce.

Shrimp Noodle Soup* 
Liked the fact that they used very fresh prawns and they taste very sweet. But as for the overall taste, the noodle is quite bland for me too. Or maybe I've tasted too much heavy food before I had this so it didn't really appeal to me that much anymore. Haha.


Pork Chop Fried Rice, RM18.50
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 I'll only recommended the fried rice because the rice is very soft and not the hard chewy version fried rice. It's really mild but still fragrant. As for the pork chop it was heavily seasoned with salt so it was a bit too much for me. Just tasted okay. 

Stir Fried Pea Sprouts, RM19.50
When this dish arrived, the smell was just overwhelming. *lol*. But I guess the vegetables they served are really fresh

Stir-fried Baby String Beans with Minced Pork, RM21.50
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 One of my favourite dish! Loved this. No explanation needed.

Golden Pumpkins with Salted Egg, RM17.50
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My first time trying something like this. It was really savory for me. The pumpkin is sweet. It's crispy on the outside, moist and soft on the inside. But overall, the salted egg overpowered the pumpkin taste but I still enjoyed it. 

Steamed Taro Dumplings, RM8.80/6 pieces, RM13.80/10 pieces
Steamed Red Bean Dumplings, RM8.50/6 pieces, RM13.50/10 pieces
I don't really like red bean but I had a taste. It was very much sweeter than the taro dumplings. The sweetness of the yam dumplings is actually on the perfect level but I can't really smell the yam taste. The skin was very thin and chewy and inside was rather gooey. Not really one of my favorites because of the gooey texture.

Chilled Grass Jelly Topped with Purple Glutinous Rice, RM9.00
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This dessert was very refreshing since it's cool and very fun to chew too. I like to be playful with my desserts so this is great for me. Haha. *Weird way to put it, I know*
 

Steamed Chinese-Style Layer Cake, RM6/S, RM10/L
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 Omg, you guys seriously have to try this with the amazing black sesame dip okay. The cake is a bit tad dry if eaten on it's own but it's super nice when dipped into the condiment. Really love this, will order this the next time I go there!

* - For items marked with this symbol, I think I've missed out on noting down the prices of these items or I can't find them in the menu. My apologies. I tried to find the prices online too but their website doesn't have prices on the menu. 


After our dinner, of course a group photo is a must. Met a lot of really nice and very pro bloggers. I was very intimidated at first because everyone has their own name cards for their blogs and I was like... "I have tissues". LOL. They seemed very very active in blogger's event. Well, as for me, I went there because of the free food frankly. 
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Sorry, I can't stop myself from being honest. I wonder why they even found my blog. But it was really an honor to be invited. Hope there will be a next event for me. Hahaha.
Thanks for reading!


Din Tai Fung
(They currently have 5 branches)

The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City
Lot LG 207, LG Floor
Tel: 603 2283 2292 
Business Hour: 10am – 10pm

Pavilion KL 
Lot 6.01.05, Level 6 
Tel: 603 2148 8292
Business Hour: 10am – 10pm

Empire Shopping Gallery 
Lot G15, Ground Floor 
Tel: 603 5022 2522 
Business Hour: 10am – 10pm

eCurve 
G17-G20, Ground Floor 
Tel: 603 7728 3218 
Business Hour: 11am – 10pm

One Utama
Lot G343a, Ground Floor
Tel: 603 7732 0027
Business Hour: 10am – 10pm

2 comments:

  1. Cute la you. Btw love your detailed reviewed of the restaurant. Its been a while since I read something this informative and honest :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha thanks! A bit rusty in writing food review ady. It's been quite awhile. 😁

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